Aminonitrile derivatives

To date most of the nitriles studied have been simple alkyl or aromatic derivatives with little other functionality. We recently attempted to extend the reaction to iV-protected a-aminonitriles, derived by dehydration of a-aminoacid amides (Path A, Scheme 25), but this proved unsatisfactory, and therefore we investigated an alternative diazocarbonyl based route in which the order of steps was reversed, i.e. a rhodium catalysed N-H insertion reaction on the amide followed by cyclodehydration to the oxazole (Path B, Scheme 25). 

Scheme 37 Asymmetric synthesis of 1,2-diamines from chiral a-aminonitriles derived from diastereoselective aldolization...

Amines. Chiral a-amino acids are obtained from cyanohydrins via a Mitsunobu reaction employing A-f-butoxycarbonyl-A-(2-trimethylsilyl)ethylsulfonamide as the nucleophile. The a-aminonitrile derivatives thus generated are hydrolyzed with acid. By means of an intramolecular displacement (3-hydroxy acids are transformed into (3-amino acids. Thus, subjecting the derived 0-benzylhydroxamides to Mitsunobu reaction conditions leads to (3-lactams which are readily processed (LiOH H, Pd/C). 

The throughput of the system was subsequently doubled as a result of employing polymer-supported scandium triflate [PS-Sc(OTf)2] (79) as the Lewis acid catalyst, under the aforementioned reaction conditions. Using this approach, the authors demonstrated the generality of the technique, synthesizing a 10 x 5 array of a-aminonitriles, derived from 10 aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and five amines. The chemoselectivity of the technique was also demonstrated using the reaction of 4-acetylbenzaldehyde (80) and 2-phenylethylamine (81) (Scheme 6.22) whereby 2-(4-acetylphenyl)-2-(phenethylamino)acetonitrile (82) was obtained, in 99.8% yield, as the sole reaction product. 

Amides. Conversion of esters to amides in a solvent-free process uses microwave heating with solid t-BuOK. Oxidative decyanation of a-aminonitriles derived from aldehydes with r-BuOK in DMSO also afford amides. ... 

Brahmachari, G., and Banerjee, B. (2012). A comparison between catalyst-free and Zr0Cl2.8H20-catalyzed Strecker reactions for the rapid and solvent-free one-pot synthesis of racemic a-aminonitrile derivatives. Asian J. Org. Chem., 1, 521-528. 

Further methods reported for the a-phenylselenylation of ketones include the use of diphenyl diselenide with selenium dioxide under acidic conditions and the cyanoselenenylation of enamines to give the ketone, protected as the a-aminonitrile derivative. Selenoesters undergo copper-catalysed insertion of diazomethane to form selenomethyl ketones in moderate yield. ... 

The thiazole ring can be obtained directly by other methods, but they have limited application. An example is the synthesis of Cook and Heilbron using a-aminonitriles or a-aminoamides and carbon disulfide (or thioacid derivatives) as reactants of type II. 

Carbon disulfide readily reacts with a-aminonitriles giving 2-mercapto-5-aminothiazoles (213), (271, 293) which can be converted to 5-aminothiazoles unsubstituted in the 2-position (Scheme 110 and Table II-34a). If this reaction is carried out in the presence of benzyl chloride in phosphorus tribromide, a 2-S-substituted thiazole derivative (214) is obtained in quantitative yield (Scheme 111), with R = hydrogen or phenyl (68, 304). 

When benzaldehyde or its substituted derivatives are added to carbon disulfide and a-aminonitrile, the corresponding 2-mercapto-5-(p-R-benzylideneamino)thiazoles (215), R = hydrogen atom or a propenyl or phenyl group and Ar = aryl, are obtained (Scheme 112) (393, 442, 694). Yields ranged from 40 to 60% (Table II-34b). 

By condensing carbon oxysulfide with o-aminOnitriles the corresponding 2-hydroxy-5-aminothiazoles can be obtained. In the presence of benzaldehyde or its substituted derivatives the reaction leads to 5-benzy-lideneaminothiazole derivatives (218) in good yields (Scheme 114 and Table 11.35) (393, 442). However, the reaction fails with or-amino acetonitrile (206), R = H (317). The 2-alkoxy analogs (220), R = Me, Et, Pr, Bu, vinyl, were similarly obtained from 219 and benzylideneamino acetonitrile (Scheme 115a) (393). 

