Aziridines ring-expansion reactions

Keywords Aziridine-2-carboxylic esters. Ring expansion reactions, Azirine carboxylic esters, Aziridine carbinols. Anomalous amino acids... 

It should be noted that this sequence shown in Scheme 31 is complementary to that depicted in Scheme 30 in which a-hydroxy-j9-amino acids are prepared. This chemistry of aziridine- and oxiranecarboxylic esters and the corresponding ring expansion reactions has been elaborated to a general protocol for the synthesis of j9-hydroxy-a-amino and a-hydroxy-j9-amino acids, respectively [1,411. 

The highly strained and reactive 2iT-azirines have been extensively studied for various synthetic purposes, such as ring expansion reactions, cycloaddition reactions, preparation of functionalized amines and substituted aziridines. The older literature on azirines in synthesis has extensively been reviewed [69]. Concerning azirines with defined chirality only scarce information is available. Practically all reactions of azirines take place at the activated imine bond. Reduction with sodium borohydride leads to cz5-substituted aziridines as is shown in Scheme 48 [26,28]. 

Since Alper and co-workers reported the first Rh-catalyzed carbonylative ring expansion of aziridines, yielding /3-lactams in 1989, this ring-expansion reaction catalyzed by Rh or Co complexes and its mechanism have been extensively studied. ... 

Substituent effects on aziridine formation from N-(2-halogenoethy 1) arylsulphonamides by cyclization in basic media have been studied,425 and Hammett equation studies have also been of utility in determination of mechanisms of thermal decomposition of 3-chloro-3-aryldiazirines,426 427 the acid-catalyzed methanolysis of arylepoxides,428 and the ring expansion reactions of 2-aryl-l,l-dimethylaziridinium salts with benzaldehyde to form 5-aryl-3,3-dimethyl-2-phenyloxazolidinium salts.429... 

Rh-complexes in carbonylative ring expansion reactions of a variety of aziridines with carbon monoxide, which resulted in the formation of (3-lactams in good yields. It was reported that the catalytic system could be easily recovered by simple filtration and recycled without significant loss of activity. 

A nitrene generated from the reaction of A-aminophthalimide (101) and PhI(OAc)2 was key to the metal-free ring expansion of alkylidenecyclopropanes (102) and an alkylidenecyclobutane.85 The authors propose two plausible mechanisms for these ring-expansion reactions either an aziridine is formed which undergoes facile rearrangement to form the final 2,2-disubstituted cyclobutylidene hydrazine product (103), or reaction of the alkylidenecyclopropane with the nitrene generates an ionic or diradical species which rearranges. 

Enantiomerically pure N,N-disubstituted imidazolidine-2-one-4-carboxylates 332 can also be obtained in a one-step, simple, and highly efficient manner using a Lewis acid-catalyzed ring-expansion reaction of commercially available chiral aziridines with isocyanates. These reactions proceed both regio- and stereospecifically with retention of the configuration at the C-2 carbon of the chiral aziridines <2005CC3062>. The C(2)-N bond of the aziridine... 

The transition-metal-catalyzed carbonylation reaction has been extensively investigated, and especially the carbonylative ring expansion reaction of strained heterocycles has been shown to be a useful and efficient procedure to synthesize lactams, lactones, and thiolactones.203 The carbonylation of epoxides and aziridines 450 is a powerful tool to construct the /Mactone and /Mactam skeletons 451 (Scheme 142).204 This type of reactions can be regarded as a hetero-[3 + 1]-cycloaddition. 

With respect to ring-expansion reactions of aziridines, 4-aryltetrahy-droisoquinolines were synthesized by a scandium(III) triflate-mediated intramolecular aziridine ring expansion (14TL6787). Additionally, a regi-oselective aziridine-to-pyrrolidinone ring expansion was reported as part of an asymmetric synthesis of (-i-)-lentiginosine (14TA497), while NBS was... 

With the same concept, but using the more reactive Ti(III) cationic radical [Cp2TiCl(THF)2] or a cationic salphen aluminum complex in combination with the cobalt anion [Co(CO)4] , Coates et al. succeeded to make the epoxide or aziridine carbonylative ring expansion reaction catalytic (Scheme 60) [149]. For both substrates, it is proposed a nucleophilic attack of the cobalt anion at the least-substituted carbon atom of the three-membered ring, the latter being activated by the Lewis acidic part of the catalyst. Of note, catalysts 106 and 107 used in this reaction are described as ion pairs rather than M-Co bond containing complexes. 

Altihough many of the early examples of the carbonylation of heterocycles included reactions of tetrahydrofurans, oxetanes, and azetidines, the majority of recent work has focused on the reactions of epoxides and aziridines. At this point, the ring-expansive reactions of epoxides are more general than the reactions of aziridines and occur imder milder conditions. Prior to 1994, ring-expansive carbonylation of epoxides was restricted to a few substrates. The patent by Droit and Kragtwijk s in 1994 inspired further work on these t)rpes of carbonylations, and tiiis work led to dramatic improvements in reaction scope. 

