1-Azirine

Unlike l//-azirine, 2//-azirines can be used preparatively, although the ring strain is substantially greater than that of the saturated three-membered heterocycles. The ring strain enthalpy amounts to approximately 170 kJ mol h 

2/f-Azirine is thermally unstable and has to be stored at very low temperatures. Substituted 2H-azirines are more stable. They are liquids or low melting solids. Their basicity is substantially lower than that of comparable aliphatic compounds. For instance, 2-methyl-3-phenyl-2//-azirine is not soluble in hydrochloric acid. 

The ring strain endows the C=N double bond with an exceptionally high reactivity. Electrophilic reagents attack the N-atom, nucleophilic reagents the C-atom. For example, methanol added in the presence of a catalytic amount of sodium methoxide produces 2-methoxyaziridines  

Carboxylic acids also add to the C=N double bond and the products rearrange to more stable compounds with opening of the aziridine ring. A method for peptide synthesis is based on these reactions [15]  

For instance, when the carboxyl group of an A -(benzoyloxycarbonyl)amino acid reacts with a 2-substituted or a 2,2-disubstituted 3 (dimethylamino)-2//-azirine in diethyl ether at room temperature, the A, A -dimethylamide of the dipeptide is obtained quantitatively. Its hydrolysis with 3N hydrochloric acid yields the A -(benzyloxycarbonyl)dipeptide. 

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The a-methylene-/3-lactam 103 is obtained by the carbonylation of the inethyleneaziridine 102 under mild conditions[91]. The azirine 104 undergoes an interesting dimerization-carbonylation to form the fused )3-lactam 105[92]. 

The main example of a category I indole synthesis is the Hemetsberger procedure for preparation of indole-2-carboxylate esters from ot-azidocinna-mates[l]. The procedure involves condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with an azidoacetate ester, followed by thermolysis of the resulting a-azidocinna-mate. The conditions used for the base-catalysed condensation are critical since the azidoacetate enolate can decompose by elimination of nitrogen. Conditions developed by Moody usually give good yields[2]. This involves slow addition of the aldehyde and 3-5 equiv. of the azide to a cold solution of sodium ethoxide. While the thermolysis might be viewed as a nitrene insertion reaction, it has been demonstrated that azirine intermediates can be isolated at intermediate temperatures[3]. 

Alky]-5-imino-3-methy -A2-l,2,4-thiadiazoIines react exotherm ally at 0°C with dibenzoy] or dimethoxy carbonylacetylenes in tetrahydrofuran to give the 2-alkylaminothiazoles in high yields (1564). The cycio addition reaction of 2-pyridyl isothiocyanates with 1-azirines results in the formation of 2-pyridylaminothiazoles (1565). 

The pyrazole ring is resistant to oxidation and reduction. Only ozonolysis, electrolytic oxidations, or strong base can cause ring fission. On photolysis, pyrazoles undergo an unusual rearrangement to yield imidazoles via cleavage of the N —N2 bond, followed by cyclization of the radical iatermediate to azirine (27). 

There are several examples of the formation of pyridazines from other heterocycles, such as azirines, furans, pyrroles, isoxazoles, pyrazoles or pyrans and by ring contraction of 1,2-diazepines. Their formation is mentioned in Section 2.12.6.3.2. 

The photolysis of azirines has been shown to result in dimerization to pyrazines (72JA1395) and although this formally corresponds to a type B synthesis it involves an isolable intermediate (105) and does not proceed by simple dimerization (Scheme 70). 

The exploration of the chemistry of azirines has led to the discovery of several pyrrole syntheses. From a mechanistic viewpoint the simplest is based upon their ability to behave as a-amino ketone equivalents in reactions analogous to the Knorr pyrrole synthesis cf. Section 3.03.3.2.2), as illustrated in Schemes 91a and 91b for reactions with carbanions. Parallel reactions with enamines or a-keto phosphorus ylides can be effected with electron-deficient 2//-azirines (Scheme 91c). Conversely, electron-rich azirines react with electron deficient alkynes (Scheme 91d). 

The ring opening of 2//-azirines to yield vinylnitrenes on thermolysis, or nitrile ylides on photolysis, also leads to pyrrole formation (B-82MI30301). Some examples proceeding via nitrile ylides are shown in Scheme 92. The consequences of attempts to carry out such reactions in an intramolecular fashion depend not only upon the spatial relationship of the double bond and the nitrile ylide, but also upon the substituents of the azirine moiety since these can determine whether the resulting ylide is linear or bent. The HOMO and second LUMO of a bent nitrile ylide bear a strong resemblance to the HOMO and LUMO of a singlet carbene so that 1,1-cycloadditions occur to carbon-carbon double bonds rather than the 1,3-cycloadditions needed for pyrrole formation. The examples in Scheme 93 provide an indication of the sensitivity of these reactions to structural variations. 

