3- Aryl-substituted 2//-azirines

The thermal chemistry of a number of aryl-substituted azirines often results in the formation of indole derivatives (68TL3499). Thus, heating a sample of azirine (152) gave 3-phenylindole (155) and dihydropyrazine (156). The formation of (155) was suggested to... 

Succinimide synthesis.3 Reaction of 2-phenylazirine (1) and Mo(CO)6 (1 equiv.) with diethyl sodiomalonate furnishes the succinimide 2 in 46% yield. This reaction is applicable generally to 2-aryl-substituted azirines and carbanions of 0-dicarbonyl com-... 

The 5,7-diaryl-2-fluoro-4/7-l,3-diazepines have been synthesized from 3-aryl-substituted 277-azirines and difluoro-carbene (Scheme 13). The reaction involves isomerization of azirinium ylide into a 2-aza-l,3-diene, which undergoes [4+2] cycloaddition with the starting azirine, followed by ring expansion and dehydrofluorination <2006TL639>. 

The simplest member of the class of vinyl azides, H2C=CH-N3, has been known for about 100 years. However, it was not until the late 1960s that vinyl azides became an important and synthetically useful class of organic compound. The most interesting and important reaction of vinyl azides is the formation of azirines produced upon photolysis and thermolysis of vinyl azides. Smolinsky and Pryde first observed azirine formation, together with a small amount of keteneimine, by gas-phase pyrolysis of a-aryl-substituted vinyl azides. 

After copper and palladium, rhodium is the third most important transition metal for the synthesis of the indole ring. For a 2007 review on this reaction, see Patil and Paiil [1], Some early examples (Scheme 1) are Alper s rhodium reaction of 2-aryl-2/7-azirines to give 2-styiylindoles (equation 1) [2], Watanabe s Rh-catalyzed Fischer indole synthesis (equation 2) [3], Ucciani s 3-methylindole synthesis via the hydroformylation of o-nitrostyrene (equation 3) [4], and Burst s preparation of 3-acetyl-2-hydrox-yindoles from the Rh-catalyzed decomposition and carbenoid aromatic C-H bond insertion (equation 4) [5]. Narasaka extended Alper s 2-aryl-2//-azirine reaction to a Rh(II)-catalyzed synthesis of 2,3-disubstituted indoles [6], and both Cenini [7] and Alper [8] stretched the deoxygenation of o-nitrostyrenes to give indoles. Burst s Rh-catalyzed decomposition of a-diazo carbonyl compounds was used by Bauban [9] and Jha [10] in the synthesis of substituted oxindoles. 

The nickel-iminophosphine-catalysed 4- -2-cycloaddition of enones with allenes formed highly substituted dihydropyrans. The enantioselective amine-catalysed 4-I-2-cycloaddition of allenoates with oxo-dienes produced polysubstituted dihydropyrans in high yields and with high enantioselectivities. Novel enam-ine/metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysis has been used in the asymmetric inverse-electron-demand hetero-Diels—Alder reactions of cyclic ketones with Q ,j9-unsaturated a-ketoesters. The 4- -2-cycloaddition of acylketenes (80) with 2-unsubstituted and 2-monosubstituted 3-aryl-2//-azirines (81) produced 1 1 (82) or 2 1 (83) adducts, being derivatives of 5-oxa-l-azabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-ene or 5,7-dioxa-l-azabicyclo[4.4.1]undeca-3,8-diene. The formation of the monoadducts proceeds via a stepwise non-pericyclic mechanism (Scheme 25). A-heterocyclic carbene-catalysed 4- -2-cycloaddition of ketenes with 1-azadienes yielded optically active 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2-ones (93% ee) ... 

The thermal chemistry of a number of related aryl-substituted 2/f-azirines were also studied. The 2-naphthyl-substituted azirines 299 were found to rearrange to benz[g]indole 300. The selectivity encountered here was attributed to the higher energy content of the intermediate leading to the alternative benz[/]indole system 302. Heteroaromatic systems were also found to undergo thermal rearrangement via highly selective reaction paths ... 

Smolinsky and Pryde first observed azirine formation, together with small amount of ketenimin, by gas-phase pyrolysis of a-aryl substituted vinyl azides. 

Bromo-j3-nitrostyrene and triphenylphosphine in dry benzene gave the phosphonium bromide (47). Using methanol as the solvent, the rearranged product (48) was formed, possibly via an azirine intermediate. Substituted -bromo-/3-nitrostyrenes yield the phosphoranes (49) and a phosphonium salt. When the aryl group is electron-donating, the reaction follows a different course to form the styrene (50) by initial attack of the phosphine on halogen. 

The ring cleavage of 3-aryl-2-substituted-2//-azirines by molybdenum hexacarbonyl has been described earlier in regard to the synthesis of pyrroles, pyrazoles and isoxazoles. In contrast to this behavior, analogous reactions of 2-unsubstituted derivatives lead to the formation of mixtures of 2,5-diarylpyrazines (139) and isomeric 3,6- and 1,6-dihydropyrazine derivatives (140,141) (Scheme 163).47,53 It is possible that the pyrazine products are formed by an intermolecular nitrene mechanism akin to the intramolecular processes described earlier (see Scheme 22 in Section IV,A,1). 

Taber and Tian have employed the Neber protocol to prepare a-aryl azirines that underwent thermal rearrangement to afford substituted indoles via a unique Ie type ring closure <06JACS1058>. A variety of substituted N-alkyl and N-aryl indoles have been prepared by Zhao and co-workers who observed Ie cyclization of 2-aryl-3-arylamino-2-... 

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