Aziridines allylation

Photolysis of 1-alkylpyridinium salts, e.g., 53, is considered to involve bicyclic aziridine allylic cations 54 as intermediates (Scheme 8) <2005JOC5618>, and similar behavior has been found in certain pyrylium cations (Schemes 9 and 10). Diazabenzvalenes are implicated in the rearrangement at 300 C of certain perfluoropyridazines to pyrimidines and pyrazines (Scheme 11). 

The reaction of the vinylcyclopropanedicarboxylate 301 with amines affords an allylic amine via the 7r-allylpalladium complex 302[50]. Similarly, three-membered ring A -tosyl-2-(l,3-butadienyl)aziridine (303) and the four-mem-bered ring azetidine 304 can be rearranged to the five- and six-membered ring unsaturated cyclic amines[183]. 

The commonest of these for oxirane opening are amines and azide ion [amide ions promote isomerization to allylic alcohols (Section 5.05.3.2.2)]. Reaction with azide can be used in a sequence for converting oxiranes into aziridines (Scheme 49) and this has been employed in the synthesis of the heteroannulenes (57) and (58) (80CB3127, 79AG(E)962). 

Thermolysis of the azide 15, bearing an allyl side chain, is more complex, and in addition to ethyl 4-allylindole-2-carboxylate and ethyl 4-methyl-l//-3-benzazepine-2-carboxylate (16 oil), two unstable tricyclic aziridines 17 and 18 are produced.82 A mechanistic rationale for these results has been suggested. 

Stockman has reported the preparation of alkyl-, aryl-, and vinyl-disubstituted aziridines with good diastereoselectivities and in good yields through treatment of tert-butylsulfmylimines with the ylide 119, derived from S-allyl tetrahydrothio-phenium bromide (Scheme 1.39) [64]. A range of substrates were tolerated, including heterocyclic, aromatic, and aliphatic substrates (Table 1.16). 

It is well known that aziridination with allylic ylides is difficult, due to the low reactivity of imines - relative to carbonyl compounds - towards ylide attack, although imines do react with highly reactive sulfur ylides such as Me2S+-CH2-. Dai and coworkers found aziridination with allylic ylides to be possible when the activated imines 22 were treated with allylic sulfonium salts 23 under phase-transfer conditions (Scheme 2.8) [15]. Although the stereoselectivities of the reaction were low, this was the first example of efficient preparation of vinylaziridines by an ylide route. Similar results were obtained with use of arsonium or telluronium salts [16]. The stereoselectivity of aziridination was improved by use of imines activated by a phosphinoyl group [17]. The same group also reported a catalytic sulfonium ylide-mediated aziridination to produce (2-phenylvinyl)aziridines, by treatment of arylsulfonylimines with cinnamyl bromide in the presence of solid K2C03 and catalytic dimethyl sulfide in MeCN [18]. Recently, the synthesis of 3-alkyl-2-vinyl-aziridines by extension of Dai s work was reported [19]. 

Scheme 2.9 Mechanism of aziridination with allylic ylides.

The first of the nudeophilic ring-opening reactions of vinylaziridines discussed in this section is diborane reduction, developed by Laurent and coworkers in 1976 (Scheme 2.24). Treatment of N-unsubstituted vinylaziridines 89 with B2H6 gives allyl amines 92 by SN2 reduction via cyclic intermediates 90 [40]. In contrast, treatment with 9-BBN gives 2-(hydroxyethyl)aziridines 93 after oxidative workup (Scheme 2.25) [41]. 

Another example is indium(0)-induced electron transfer to aziridines 270 incorporating allyl iodide moieties (Scheme 2.66). Treatment with indium(O) in MeOH at reflux gave the corresponding chiral (E)-dienylamines 271 in excellent yields [98]. It should be noted that indium was found to be more effective for this transformation than other metals such as zinc, samarium, and yttrium. 

Aziridine lactone 235 (Scheme 3.87) underwent ring-opening with allyl alcohol to give a 53% yield of a-amino lactone 236, which was successfully transformed to the unnatural enantiomer of polyoxamic acid (—)-237 [32],... 

