Azomethines, complexation reactions

In a similar approach, Garner et al. (78) made use of silicon-based tethers between ylide and dipolarophile during their program of research into the application of azomethine ylides in the total asymmetric synthesis of complex natural products. In order to form advanced synthetic intermediates of type 248 during the asymmetric synthesis of bioxalomycins (249), an intramolecular azomethine ylide reaction from aziridine ylide precursors was deemed the best strategy (Scheme 3.84). Under photochemically induced ylide formation and subsequent cycloaddition, the desired endo-re products 250 were formed exclusively. However, due to unacceptably low synthetic yields, this approach was abandoned in favor of a longer tether (Scheme 3.85). 

However, replacement of LiBr with AgOAc inverted the ratio of exo to endo products. For Ar = 334, the major adduct was isolated in 42% yield with an endo/ exo ratio of 1 1.7, while Ar = 335 gave 333 in 36% yield with an endo/exo ratio of 1 2.3. Note that attempts at the thermal reaction met with low yields of complex reaction mixmres containing all possible regio- and stereoisomers. This smdy exemplifies the value of metal mediation in the stereo- and regiocontrol of azomethine ylide cycloadditions. 

For azomethine ylides and carbonyl ylides, the diastereoselectivity is more complex as the presence of an additional chiral center in the product allows for the formation of four diastereomers. Since the few reactions that are described in this chapter of these dipoles give rise to only one diastereomer, this topic will not be mentioned further here [10]. 

Grigg et al. have found that chiral cobalt and manganese complexes are capable of inducing enantioselectivity in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of azomethine... 

High levels of asymmetric induction (97-74% ee) along with high diastereoselectivity (>99 1-64 36) were reported for asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of fused azomethine imines 315 and 3-acryloyl-2-oxazolidinone 709 leading to 711 using a chiral BINIM-Ni(n) complex 710 as a chiral Lewis acid catalyst (Equation 100) <20070L97>. 

The intermolecular reaction of imines with acceptor-substituted carbene complexes generally leads to the formation of azomethine ylides. These can undergo several types of transformation, such as ring closure to aziridines [1242-1245], 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions [1133,1243,1246-1248], or different types of rearrangement (Figure 4.9). 

Due to the increased reactivity of the reaction in the presence of a Lewis acid, the reaction scope was extended to singly activated alkenes. Previous results had shown either no reaction or extremely poor yields. However, under the Lewis acid catalyzed conditions, acrylonitrile furnished a 1 1, endo/exo mixture of products. The addition of the catalyst gave unexpected regiochemistry in the reaction, which is analogous with results described in Grigg s metal catalyzed reactions. These observations in the reversal of regio- and stereocontrol of the reactions were rationalized by a reversal of the dominant, interacting frontier orbitals to a LUMO dipole-HOMO dipolarophile combination due to the ylide-catalyst complex. This complex resulted in a further withdrawal of electrons from the azomethine ylide. 

In this section, those reactions in which the ylide is attached by a tether to the dipolaraphile resulting in an intramolecular cycloaddition will be discussed. To date, such a strategy has proved to be one of the less investigated aspects of azomethine ylide chemistry. However, intramolecular azomethine ylide technology, when combined with the excellent stereocontrol offered by cycloaddition reactions, allows for the rapid construction of complex polycyclic systems from relatively simple precursors. Consequently, it represents a highly attractive synthetic protocol that makes it a candidate for further investigation in the coming years. 

In an extensive study into the application of the decarboxylative approach to azomethine ylides, Giigg reported the construction of numerous, complex polycyclic systems via an intramolecular protocol. Thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (263) was shown to react with 264 in refluxing toluene to furnish a 2 1 mixture of 265 and 266 in 63% yield (81). The reaction is assumed to occur via condensation of the aldehyde and amino acid to generate the imine 267, followed by cyclization to 268. Subsequent thermal decarboxylation of the ester generates either a syn dipole leading to 265 from an exo transition state, or an anti dipole and endo transition state generating adduct 266 (Scheme 3.90). 