TABLE 11-35 2-HYDROXV-5-AMINOTHIAZOLES DERIVATIVES FROM o-AMINONITRILE AND CARBON OXYSULnOE-... 

The use of guanidine for cyclization gives amino substituted derivatives (e.g. 212) (52CB1012), and in this case o-aminonitriles may be used to furnish diamines (e.g. 8UOC1394). An unusual reaction involving nitriles occurred during the preparation of nicotinonitrile from the amide and ammonium sulfamate, when a 60% yield of the dimeric by-product (213) was formed via the nitrile (69BSB289). Similar products have been obtained from... 

The condensation of ketones with 3-aminonitriles or S-aminoesters ai cyclization to 4-pyridone derivatives was expanded (717-719). 

In a departure from the prototype molecule, the benzylpiperi-done is first converted to the corresponding aminonitrile (a derivative closely akin to a cyanohydrin) by treatment with aniline hydrochloride and potassium cyanide (126). Acid hydrolysis of the nitrile affords the corresponding amide (127). Treatment with formamide followed by reduction affords the spiro oxazinone... 

Aminonitrile formation on 125 with potassium cyanide and piperidine hydrochloride affords the derivative, 135. Hydrolysis as above gives the corresponding amide (136). Debenzylation is accomplished by catalytic reduction. Alkylation of the secondary amine with the side chain (96) used in the preparation of diphenoxylate affords pirintramide (138) This compound, interest-... 

Treatment of the piperidine 74, obtainable from an aminonitrile such as 73, under N-methylation conditions leads to the dimethylamino derivative 75. The carbobenzoxy protecting group is then removed by catalytic hydrogenation. Reaction of the resulting secondary amine 76 with cyclohexene oxide leads to the alkylated trans aminoalcohol. There is thus obtained the anti-arrhythmic agent transcainide (77) [18]. 

Other important derivatives for the preparation of (i-aminoacids are the corresponding P-aminonitriles. Lipase-catalyzed N-acylations of racemic cis-2-aminocyclopentane and cyclohexane carbonitriles with 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl butanoate have been successfully carried out in organic solvents and ionic liquids [53], PSL yielding better results than CALB (Scheme 7.29). 

The Jacobsen group has also shown that the recycling of the resin-bounded catalyst can be successfully performed [152,154]. Moreover, they have developed an efficient method for the hydrolysis of the aminonitrile into the corresponding amino acid. This method was apphed for the commercial production of optically active K-amino acids at Rhodia ChiRex (e.g. tert-leucine) the catalyst was immobihsed on a resin support (4 mol %, 10 cycles) and the intermediate hydrocyanation adduct was trapped by simply replacing TFAA with HCOOH/AC2O, for example. Highly crystalhne formamide derivatives were thus obtained in excellent yields (97-98% per cycle) with very high enantioselectivities (92-93% per cycle) [158]. 

The a-methoxylated products are highly useful building blocks for the construction of a carbon-carbon bond a to the trifluoromethyl and diflu-oromethyl groups, which is difficult to obtain by other methods, as shown in Scheme 6.15. Thus, a-tri and a-difluoromethylated a-aminonitriles, which are precursors to the corresponding fluorinated a-amino acids, have been prepared in good yields, and flourinated homoallyanilines have been also successfully prepared [44]. in addition, tri- and difluoromethylated tetra- and dihydroquinoline derivatives can be prepared by cationic polar cycloaddition in high yields [45]. 

The five-membered ring can also be formed by intramolecular nucleophilic attack of an alkoxide on a carbamate such as for the formation of 196 from 195 <1997T9553>, by dehydration of fV-carbamate-pipecolic acid derivatives <2002EJO3936>, by treatment of amino-amides under Eschweiler-Clarke conditions <1999TA3371>, or by treatment of hydroxyl aminonitriles with silver trifluoroacetate <2002JA2951> (Scheme 57). 

The asymmetric Mannich addition of carbon nucleophiles to imines catalyzed by the cyclohexane-diamine catalysts has developed significantly in the past decade. List and co-workers reported the asymmetric acyl-cyanantion of imines catalyzed by a cyclohexane-diamine catalyst [103], Using a derivative of Jacobsen s chiral urea catalyst, the authors optimized reaction conditions and obtained chiral iV-acyl-aminonitriles in high yield and enantioselectivities (Scheme 51). The scope of the reaction was explored with both aliphatic and aromatic imines, providing good to high selectivities for a variety of substrates. 

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