Quinones, applications

Ott M. A., Noordik J. H. Long-Range Strategies in the LHASA Program The Quinone Diels-Alder Transform J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 1997 37 98 108 Keywords computer application, quinone Diels-Alder transformations... 

The synthetic procedure described is based on that reported earlier for the synthesis on a smaller scale of anthracene, benz[a]anthracene, chrysene, dibenz[a,c]anthracene, and phenanthrene in excellent yields from the corresponding quinones. Although reduction of quinones with HI and phosphorus was described in the older literature, relatively drastic conditions were employed and mixtures of polyhydrogenated derivatives were the principal products. The relatively milder experimental procedure employed herein appears generally applicable to the reduction of both ortho- and para-quinones directly to the fully aromatic polycyclic arenes. The method is apparently inapplicable to quinones having an olefinic bond, such as o-naphthoquinone, since an analogous reaction of the latter provides a product of undetermined structure (unpublished result). As shown previously, phenols and hydro-quinones, implicated as intermediates in the reduction of quinones by HI, can also be smoothly deoxygenated to fully aromatic polycyclic arenes under conditions similar to those described herein. 

Structural subgoals may be useful in the application of transform-based strategies. This is especially so with structurally complex retrons which can be mapped onto a target in only one or two ways. It is often possible in such cases quickly to derive the structure of a possible intermediate in a trial retrosynthetic sequence. For instance, with 109 as TGT the quinone-Diels-Alder transform is an obvious T-goal. The retron for that transform can readily be mapped... 

Dioxo-2, 4, 5 -trimethylcyclohexa-l, 4 -diene)-3,3-dimetbylpropi-onamide (Q). The application of this well-known acid [3-(3, 6 -dioxo-2, 4, 5 -trimethylcyclohexa-l, 4 -diene)-3,3-dimethylpropionic acid] to protection of the amino function for peptide synthesis has been examined. Reduction of the quinone with sodium dithionite causes rapid trimethyl lock -facilitated ring closure with release of the amine. 

The reduction of ,/S-unsaturated y-diketones can conveniently be done with zinc in acetic acid. The following procedure is applicable to the reduction of the Diels-Alder adduct of quinone and butadiene (Chapter 8, Section II). 

Photoredox systems involving carbonyl compounds and amines are used in many applications. Carbonyl compounds employed include benzophenone and derivatives, a-diketones [e.g. benzil, cainphoroquinone (85),2W 291 9,10-phenanthrene quinone], and xanthone and coumarin derivatives. The amines are tertiary and must have a-hydrogens [e.g. N,A7-dimethylani 1 ine, Michler s ketone (86)]. The radicals formed are an a-aminoalkyl radical and a ketyl radical. 

The general applicability of this type of synthesis of quinone diazides is nevertheless limited since, depending on the type and number of substituents in the 2-, 4-, and 6-positions of benzenediazonium ions, either hydroxy-de-diazoniation (reaction A in Scheme 2-20) or nucleophilic substitution of one of the groups in the 2-, 4-, or 6-position (reaction B) will predominate. It is difficult to predict the ratio of the two reactions in a specific case. This is exemplified by two investigations carried... 

The y-nitrogen atom of a sulfonic acid azide is electrophilic and reacts in an electrophilic aromatic substitution with an activated benzene or naphthalene derivative, e.g., a phenoxide ion, forming a l-tosyl-3-aryltriazene (2.47). The 1,4-quinone diazide is obtained by hydrolysis (Scheme 2-30, Tedder and Webster, 1960). The general applicability of this reaction seems to be doubtful. With 1-naphthol the 1,2-naphthoquinone diazide was obtained, not the 1,4-isomer. 

Photo-de-diazoniation has found relatively little application in organic synthesis, as is clearly evident from the annual Specialist Periodical Reports on Photochemistry published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Since the beginning of these reports (1970) they have contained a section on the elimination of nitrogen from diazo compounds, written since 1973 by Reid (1990). In the 1980s (including 1990), at least 90% of each report is concerned with dediazoniations of diazoalkanes and non-quinon-oid diazo ketones, the rest being mainly related to quinone diazides and only occasionally to arenediazonium salts. 

Synthetic Applications of the Diels-Alder Reaction. Diels-Alder reactions have long played an important role in synthetic organic chemistry.74 The reaction of a substituted benzoquinone and 1,3-butadiene, for example, was the first step in one of the early syntheses of steroids. The angular methyl group was introduced by the methyl group on the quinone and the other functional groups were used for further elaboration. 

Stabilization of quinone methides by coordination to transition metals might have various applications, beyond the important structural and spectroscopic studies of these coordinated compounds. For example, it is possible to manipulate their structure while coordinated to the metal center and affect their controlled release and trapping, leading to new synthetic procedures. 

INTERMOLECULAR APPLICATIONS OF 0-QUINONE METHIDES (o-QMs) ANIONICALLY GENERATED AT LOW TEMPERATURES KINETIC CONDITIONS... 

Given their extraordinary reactivity, one might assume that o-QMs offer plentiful applications as electrophiles in synthetic chemistry. However, unlike their more stable /tora-quinone methide (p-QM) cousin, the potential of o-QMs remains largely untapped. The reason resides with the propensity of these species to participate in undesired addition of the closest available nucleophile, which can be solvent or the o-QM itself. Methods for o-QM generation have therefore required a combination of low concentrations and high temperatures to mitigate and reverse undesired pathways and enable the redistribution into thermodynamically preferred and desired products. Hence, the principal uses for o-QMs have been as electrophilic heterodienes either in intramolecular cycloaddition reactions with nucleophilic alkenes under thermodynamic control or in intermolecular reactions under thermodynamic control where a large excess of a reactive nucleophile thwarts unwanted side reactions by its sheer vast presence. 

Sugimoto, H. Nakamura, S. Ohwada, T. Generation and application of o-quinone methides bearing various substituents on the benzene ring. Adv. Synth. Catal. 2007, 349, 669-679. 

In recent years advances in the chemistry of leuco dyes have taken place particularly in the areas of structural identification by means of H- and 13C-NMR and selective syntheses of aminoquinones, etc. New applications of leuco quinones such as in electro-optical devices and information recording media have enhanced their importance. In these applications, the chemistry of leuco quinones is interesting mainly due to switching from a colored to a colorless system by a redox process. 

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