Diazo compounds, alkylation with amides

Amides can also be alkylated with diazo compounds, as in 10-49. Salts of sulfonamides (ArS02NH ) can be used to attack alkyl halides to prepare N-alkyl sulfonamides (ArS02NHR) that can be further alkylated to ArS02NRR. Hydrolysis of the latter is a good method for the preparation of secondary amines. Secondary amines can also be made by crown ether assisted alkylation of F3CCONHR (R = alkyl or aryl) and hydrolysis of the resulting F3CCONRR. ... 

A vast array of chiral catalysts have been developed for the enantioselective reactions of diazo compounds but the majority has been applied to asymmetric cyclopropanations of alkyl diazoacetates [2]. Prominent catalysts for asymmetric intermolecular C-H insertions are the dirhodium tetraprolinate catalysts, Rh2(S-TBSP)4 (la) and Rh2(S-DOSP)4 (lb), and the bridged analogue Rh2(S-biDOSP)2 (2) [7] (Fig. 1). A related prolinate catalyst is the amide 3 [8]. Another catalyst that has been occasionally used in intermolecular C-H activations is Rh2(S-MEPY)4 (4) [9], The most notable catalysts that have been used in enantioselective ylide transformations are the valine derivative, Rh2(S-BPTV)4 (5) [10], and the binaphthylphosphate catalysts, Rh2(R-BNP)4 (6a) and Rh2(R-DDNP)4 (6b) [11]. All of the catalysts tend to be very active in the decomposition of diazo compounds and generally, carbenoid reactions are conducted with 1 mol % or less of catalyst loading [1-3]. 

Nitro compounds are reduced to the corresponding amine. Unlike hydride reductions, both alkyl nitro compounds (2-methyl-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol was reduced to l-amino-2-methyl-1,3-propanediol in 95% yield)566 and aromatic nitro derivatives [nitrobenzene was reduced to aniline with Ti(S04)3 in sulfuric acid and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide] are electrolytically reduced. 7 jf conditions are modified, reductive coupling can give azoxy compounds such as 568 (from 569) or diazo compounds. A variety of acid derivatives are reduced under electrochemical conditions, including nitriles (to amines), acids (to alcohols),5 E572 estejs (jq alcohols), and amides (to alcohols). It is possible to selectively reduce a cyclic imide to a lactam.575... 

Although the CRI reaction of diazo compounds 17a and 17b yielded the pentacyclic intermediates 20 and 28, further alkylation to form a C8 quaternary carbon center was unsuccessful under various conditions. This appears to be due to steric hindrance by the bulky benzyl and cumyl groups after protection of the free amine. To improve the CRI reaction. Dr. Jun Yang modified the diazonamide substrate by replacing the amide functionality (17) with an ester... 

Bis-acceptor-substituted diazomethanes are most conveniently prepared by diazo group transfer to CH acidic compounds either with sulfonyl azides under basic conditions [949,950] or with l-alkyl-2-azidopyridinium salts [951] under neutral or acidic conditions [952-954]. Diazo group transfer with both types of reagents usually proceeds in high yield with malonic acid derivatives, 3-keto esters and amides, 1,3-diketones, or p, y-unsaturated carbonyl compounds [955,956]. Cyano-, sulfonyl, or nitrodiazomethanes, which can be unstable or sensitive to bases, can often only be prepared with 2-azidopyridinium salts, which accomplish diazo group transfer under neutral or slightly acidic reaction conditions. Other problematic substrates include amides of the type Z-CHj-CONHR and P-imino esters or the tautomeric 3-amino-2-propenoic esters, which upon diazo group transfer cyclize to 1,2,3-triazoles [957-959]. 

The Wolff rearrangement of a-diazocarbonyl compounds (8.58, R = H, alkyl, aryl, OR) has great synthetic importance because in most cases the ketenes formed react smoothly with water, alcohols, and amines (Scheme 8-34). An early application that still has considerable importance is the homologization of carboxylic acids (Arndt-Eistert reaction Arndt and Eistert, 1935). As shown in Scheme 8-34, the reaction starts from the chloride of the acid RCOOH, which leads to an a-diazo ketone with diazomethane (R = H), followed by the Wolff rearrangement and the hydrolysis of the ketene intermediate to give the homologous carboxylic acid (8.59, R =H). In alcohols and amines esters (8.60) and amides (8.61, R = H), respectively. 

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