Aryl ether sulfonyl chlorides

Benzoxepins are frequently synthesized by cyclization of alkyl aryl or diaryl ether precursors. An intramolecular Wittig reaction (equation 48) is used to provide the ring closure step in the synthesis of 1-benzoxepin (28) (68JOC2591). An internuclear cyclization reaction of an aromatic sulfonyl chloride (equation 49) occurred upon heating (250 °C) in the presence of a copper chloride catalyst to yield tribenz[6,d,/]oxepin (175). The analogous thiepin (see equation 71) may also be synthesized by this route (65T1299). 

We are going to do a little more than simply give the reactions that eventually made up the synthesis of dofetilide. We are going to put ourselves in the place of the chemists who invented the synthesis and try to see what led them to the reactions they chose. First, we should inspect the structure of the molecule. There are two sulfonamides, one at each end. We have seen how to make sulfonamides earlier in this chapter when saccharin was being discussed. The usual way is to react the amine with a sulfonyl chloride. In this case we shall need to react methane sulfonyl chloride (MeS02Cl or MsCl) with the aromatic amines. This is a well-known reaction and should work well here. The other functional groups—tertiary amine and alkyl aryl ether—should not interfere so no protection is needed. 

Various synthetic approaches have been demonstrated for the synthesis of PAEs since early days [35 0], PAEs were synthesized by Ullmann condensation between bisphenols and aryl fcis-halide monomers using Cu(I) salt/pyridine as catalyst [36], General Electric developed the first commercially successful PAE poly(2,6-dimethyl phenylene oxide) (PPO) [38], It was prepared by oxidative coupling of 2,6-dimethyI phenol. However, this process has its own restrictions, because it does not allow much structural variation or inclusion of any electron-withdrawing group into the polymer main chain. First attempts to synthesize polysulfones (PSF) were successfully done by Friedel-Crafts sulfonylation reaction of arylenedisulfonyl chlorides, for example, diphenyl ether-4,4 -disulfonyl chloride with diaryl ethers, for example, diphenyl ether, or by self-condensation of 4-phenoxy benzene sulfonyl chloride in the presence of FeCls [41], Whereas the former reaction involves side reactions (sulfonylation not only in the para- but also in the ort/io-position), the latter produces only the desired linear all-para products. 

Miscellaneous Transformations. Cyanotrimethylsilane effects the transformation of acyl chlorides to acyl cyanides, a-chloro ethers and a-chloro thioethers to a-cyano ethers and a-cyano thioethers (eq 19), t-butyl chlorides to nitriles (eqs 20 and 21), 1,3,5-trisubstituted hexahydro-l,3,5-triazines to amino-acetonitriles, the cyanation of allylic carbonates and acetates (eqs 22 and 23), and the formation of aryl thiocyanates from aryl sulfonyl chlorides and sulfinates. The reagent has been used effectively in peptide synthesis and in a range of other synthetic applications. " ... 

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