Barton method thiohydroxamate esters

Scheme 44 summarizes an addition reaction by the Barton method. Thiohydroxamate esters (32) are readily prepared and isolated, but, more typically, they are generated in situ. Experimental procedures have been described in detail148151 and often entail the slow addition of an acid chloride to a refluxing chlorobenzene solution of the readily available sodium salt (31), dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP, to catalyze the esterification), and excess alkene. The products are usually isolated by standard aqueous work-up and chromatographic purification. 

An alternative method is the deoxygenation of the anomeric carboxylic acid 52, producing 55 [27], The functionalized precursor, in particular the O-acyl-thiohydroxamate ester 54, which is formed in situ after exposure of the carboxylic acid 52 to the salt 53, is decarboxylated by the Barton method. 

The basic transformation that underlies the Barton method is outlined in Scheme 45, steps 1 and 2.152 Thermolysis in refluxing toluene or photolysis with a sunlamp rapidly converts a thiohydroxamate ester (32) to the decarboxylated pyridyl sulfide (33). This pyridyl sulfide is formed by addition of an alkyl radical R to the thiohydroxamate (32) followed by fragmentation of (34) as indicated. In the planning of addition reactions by the Barton method, it is usually assumed that the addition step 1 is rate limiting. However, there is now evidence that step 1 may sometimes be reversible and step 2 may be rate limiting.153... 

Barton, D. H. R., Crich, D., Motherwell, W. B. The invention of new radical chain reactions. Part VIII. Radical chemistry of thiohydroxamic esters a new method for the generation of carbon radicals from carboxylic acids. Tetrahedron 1985, 41,3901-3924. 

The fundamental steps in the PTOC-thiol method are illustrated in Fig. 4 [10]. The radical source is one of Barton s PTOC esters or a related thiohydroxamic acid derivative [11, 12] these are made from the corresponding carboxylic acids. The acyloxyl radicals produced in the initiation step rapidly decarboxylate to give the radical of interest. This radical reacts with a hydrogen atom donor, a thiol in this... 

The last and the seventh synthesis of chaetomellic acid A was reported in 1997 by the Samadi group from CNRS, France [81]. This one step synthesis involves a Barton radical decarboxylation and gave 77% overall yield (Scheme 8). The method requires preparation of a thiohydroxamic ester of the corresponding alkyl acid followed by in-situ irradiation in the presence of citraconic anhydride and silica gel chromatography. The last intermediate in this synthesis is similar to the synthesis reported by Branchaud and Slate [75,76]. 

The difficulties inherent in the original Hunsdiecker reaction and its modifications stimulated the development of an additional halo-decarboxylation method that involves treatment of thiohydroxamic esters of carboxylic acids with BrCCls, ICH3 or CH2I2 in the presence of a radical initiator (Route 3, Barton reaction, Figure 10.23). 

Barton Esterification Reductive Decarboxylation. O-Acyl thiohydroxamates or Barton esters are useful precursors of carbon-centered radicals via thermolysis or photolysis. Several different methods are available for converting carboxylic acids into Barton esters (eq 1). These reactions generally proceed via the attack of a 2-mercaptopyridine-N-oxide salt on an activated carboxylic acid that has either been preformed (acid chloride, mixed anhydride) or generated in situ (with 1,3-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or tri-n-butylphosphine + 2,2 -dithiodipyridine-l,r-dioxide). However, HOTT has the distinct advantages of (1) being easy to prepare and handle without the need for any special precautions, (2) facilitates efficient Barton esterification of carboxylic acids, and (3) simplifies subsequent work-up and purifications by avoiding the need to remove by-products like 1,3-dicyclohexylurea. 

In addition to the general usefulness of this class of compounds, the popularity of this chemistry is largely due to the facile preparation of the starting materials (Scheme 7). The most straightforward method of preparation of Barton esters of types I to IV is acylation by activation of the corresponding carboxylic acid (paths A and B). Accordingly, the hydroxamic acid sodium salt can be O-acylated with the acyl chlorides or, alternatively, the free hydroxamic acid can be condensed with primary carboxylic acids in the presence of N,W -dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP). Likewise, condensation of the free thiohydroxamic acid or the corresponding sodium salt with the mixed anhydride formed from the acid and isobutyl chloroformate in the presence of N-methylmorpholine has proven to... 

Free radicals generated under photochemical conditions from thiohydroxamates add readily to the NN double bond of diaziridines and in particular to the 3-bromo or 3-trifluoromethyl-3-phenyldiazirine to produce diaziridinyl radicals (Scheme 25) these intermediates undergo dimerization and fragmentation to yield the corresponding imines, which can be hydrolyzed to the corresponding amines. Barton esters can also be used for the direct preparation of nitroso compounds. From a synthetic standpoint, the yields are moderate and the method is limited to primary and secondary carboxylic acids, which form dimers as an end product. Tertiary nitroso compounds do not dimerize and further react with the radical present under the reaction conditions. 

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