Kametani s group has applied the diazomethane ring expansion reaction of 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline methiodides to the preparation of isopavines. The carbon insertion reaction with the 3-aryl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline methiodide 13 supplied a crude aziridinium iodide which upon standing in 6N hydrochloric acid for a week underwent successive ring expansion and closure, probably through the quinone methide 14, to furnish reframidine in 20% yield from the aziridine salt ... 

The ring-opening and ring-expansion reactions between various nucleophiles and variously substituted aziridine-2-carboxylates," and the organocatalytic reactions of... 

The most useful reactions combine carbanion nucleophiles with activated aziridines. For example, the ring expansion which occurs on treatment of aziridines (219) with malonate salts typifies the heterocyclic synthesis possible. The conversion is quite general since many analogous transformations have been observed in which different carbanion stabilizing substituents were employed (73S546). 

Ring expansion of activated aziridines (43) with sulfur ylides also provides a synthesis of azetidines (75JOC2990, 58BSF345, 81CC417). The highly reactive sulfonium methylide (44 R = R = H) undergoes further reaction with the azetidines (46), but the reaction is satisfactory for substituted methylides. The less reactive sulfoxonium methylide (45 R = R = H)... 

A number of 2-acylazetidines have been prepared by reaction of 1,3-dihaloacyl compounds with amino derivatives (Section 5.09.2.3.l(m)). This is illustrated for azetidine 2-carboxylic acid (56), the only known naturally occurring azetidine. Ring expansion of activated aziridines (43) and contraction of 4-oxazolines (55) has also found limited use (Section 5.09.2.3.2(f) and Hi)). 

Aziridine, 2,3-diphenyl-l-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-irradiation, 7, 61 Aziridine, 1,2-divinyl-rearrangement, 7, 539 Aziridine, 2,3-divinyl-rearrangement, 7, 42, 65, 539 Aziridine, N-ethyl-inversion, 7, 6 Aziridine, 2-halo-reactions, 7, 74 Aziridine, A/-halo-invertomers, 7, 6 Aziridine, 2-methyl- N NMR, 7, 11 Aziridine, methylene-ring-ring valence isomerizations, 7, 22 synthesis, 7, 92 Aziridine, iV-nitroso-reactions, 7, 74 Aziridine, iV-phosphino-inversion, 7, 7 Aziridine, 1-phthalimido-UV irradiation, 7, 62-63 Aziridine, l-(3-thienyl)-2-vinyl-rearrangement, 4, 746 Aziridine, 7V-trimethylsilyl-inversion, 7, 7 Aziridine, 1,2,3-triphenyl-irradiation, 7, 61 Aziridine, vinyl-isomerization, S, 287 Aziridinecarboxylic acid ring expansion, 7, 262 Aziridine-2,2-dicarboxylic acid, 1-methoxy-diethyl ester... 

N-Acylaziridine-2-carboxylates readily rearrange to oxazolines under thennal, acidic, or nucleophilic conditions [91, 123-127]. Treatment of trans-aziridine-2-car-boxylate 176 (Scheme 3.63) with Nal in acetonitrile, for example, resulted in ring-expansion product 177 through the so-called Heine reaction. The reaction involves initial opening of the aziridine ring by iodide and subsequent oxazoline ring-closure by Sn2 displacement of the resultant iodide intermediate [127]. 

Treatment of aziridine 137 (Scheme 3.64) with benzoyl chloride in the presence of pyridine and DMAP afforded ring-expansion product 179 in 90% yield [45], The reaction was believed to proceed through the intermediate N-acylaziridine 178. 

When aziridine 194 (Scheme 3.71) was treated with a catalytic amount of NaOEt in ethanol it underwent an intramolecular ring-expansion to pyrrolidinone 195 in 88% yield [130]. The ring-opening took place via an internal SN2 reaction, which was confirmed by an X-ray analysis of the product 195. It is interesting to note that under similar reaction conditions 196 (Scheme 3.72) afforded P-lactam product 197 [130]. 

In 2003, Bonini et al. reported a new synthesis of ferrocenyloxazolines based on an iodide-mediated ring expansion of A-ferrocenoyl-aziridine-2-carboxylic esters. The thus-formed ligands were successfully employed as palladium chelates for the test reaction, since they allowed the product to be formed in quantitative yields and good to high enantioselectivities (Scheme 1.69). According to the results, it seemed that the additional chiral centre present in the oxazoline backbone of these ligands did not play a major role for the asymmetric induction and the activity of the corresponding catalysts. 

These findings can be interpreted in terms of a normal ring-opening mechanism of intermediate 325 with proton transfer favored by protic solvent, whilst in aprotic solvent cycloreversion of the unstable aziridinium grouping in 325 followed by ring expansion prevails. Likewise, 2,3-disubstituted aziridines follow this reaction pattern, while N-substituted aziridines do not225. ... 

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