The course of the photochemically mediated isomerization of vinylazirines is dependent on the stereochemistry of the vinyl group, as is illustrated in Scheme 94a (75JA4682). Under thermal conditions the isomerization proceeds through formation of the butadienylnitrene and subsequent pyrrole formation. Analogous conversions of azirines to indoles have also been effected (Scheme 94b). It is possible that some of the vinyl azide cyclizations discussed in Section 3.03.2.1 proceed via the azirine indeed, such an intermediate has been observed... 

Another interesting feature of these azirine reactions is that many of the thermally initiated reactions can be effected at room temperature in the presence of a suitable transition metal catalyst. Some typical examples are displayed in Scheme 95. 

For isoxazoles the first step is the fission of the weak N—O bond to give the diradical (51) which is in equilibrium with the vinylnitrene (52). Recyclization now gives the substituted 2//-azirine (53) which via the carbonyl-stabilized nitrile ylide (54) can give the oxazole (55). In some cases the 2H-azirine, which is formed both photochemically and thermally, has been isolated in other cases it is transformed quickly into the oxazole (79AHC(2.5)U7). 

Diazopyrazole (436) undergoes gas-phase thermal extrusion to form an azirine, probably by the mechanism shown (8lAHC(28)23i) 4-diazopyrazoles show normal diazonium-type reactions (Schemes 55 and 56) (67AHC(8)l). Analogous diazoimidazoles and diazopurines are known (67AHC(8)i). 

A similar regiospecific [2 -I- 2] cycloaddition across a C=S group occurred when benzoyl isothiocyanate (436) and 2,3-diphenyl-1-azirine were heated in refiuxing benzene for 12 hours. The product obtained was shown to be (438) and an intermediate such as (437) could also be involved in this cycloaddition (74JOC3763). In contrast, thiobenzoyl isocyanate added in a [4-1-2] fashion, and after ring expansion gave a thiadiazepine derivative. 

Photolysis of 2,3-diphenyl-A -azirine (442) generates benzonitrile ylide (443). Irradiation in the presence of ethyl cyanoformate resulted in a mixture of the oxazoline (444) and the imidazole (445) by 1,3-dlpolar cycloaddition to the carbonyl and nitrile group, respectively (72HCA919). 

Isoxazoles largely undergo photochemical isomerization to azirines, which sometimes undergo a further thermal or photochemical reaction. 3,4,5-Triarylisoxazole (529) formed the 2,3-diphenyl-3-benzoylazirine (530) which underwent further reaction to the oxazole (531) 72JA1199). A small amount of the corresponding benzoyl ketenimine was also obtained. 

The 1,2-bond is homolytically cleaved by both thermolytic and photolytic means to generate a biradical (17) which in the absence of reactive groups generally forms a 2//-azirine (79AHC(25)147). No direct evidence for the biradical has been presented, but indirect evidence points to such a species. Acylpyrazines have in some instances been isolated, and these would arise by dimerization of the biradical (70JCS(C)1825, 7UCS(C)2644). 

Salicylonitrile is believed to arise by direct cleavage with subsequent hydrogen transfer, while the benzoxazoles were produced by an isocyanide intermediate (73JA919, 74HCA376). Photolysis in D2O tends to confirm this possibility and rule out an azirine intermediate (39), due to deuterium corporation into the molecule (Scheme 10) (74HCA376). 

The participation of a single double bond of a heterocycle is found in additions of small and large rings azirines (Section 5.04.3.3) and thietes (Section 5.14.3.11) furnish examples. Azepines and nonaromatic heteronins react in this mode, especially with electron deficient dienes (Scheme 16 Section 5.16.3.8.1). 

Important synthetic paths to azirines and aziridines involve bond reorganization, or internal addition, of vinylnitrenes. Indeed, the vinylnitrene-azirine equilibrium has been demonstrated in the case of trans-2-methyl-3-phenyl-l-azirine, which at 110 °C racemizes 2000 times faster than it rearranges to 2-methylindole (80CC1252). Created in the Neber rearrangement or by decomposition of vinyl azides, the nitrene can cyclize to the p -carbon to give azirines (Scheme 4 Section 5.04.4.1). 

The conversion of small rings to smaller ones, without loss, is not common. 3-Chloroazetidine isomerizes reversibly to 2-chloromethylaziridine (Section 5.09.2.2.5). Flash vacuum pyrolysis can convert isoxazoles to azirines (Section 5.04.4.3). More common is the isomerization of medium-sized, i.e. five- or six-membered rings, e.g. certain succinimides (Scheme 23) (81JOC27) to azetidinediones, or bicyclic 1,2-dioxetanes to bis-oxiranes (Section 5.05.4.3.2). 

MO methods have been used to calculate dipole moments of each of the three ring systems (73MI50403, B-70MI50400). Calculated values for aziridine are somewhat higher (2.09-2.40 D) than the known experimental value (1.89 D). Dipole moment studies on a few simple aziridines have led to the determination of the preferred conformation of N-arylaziridines in solution and in the vapor state (71JCS(C)2104, 66DOK(169)839). For the 1-azirine system, no values have been determined experimentally, but values of 2.40-2.56 D for 1-azirine and 2.50-2.51 D for 2-azirine have been calculated (73MI50403). 

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