Alkylation under neutral condition

Recent papers have disclosed that Pd(0) catalyzed allylic alkylations under neutral conditions are not limited to allylic carbonates or epoxides but also can be extended in many cases to the more popular allylic acetates (Eq. 5.58).sla... 

Although secondary 1,1-enediamines always undergo C-alkylation under neutral conditions, N-alkylation is effected with the aid of a strong base24. The nitro-substituted... 

Reactions with electrophilic reagents take place with substitution at C-3 or by addition at the pyridine nitrogen. All the aza-indoles are much more stable to acid than indole (cf. 20.1.1.9), no doubt due to the diversion of protonation onto the pyridine nitrogen, but the reactivity towards other electrophiles at C-3 is only slightly lower than that of indoles. Bromination and nitration occur cleanly in all four parent systems and are more controllable than in the case of indole. Maniuch and Vilsmeier reactions can be carried out in some cases, but when the latter fails, 3-aldehydes can be prepared by reaction with hexamine, possibly via the anion of the azaindole. Alkylation under neutral conditions results in quatemisation on the pyridine nitrogen and reaction with sodium salts allows A-1-alkylation. Acylation under mild conditions also occurs at N-1. The scheme below summarises these reactions for the most widely studied system - 7-azaindole. Acylation at C-3 in all four systems can be carried out at room temperature in the presence of excess aluminium chloride. ... 

Alkylation under neutral conditions involves attack at a nuclear nitrogen Dimroth rearrangement (27.1.1.2) of these salts affords side-chain-alkylated purines. However, direct introduction of substituents onto a side-chain nitrogen can be achieved by reductive iV-alkylation. A related method involves reduction of an isolated benzotriazolyl intermediate, which allows more control over the process. ... 

Triazole is fairly resistant to A -alkylation under neutral conditions, however both acylations and alkylations involving iV-anions occur readily, but mixtures of 1- and 2-substituted products are often obtained/ Trimethylsilylation produces 2-trimethylsilyl-1,2,3-triazole, and this can be alkylated unambiguously at N-1, with concomitant loss of silicon/ An equilibrium mixture of A-acetyl-1,2,3-triazoles contains predominantly the 2-acetyl isomer. The 2//-tautomer is also dominant in 1,2,3-triazole itself, which may reflect unfavourable adjacent imine lone-pair/lone-pair interactions in the 1//-isomer and is in agreement with calculations that suggest that the 2//-isomer is more aromatic." Heating in sulfolane at 150 °C converts the A-acyl compounds into oxazoles in a synthetically useful transformation. ... 

Alkyl trichloroacetimidates 2.18 Alkylations, under neutral conditions, of substances bearing acid- or alkali-labile substituents [136, 137] Solubility of the substance to be alkylated in a non-polar solvent is of advantage... 

Scheme 12.38 Allylic alkylations with 1-alkenylcyclopropyl tosylates and chlorides [17d,e, 72]. 12.2.2.2 Allylic Alkylations under Neutral Conditions...

Alkynyl anions are more stable = 22) than the more saturated alkyl or alkenyl anions (p/Tj = 40-45). They may be obtained directly from terminal acetylenes by treatment with strong base, e.g. sodium amide (pA, of NH 35). Frequently magnesium acetylides are made in proton-metal exchange reactions with more reactive Grignard reagents. Copper and mercury acetylides are formed directly from the corresponding metal acetates and acetylenes under neutral conditions (G.E. Coates, 1977 R.P. Houghton, 1979). 

The carbonylation of some alkyl halides such as iodocyclohexane (911) can be carried out under neutral conditions in the presence of N,N,N.N-tetre,-methylurea (TMU), which is a neutral compound, but catches generated hydrogen halide. Molecular sieves (MS-4A) are used for the same pur-pose[768]. Very reactive ethyl 3-iodobutyrate (912) is carbonylated to give ethyl methylsuccinate (913) in the presence of TMU. The expected elimination of HI to form crotonate, followed by carbonylation, does not occur. 

Allylation with allyl borates takes place smoothly under neutral conditions. Allylic alcohols are also used for allylation in the presence of boron oxide by in situ formation of allylic borates[125]. Similarly, arsenic oxide is used for allylation with allylic aleohols[126]. In addition, it was claimed that the allyl alkyl ethers 201. which are inert by themselves, can be used for the allylation in the presence of boron oxide[127]. 

Pyrazoles and imidazoles with free NH groups are readily alkylated, e.g. by Mel or Me2S04. A useful procedure is to use the alkyl salt of the azole in liquid ammonia (80AHC(27)241). However, alkylation can also occur under neutral conditions, particularly with imidazoles. 

Catalytic hydrogenolysis of an O-benzyl protective group is a mild, selective method introduced by Bergmann and Zervas to cleave a benzyl carbamate (>NC0-0CH2C6H5 —> >NH) prepared to protect an amino group during peptide syntheses. The method has also been used to cleave alkyl benzyl ethers, stable compounds prepared to protect alkyl alcohols benzyl esters are cleaved by catalytic hydrogenolysis under neutral conditions. 

