1- Alkyl-substituted tetrahydro-/ carbolines

Alkylation at the ind-N of l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carbolines has been carried out with alkyl halide after treatment with sodamide in the usual manner. Cyanoethylation of a p /r-V-substituted tetrahydro-jS-carboline in the presence of Triton B yields the corresponding 9-cyanoethyl derivative. Similarly, treatment of p / -V-methyl-l,2,3,4,4a,9b-hexahydro-y-carboline with sodamide, followed by benzyl chloride, leads to the ind-A -benzyl-substituted derivatives. l-Oxo-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carboline yields the ind-A -methyl derivative directly with dimethyl sulfate.Prolonged treatment with sodium hydride, followed by methyl iodide, yields the 2,9-dimethyl derivative. Heating with sodium hydride in acetone followed by the addition of dimethyl sulfate gives rise to the ind-V-methyl derivative. ... 

A few intriguing developments in the area of tetrahydro-P-carboline synthetic methodology include the report of a catalytic asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction <06JACS1086> and an enantioselective Pd-catalyzed intramolecular allylic alkylation of indoles <06JACS1424>. A one-step synthesis of 1-substituted-P-carbolines from L-tryptophan has appeared that bypassed the tetrahydro intermediate <06T10900>. 

The ability to reduce compounds under acidic conditions is ideal for the reduction of enamines. Protonation of nitrogen gives an iminium salt in acidic media that is then reduced with cyanoborohydride to an amine.Imines can be reduced in acidic media in the presence of many other functional groups, as shown by Cook s reduction of imine 165 to give 166 in 79% yield in a synthesis of substituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines. 2 This reagent is excellent for the reduction of iminium salts at neutral pH as well,l 3 and it is also useful for the reductive alkylation of amines. Dimethylamino derivatives such as 168 can be prepared from the amine (167 in this case) by treatment with formaldehyde and cyanoborohydride, even in the presence... 

The )8-carboline system alkylated at C-1 occurs frequently in the indole alkaloid series and in some cases in the 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro form, as shown above. The simplest homolog with a methyl substituent is caUed harman (Fig. 12). It has been found in several plant families and also in the higher fungus Coriolus maximus (174). Recently, particular interest in 1-substituted /3-carboline derivatives has also resulted from the antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) discovered in eudis-tomins alkaloids (e.g., eudistomin S Fig. 12), isolated from the tunicate organism Eudistoma olivaceum (175). 

Since 2004, imines have represented another important class of electrophiles that has been extensively used in aza-F-C alkylation. The first example reported in the hterature is illustrated in Scheme 35.9, showing an enantioselective acyl-Pictet-Spengler reaction via condensation of tryptamine with aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of 17 and acetyl chloride to afford substituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines [21]. In this process, activation of the intermediate imine 52, as N-acyhminium species, is crucial for the reaction outcome no reaction occurs in the absence of AcCl. 

One of the most valuable and widely used applications of C=N bond hydrogenation is in the field of reductive alkylation, in which an aldehyde or ketone is condensed with an amine and reduced in situ with an appropriate catalyst to give a substituted product. This very valuable reaction has most notably been employed for the racemic synthesis of amino acids from a-ketoesters and acids. This type of reduction can be very powerful, as illustrated by the synthesis of tetrahydro-b-carbolines 64 (76% yield) by the reductive coupling of 65 and 66 under conditions of 1 atm of hydrogen and palladium on carbon catalyst277. 

The factors that control diastereoselection in the construction of 1,3-disubstituted tetrahydro-p-car-bolines are not, as yet, well understood. With many aldehydes a slight preference for forming the trans diastereomer is observed. " This preference is somewhat greater when the indole nitrogen (Na) of the tryptamine is alkylated. Pictet-Spengler cyclizations of Nb-benzyltryptophan methyl ester under Cook s aprotic conditions are reported to provide nearly exclusively the rr 2ni-A b-benzyl-3-methoxycarbonyl-1 -substituted-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-P-carbolines. ... 

Methylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid, a condensation product of cysteine and acetaldehyde, occurs even in human blood as a consequence of ethanol consumption. Serine and threonine analogously produce C-2 substituted (2J S,4S)-oxazolidine-4-carboxylic acids (2-124). Heterocyclic products, C-2 substituted (2J S,4S)-pyrimidine-4-carboxylic acids, are also produced in the reaction of aldehydes with asparagine (2-125). Phenylalanine yields C-1 substituted (lJ S,3S)-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acids (2-126) and analogous products arise from tyrosine. Tryptophan reacts with aldehydes under the formation of 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (also known as -carboline or norharmane) derivatives, (lJ S,3S)-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-fi-carboline-3-carboxylic acids (2-127, R = H or alkyl or residues of other aldehydes and sugars), the reaction of tryptamine yields the corresponding (lRS)-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-P-carbolines. 

A-Alkylation of amides and amines and dehydrative -alkylation of secondary alcohols and a-alkylation of methyl ketones " have been carried out by an activation of alcohols by aerobic oxidation to aldehydes, with copper(II) acetate as the only catalyst. A relay race process rather than the conventional borrowing hydrogen-type mechanisms has been proposed for the aerobic C-alkylation reactions, based on results of mechanistic studies. A Winterfeldt oxidation of substituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-y-carboline derivatives provides a convenient and efiflcient method for the synthesis of the corresponding dihydropyrrolo[3,2-fc]quinolone derivatives in moderate to excellent yields. The generality and substrate scope of this aerobic oxidation have been explored and a possible reaction mechanism has been proposed. Direct oxidative synthesis of amides from acetylenes and secondary amines by using oxygen as an oxidant has been developed in which l,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene was used as the key additive and copper(I) bromide as the catalyst. It has been postulated that initially formed copper(I) acetylide plays an important role in the oxidative process. Furthermore, it has been postulated that an ct-aminovinylcopper(I) complex, the anti-Markovnikov hydroamination product of copper acetylide, is involved in the reported reaction system. Copper(I) bromide... 

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