The metal catalyst is not absolutely required for the aziridination reaction, and other positive nitrogen sources may also be used. After some years of optimization of the reactions of alkenes with positive nitrogen sources in the presence of bromine equivalents, Sharpless et al. reported the utility of chloramine-T in alkene aziridinations [24]. Electron-rich or electron-neutral alkenes react with the anhydrous chloramines and phenyltrimethylammonium tribromide in acetonitrile at ambient temperature, with allylic alcohols being particularly good substrates for the reaction (Schemes 4.18 and 4.19). 

When a better leaving group than LiNSC R (e.g., OMe) is present at the a-position, retention of the potentially useful sulfonamide moiety occurs (e. g., in the conversion of aziridine 271 into the highly functionalized amino ether 272 Scheme 5.69) [98]. It should be noted that the analogous chemistry with epoxides of allylic diethers failed this could again (see above) be possibly due to the higher pKa of the epoxide proton relative to the aziridine proton. 

The (3-elimination of epoxides to allylic alcohols on treatment with strong base is a well studied reaction [la]. Metalated epoxides can also rearrange to allylic alcohols via (3-C-H insertion, but this is not a synthetically useful process since it is usually accompanied by competing a-C-H insertion, resulting in ketone enolates. In contrast, aziridine 277 gave allylic amine 279 on treatment with s-BuLi/(-)-spar-teine (Scheme 5.71) [97]. By analogy with what is known about reactions of epoxides with organolithiums, this presumably proceeds via the a-metalated aziridine 278 [101]. 

Table 12.4 Bromine-catalyzed aziridination of allylic alcohols with anhydrous TsNCINa. a]...

Reduction of iV-(3-bromopropyl) imines gives a bromo-amine in situ, which cyclizes to the aziridine. Five-membered ring amines (pyrrolidines) can be prepared from alkenyl amines via treatment with N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) and then BusSnH. " Internal addition of amine to allylic acetates, catalyzed by Pd(PPh3)4, leads to cyclic products via a Sn2 reaction. Acyclic amines can be prepared by a closely related reaction using palladium catalysts. Three-membered cyclic amines (aziridines)... 

The stereochemistry of the first step was ascertained by an X-ray analysis [8] of an isolated oxazaphospholidine 3 (R = Ph). The overall sequence from oxi-rane to aziridine takes place with an excellent retention of chiral integrity. As the stereochemistry of the oxirane esters is determined by the chiral inductor during the Sharpless epoxidation, both enantiomers of aziridine esters can be readily obtained by choosing the desired antipodal tartrate inductor during the epoxidation reaction. It is relevant to note that the required starting allylic alcohols are conveniently prepared by chain elongation of propargyl alcohol as a C3 synthon followed by an appropriate reduction of the triple bond, e. g., with lithium aluminum hydride [6b]. 

Although the Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation is an elegant method to introduce a specific defined chirality in epoxy alcohols and thus, in functionalized aziridines (see Sect. 2.1), it is restricted to the use of allylic alcohols as the starting materials. To overcome this limitation, cyclic sulfites and sulfates derived from enantiopure vfc-diols can be used as synthetic equivalents of epoxides (Scheme 5) [12,13]. 

The aziridine aldehyde 56 undergoes a facile Baylis-Hillman reaction with methyl or ethyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, methyl vinyl ketone, and vinyl sulfone [60]. The adducts 57 were obtained as mixtures of syn- and anfz-diastereomers. The synthetic utility of the Baylis-Hillman adducts was also investigated. With acetic anhydride in pyridine an SN2 -type substitution of the initially formed allylic acetate by an acetoxy group takes place to give product 58. Nucleophilic reactions of this product with, e. g., morpholine, thiol/Et3N, or sodium azide in DMSO resulted in an apparent displacement of the acetoxy group. Tentatively, this result may be explained by invoking the initial formation of an ionic intermediate 59, which is then followed by the reaction with the nucleophile as shown in Scheme 43. 

Iron phthalocyanine is an efficient catalyst for intermolecular amination of saturated C-H bonds. With 1 mol% iron phthalocyanine and 1.5 equiv. PhlNTs, amination of benzylic, tertiary, and ally lie C-H bond have been achieved in good yields (Scheme 31). With cyclohexene as substrate, the allylic C-H bond amination product was obtained in 75% yield, and the aziridination product was found in minor amount (17% yield) [79]. 

Because the aziridine part of such a molecule can be obtained easily from a double bond system, these reactions constitute a method for converting allyl alcohols into allyl amines via aziridination. 

---