The reaction conditions (neutral, acidic or basic) do have an affect on the regioselectivity of the reaction. Acidic reaction conditions have also been shown to preferentially provide one regioisomer over basic conditions for reactions of aryl hydrazines. Extensive studies with 2-perfluoroacylcycloalkanones and mono-substituted hydrazines were studied to determine the selectivity of various alkyl-, aryl-, and heteroaryl-substituted hydrazines. Reactions of the aryl hydrazine 21 with the trifluoromethyl-substituted cycloalkanone 22 under neutral conditions (methanol, reflux) gave a mixture of isomers 23 and 24, whereas the reaction of the pyridyl hydrazine 25 was shown to give exclusively 26. 

I Tertiary7 alkyl halides E2 elimination occurs when a base is used, but SN1 substitution and El elimination occur together under neutral conditions, such as in pure ethanol or water. ElcB elimination takes place if the leaving group is two carbons away from a carbonyl group. 

Additions of carbon nucleophiles to vinylepoxides are well documented and can be accomplished by several different techniques. Palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation of these substrates with soft carbon nucleophiles (pKa 10-20) proceeds under neutral conditions and with excellent regioselectivities [103, 104]. The sul-fone 51, for example, was cyclized through the use of catalytic amounts of Pd(PPh3)4 and bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) under high-dilution conditions to give macrocycle 52, an intermediate in a total synthesis of the antitumor agent roseophilin, in excellent yield (Scheme 9.26) [115, 116]. 

Thiolates, generated in situ by the action of ammonium tetra-thiomolybdate on alkyl halides, thiocyanates, and disulfides, undergo conjugate addition to a, (1-unsaturatcd esters, nitriles, and ketones in water under neutral conditions (Eq. 10. II).29 Conjugate addition of thiols was also carried out in a hydrophobic ionic liquid [bmim]PF6/water-solvent system (2 1) in the absence of any acid catalyst to afford the corresponding Michael adducts in high to quantitative yields with excellent 1,4-selectivity under mild and neutral conditions (Eq. 10.12). The use of ionic liquids helps to avoid the use of either acid or base catalysts... 

Nitroimidazoles substituted by an aromatic ring at the 2-position are also active as antitrichomonal agents. Reaction of p-fluorobenzonitrile (83) with saturated ethanolic hydrogen chloride affords imino-ether 84. Condensation of that intermediate with the dimethyl acetal from 2-aminoacetaldehyde gives the imidazole 85. Nitration of that heterocycle with nitric acid in acetic anhydride gives 86. Alkylation with ethylene chlorohydrin, presumably under neutral conditions, completes the synthesis of the anti-... 

As the nitro group is removed by radical denitration with Bu3SnH, allylic alkylation of a-nitro ketones with allyl carbonates in the presence of Pd(0) followed by denitration with Bu3SnH provides a new regio-selective allylation of ketones under neutral conditions (Eq. 5.55).79... 

The thiophene synthesis described herein is related to the synthesis in solution reported by Laliberte, and Medawar4 but differs in some aspects from the procedure in homogeneous phase. Laliberte and Medawar succeeded in obtaining aminothio-phenes in a one-pot reaction from acceptor-substituted acetonitriles, isothiocyanates, a-haloketones, and sodium ethoxide. In contrast to their procedure, solid-phase S-alkylation of the intermediate thioamides under basic conditions led to the formation of product mixtures. We obtained pure aminothio-phenes only when conducting the S-alkylation under neutral or slightly acidic conditions. 

Potentially tautomeric pyrimidines and purines are /V-alkylated under two-phase conditions, using tetra-n-butylammonium bromide or Aliquat as the catalyst [75-77], Alkylation of, for example, uracil, thiamine, and cytosine yield the 1-mono-and 1,3-dialkylated derivatives [77-81]. Theobromine and other xanthines are alkylated at N1 and/or at N3, but adenine is preferentially alkylated at N9 (70-80%), with smaller amounts of the N3-alkylated derivative (20-25%), under the basic two-phase conditions [76]. These observations should be compared with the preferential alkylation at N3 under neutral conditions. The procedure is of importance in the derivatization of nucleic acids and it has been developed for the /V-alkylation of nucleosides and nucleotides using haloalkanes or trialkyl phosphates in the presence of tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride [80], Under analogous conditions, pyrimidine nucleosides are O-acylated [79]. The catalysed alkylation reactions have been extended to the glycosidation of pyrrolo[2,3-r/]pyrimidines, pyrrolo[3,2-c]pyridines, and pyrazolo[3,4-r/]pyrimidines (e.g. Scheme 5.20) [e.g. 82-88] as a route to potentially biologically active azapurine analogues. 

Ordinarily, alkyl nitrate esters will not nitrate amines under neutral conditions. However, Schmitt, Bedford and Bottaro have reported the use of some novel electron-deficient nitrate esters for the direct At-nitration of secondary amines. The most useful of these is 2-(trifluoromethyl)-2-propyl nitrate, which nitrates a range of aliphatic secondary amines to the corresponding nitramines in good to excellent yields. Nitrosamine formation is insignificant in these reactions. 2-(Trifluoromethyl)-2-propyl nitrate cannot be used for the nitration of primary amines, or secondary amines containing ethylenediamine functionality like that in piperazine. Its use is limited with highly hindered amines or amines of diminished nucleophilicity due to inductive or steric effects. 

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