These newly discovered methods have found wide synthetic application. Examples include the generation and cycloaddition of stabilized N-unsubstituted azomethine ylides, nonstabilized N-substituted azomethine ylides, and even the parent azomethine ylides bearing no carbon substituents (19). However, these modem procedures often require severe reaction conditions such as high reaction temperatures, the use of polar solvents, and the use of strong bases, among others. The poor stereo- and regioselectivities that are often observed in the cycloadditions of nonstabilized azomethine ylides have discouraged their use in the stereocontrolled synthesis of complex molecules. 

The stereochemistry of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of azomethine ylides with alkenes is more complex. In this reaction, up to four new chiral centers can be formed and up to eight different diastereomers may be obtained (Scheme 12.4). There are three different types of diastereoselectivity to be considered, of which the two are connected. First, the relative geometry of the terminal substituents of the azomethine ylide determine whether the products have 2,5-cis or 2,5-trans conformation. Most frequently the azomethine ylide exists in one preferred configuration or it shifts between two different forms. The addition process can proceed in either an endo or an exo fashion, but the possible ( ,Z) interconversion of the azomethine ylide confuses these terms to some extent. The endo-isomers obtained from the ( , )-azomethine ylide are identical to the exo-isomers obtained from the (Z,Z)-isomer. Finally, the azomethine ylide can add to either face of the alkene, which is described as diastereofacial selectivity if one or both of the substrates are chiral or as enantioselectivity if the substrates are achiral. 

Another approach employing chiral acyclic azomethine ylides was published in two recent papers by Alcaide et al. (85,86). The azomethine ylide-silver complex (51) was formed in situ by reaction of the formyl-substituted chiral azetidinone (50) with glycine (or alanine) in the presence of AgOTf and a base (Scheme 12.18). Azomethine ylides formed in this manner were subjected to reaction with various electron-deficient alkenes. One example of this is the reaction with nitrostyrene, as illustrated in Scheme 12.18 (86). The reaction is proposed to proceed via a two step tandem Michael-Henry process in which the products 52a and 52b are isolated in a... 

Grigg and co-workers (383) found that chiral cobalt and manganese complexes are capable of inducing enantioselectivity in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of azomethine ylides derived from arylidene imines of glycine (Scheme 12.91). This work was published in 1991 and is the first example of a metal-catalyzed asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The reaction of the azomethine yhde 284a with methyl acrylate 285 required a stoichiometric amount of cobalt and 2 equiv of the chiral ephedrine ligand. Up to 96% ee was obtained for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition product 286a. 

Similar to those of oxygen and sulfur ylide, ammonium ylide or azomethine ylide can be generated by the interaction of metal carbene and amine or imine, respectively. As is the case of sulfur, nitrogen also has a strong coordinating ability to a metal complex. Consequently, metal complex-catalyzed diazo decomposition in the presence of an amine or imine usually requires high reaction temperatures (Figure 6). 

A plausible reaction mechanism for this reaction was proposed by the authors. The Cu(i) carbene 182 generated from ethyl diazoacetate and the chiral Gu(i) complex can either react with another molecule of ethyl diazoacetate to form a mixture of diethyl maleate and fumarate 183, or with the imine lone pair to form a Gu(i)-complexed azomethine ylide... 

The alkylation of caclohexanone has been studied as a model reaction in detail. Generally, enamino compounds (126) are allowed to react with alkyl halides or a, 3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. The enamine (126a) is prepared directly from the ketone and a chiral secondary amine (route A). A metalloenamine (126b) can be synthesized from chiral azomethine, derived from the model ketone and a primary chiral amine (route B). The primary amine used for the formation of (126b) must possess an oxygen function. This oxygen function plays a key role in the coordination of the lithium ion in the complex (126b). 

Some complexes with tridentate 02N donor Schiff base ligands form from the reaction of OTi(C104)2 with H2L in aqueous methanol. A structure containing four oxygens in the plane of the octahedron and trans axial azomethine groups has been assigned (23). There is no evidence for the Ti=0 group (which is reported to occur in the IR spectrum at ca. 1280 cm-1).103... 

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