Anionic amidine bases

Imidoyl halides react with NH- and NHa-containing compounds to give amidinium salts, which were sometimes isolated,but the hree amidine bases were usually prepared from them. Since amid-ines are converted by water-free acids to the corresponding amidinium salts, amidinium salts with nearly every desired anion are accessible by this procedure. The alkylation of A/A(, -trisubstituted amidines, as well as those of symmetrically IV.lV -disubstituted, IV-monosubstituted and A(-unsubstituted amidines are unambigous reactions. By this method a lot of amidinium salts, e.g. (145), (146) and (147) (equation 87), have been prepared. The alkylation of A -monosubstituted and N,Ar-unsymmetrrcally substituted amidines can give rise to product mixtures of amidinium salts. 

Deprotonation of Group 4 mono(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) metal acet-amidinates can be achieved in high yield using sterically encumbered bases (Scheme 103) to provide anionic enolate complexes as purple powders. These can subsequently be allowed to react with electrophiles (e.g., PhCH2Cl, CH2CI2, Me2SiCl2) to produce several new classes of metal amidinates that are not accessible by conventional routes (Scheme 104). ° ... 

No heterocycle containing a C=N bond is as powerful a director as the oxazolines or tetrazoles described above, but their imidazoline analogues 132 direct well if deprotonated to the amidine equivalent 133 of a secondary amide anion (Scheme 61). Pyrazoles 134 also direct lithiation, but need protecting with a bulky Af-substituent to prevent nucleophilic attack by the base (Scheme 62). ... 

Tertiary benzylic nitriles are useful synthetic intermediates, and have been used for the preparation of amidines, lactones, primary amines, pyridines, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and esters. The general synthetic pathway to this class of compounds relies on the displacement of an activated benzylic alcohol or benzylic halide with a cyanide source followed by double alkylation under basic conditions. For instance, 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropionitrile has been prepared by methylation of (2-methoxyphenyl)acetonitrile using sodium amide and iodomethane. In the course of the preparation of a drug candidate, the submitters discovered that the nucleophilic aromatic substitution of aryl fluorides with the anion of a secondary nitrile is an effective method for the preparation of these compounds. The reaction was studied using isobutyronitrile and 2-fluoroanisole. The submitters first showed that KHMDS was the superior base for the process when carried out in either THF or toluene (Table I). For example, they found that the preparation of 2-(2-methoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropionitrile could be accomplished h... 

Subsequently, it was shown that the reaction was catalyzed by base (48M(79)106). Dicyandiamide reacts with nitriles (the most valuable method), amidines, cyanamides, ammonia, cyanates, thiocyanates, carboxylic acids and anhydrides to yield 1,3,5-triazines (Table 13). This synthetic route has been reviewed thoroughly several times (59HC(13)1, p. 219,61MI22000, p. 650, 73ZC408). The base-catalyzed reaction of dicyandiamide with alkyl or aryl nitriles (Scheme 65) proceeds via the imino ether anion and the rate determining step is solvent dependent. In DMSO the formation of the imino ether is rate determining, but in 2-methoxyethanol the reaction between the anion and dicyandiamide controls the rate (66T157). 

Pd(0)/phosphine complexes, or their precursors, in the presence of a suitable co-base, have also been shown to promote, in good yields (66-100%), the formation of allylic carbamates from various primary and secondary aliphatic amines, pressurized C02 and allylic chlorides, in THF, at ambient temperature [87a]. The choice of the added co-base (Base), used for generating the carbamate salt RR NC02 (BaseH)+, was found to be critical for high yields of O-allylic urethanes. The use of a guanidine (CyTMG) or amidine (DBU) base was optimal for this system (see also Section 6.3.1). ft is assumed that this chemistry passes catalytically through a mechanism similar to that illustrated in Scheme 6.19. This involves nucleophilic attack by carbamate anion on a (tt-allyl) palladium species, formed by the oxidative addition of the allylic chloride to a palladium(O) intermediate. 

The mechanism of the deprotonation of dipole-stabilized anions has been studied in detail. It has been shown by IR spectroscopy that a preequilibrium exists between the butyllithium base and the amide or amidine, forming a coordination complex prior to deprotonadon. A recent mechanistic study has shown that, in cyclohexane solvent, this prior coordination is between the amide (or added TMEDA) and aggregated s-butyllithium, and that the effect of the coordination is to increase the reactivity of the complex. The diastereoselectivity of proton removal in chiral benzylic systems has also been examined,but since the anions invert, this selectivity is of little consequence in the alkylation step. 

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