Amides from phthalimides

Amides are weakly nucleophilic and react only slowly with alkyl halides. The anions of amides are substantially more reactive. The classical Gabriel procedure for synthesis of amines from phthalimide is illustrative.58... 

The Gabriel-malonic ester synthesis begins with (V-phthalimidomalonic ester. Think of (V-phthalimidomalonic ester as a molecule of glycine (aminoacetic acid) with the amino group protected as an amide (a phthalimide in this case) to keep it from acting as a nucleophile. The acid is protected as an ethyl ester, and the a position is further activated by the additional (temporary) ester group of diethyl malonate. 

In the acid-catalyzed reactions of orthoformates with primary carbon acid amides or urethanes tris(acylamino)methanes (537 Scheme 98) are formed with good yields. - Dimethylamino-di(phthalimido)methane (531) is accessible from phthalimide and DMF diethyldithioacetal. Lithium di-methylamide, prepared in situ from lithium and dimethylamine in HMPA converts orthoformates to tris(dimethylamino)methane (529). ... 

Imides (e.g. phthalimide) can be purified by conversion to their potassium salts by reaction in ethanol with ethanolic potassium hydroxide. Hie imides are regenerated when the salts are hydrolysed with dilute acid. Like amides, imides readily crystallise from alcohols and, in some cases (e.g. quinolinic imide), from glacial acetic acid. 

Another alternative for preparing a primary amine from an alkyl halide is the Gabriel amine synthesis, which uses a phthalimide alkylation. An imide (—CONHCO—) is similar to a /3-keto ester in that the acidic N-H hydrogen is flanked by two carbonyl groups. Thus, imides are deprotonated by such bases as KOH, and the resultant anions are readily alkylated in a reaction similar to the acetoacetic ester synthesis (Section 22.7). Basic hydrolysis of the N-alkylated imide then yields a primary amine product. The imide hydrolysis step is analogous to the hydrolysis of an amide (Section 21.7). 

Thus amides are found to be only very weakly basic in water [pKa for ethanamide(acetamide) is =0-5], and if two C=0 groups are present the resultant imides, far from being basic, are often sufficiently acidic to form alkali metal salts, e.g. benzene-1,2-dicarboximide (phthalimide, 8) ... 

A useful approach for the preparation of chiral (3-aminophospho-nic acids from the naturally occurring a-amino acids has been reported.139 The overall scheme (Equation 3.4) involves formation of the phthalimide-acid halide from the starting a-amino acid followed by a Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction with triethyl phosphite to give the acylphosphonate. Complete reduction of the carbonyl group in three steps followed by hydrolysis of the ester and amide linkages provides the target material in very high yield without racemization (>99% ee). 

The UV spectrum [7max 238, 256 (sh), 293 (sh), 314, 362 (sh), and 390 (sh) nm] of rebeccamycin (337) indicated the presence of an indolo[2,3-fl]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazole-5,7(6H)-dione framework. This was also discernible from its IR spectrum. The H-NMR spectrum indicated the presence of an amide NH at 8 11.37 and an indole NH at 6 10.30, in addition to signals for aromatic protons and a sugar moiety. Unlike (+)-staurosporine (295) (see Scheme 2.74), where the lactam function deshielded only the ortho C-4 proton, the C-4 and C-8 aromatic protons in rebeccamycin are both deshielded due to the anisotropic deshielding effect of the phthalimide function. 

An alternative reagent equivalent for the amide anion synthon is the potassium salt of phthalimide which can only react with one molecular proportion of alkyl halide. The resulting JV-alkylphthalimide is then cleaved to the primary amine (the Gabriel synthesis). The preliminary preparation of potassium phthalimide (from a solution of phthalimide in absolute ethanol and potassium hydroxide in 75% ethanol) may be avoided in some cases by boiling phthalimide with the halide in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate. The cleavage of the JV-substituted phthalimide is best effected by reaction with hydrazine hydrate and then heating the reaction mixture with hydrochloric acid. The insoluble phthalylhydrazide is filtered off, leaving the amine hydrochloride in solution from which the amine may be liberated and isolated in the appropriate manner. 

N-Phthalimide-linked peptides that contain C-terminal a-amidotrimethylsilyl groups undergo macrocyclization reactions via sequential single-electron transfer processes [11, 12]. Thus, electron transfer from the neighboring amide to the excited phthalimide chromophore leads to an amide radical cation. Hole migration to the ot-amidotrimethylsilane center is followed by desilylation to form an 1, co-biradical intermediate, which finally cydizes to the macrocydic peptide (Scheme 9.9). 

The product distribution between nitrile and imide depends upon the reaction conditions and the nature of the catalyst used [105]. The influence of various reaction parameters such as (i) reaction temperature (ii) water vapor addition in the feed gas (iii) NH3/o-xylene mole ratio and (iv) space velocity, were studied [105]. The removal of water vapor from the feed gas has a highly pronounced promotional effect on the selectivity of phthalonitrile. The nitrile selectivity increased from 2.1 to 34% at the expense of phthalimide (which decreased from 53 to 9%) with the complete removal of water vapor in the reactant feed mixture. This observation gives an indication that phthalonitrile being formed in the reaction is further hydrolyzed to phthalimide via the amide intermediate in presence of water... 

This shows that phthalimide is a compound of an anhydride type formed by loss of ammonia from phthalamide just as phthalic anhydride is formed from phthalic acid by the loss of water. Like other acid amides and imides phthalimide forms salts by replacement of the... 

The details of this synthesis will be explained under naphthalene (p. 766). The synthesis of anthranilic acid from ortho-i hthalic acid takes place according to the following reactions. Phthalic acid, or better phthalic anhydride, by treatment with ammonia yields phthal-amidic acid, which in turn yields phthalimide. 

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