Amines, benzylic, hydrogenolysis

Nickel in the presence of ammonia is often used for reduction of nitriles to primary amines. The reaction is done at elevated temperatures and pressures ( 100 C, 1000 psig) unless massive amounts of nickel are used. Cobalt is used similarly but mainly under even more vigorous conditions. Nitriles containing a benzylamine can be reduced over Raney nickel to an amine without hydrogenolysis of the benzyl group (7). A solution of butoxycarbonyl)-3-aminopropyl]-N-<3-cyanopropyl)benzylamine (13.6 g) in 100 ml of ethanol containing 4 g. NaOH was reduced over 3.0 g Raney nickel at 40 psig for 28 h. The yield of A/ -benzyl-Air -(f-butoxycarbonyl)s >ermidine was 95% (7). 

Inhibition of O-benzyl hydrogenolysis was shown to be due to the presence of an amine, a finding with synthetic utility. 

Although our tandem ozonolysis route had the potential to provide rapid throughput to benzazepine 6 from 3 and the advantages of coupling multiple transformations in a single vessel and solvent (ozonolysis, peroxide reduction, reductive amination, and benzyl hydrogenolysis, all in methanol),... 

Partial and selective benzylic hydrogenolysis Tert. amines ... 

The reported asymmetric synthesis of (—)-(R)-sitagliptin was completed in seven steps from commercially available starting materials. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of P-dalkylamino ferfbutyl ester 23c, coupling with the triazolopyrazine building block to amide, reduction of amide to tert amine and hydrogenolysis of the N-benzyl and N-phenylethyl unit, afforded (—)-(R)-sitagliptin in 43 % overall yield and 42 % e.e. 

Amino Acids. Chloroformates play a most important role for the protection of the amino group of amino acids (qv) during peptide synthesis (32). The protective carbamate formed by the reaction of benzyl chloroformate and amino acid (33) can be cleaved by hydrogenolysis to free the amine after the carboxyl group has reacted further. The selectivity of the amino groups toward chloroformates results in amino-protected amino acids with the other reactive groups unprotected (34,35). Methods for the preparation of protected amino acids on an industrial scale have been developed (36,37). A wide variety of chloroformates have been used that give various carbamates that are stable or cleaved under different conditions. 

Aryl esters, prepared from the phenol and an acid chloride or anhydride in the presence of base, are readily cleaved by saponification. In general, they are more readily cleaved than the related esters of alcohols, thus allowing selective removal of phenolic esters. 9-Fluorenecarboxylates and 9-xanthenecarboxylates are also cleaved by photolysis. To permit selective removal, a number of carbonate esters have been investigated aryl benzyl carbonates can be cleaved by hydrogenolysis aryl 2,2,2-trichloroethyl carbonates by Zn/THF-H20. Esters of electron-deficient phenols are good acylating agents for alcohols and amines. 

Condensation of normeperidine (81) with 3-chloropropan-l-ol affords the compound possessing the alcohol side chain (88). The hydroxyl is then converted to chlorine by means of thionyl chloride (89) displacement of the halogen by aniline yields pimino-dine (90). ° Condensation of the secondary amine, 81, with styrene oxide affords the alcohol, 91 removal of the benzyllic hydroxyl group by hydrogenolysis leads to pheneridlne (92). ... 

The synthesis of a benzamide with a somewhat more complex side chain starts by condensation of acid 144 with racemic cis-aminopiperidine 152. Removal of the benzyl group of 153 by hydrogenolysis gives the secondary amine 154. Alkylation on nitrogen with the halide 155 gives finally the dopamine antagonist, cisapride (156) [38,39]. 

Tertiary amines are effective promoters in hydrogenolysis of hindered benzyl esters that otherwise may undergo cleavage only with difficulty (187). 

Palladium-catalyzed aminations of aryl halides is now a well-documented process [86-88], Heo et al. showed that amino-substituted 2-pyridones 54 and 55 can be prepared in a two-step procedure via a microwave-assisted Buchwald-Hartwig amination reaction of 5- or 6-bromo-2-benzyloxypyri-dines 50 and 51 followed by a hydrogenolysis of the benzyl ether 52 and 53, as outlined in Fig. 9 [89]. The actual microwave-assisted Buchwald-Hartwig coupling was not performed directly at the 2-pyridone scaffold, but instead at the intermediate pyridine. Initially, the reaction was performed at 150 °C for 10 min with Pd2(dba)3 as the palladium source, which provided both the desired amino-pyridines (65% yield) as well as the debrominated pyridine. After improving the conditions, the best temperature and time to use proved... 

It was found in the case of O-benzyl systems that palladium oxide is much more effective than palladium metal. No such effect was observed with the N-benzyl system.8 It is possible that the N-compounds can poison the electrophile metal ions, and the hydrogenolysis of the N-benzyl bond can take place only by the hydrogenolytic cleavage instead of the insertion mechanism. This is supported by the experimental finding that the product amine can inhibit the catalyst, and this can be minimized by buffering at a pH less than 4. 

The highly diastereoselective 1,4-addition of lithiated chiral amines to a-, (1-unsaturated esters, followed by hydrogenolysis of the benzylic-type C-N... 

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