Carbazole formation from 3- indole

Carbazole formation from naphthols and aryl hydrazines promoted by sodium bisulfite. Another variant of the Fiseher indole synthesis. 

This article deals with the chemistry of carbazoles, and except for their formation from carbazoles as illustrations of the chemistry of carbazoles, it specifically excludes that of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-, 1,2,3,4,4a,9a-hexahydro-, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydro carbazoles, etc., because from the viewpoint of chemical reactivity, these are indoles, anilines, pyrroles, and so on. This article also excludes carbazoles with additional fused aromatic or heteroaromatic rings, again except for the formation of such systems as illustrations of carbazole reactivity. The physical and spectroscopic properties are not covered. 

This reaction was first reported by Hantzsch in 1890. It is the preparation of 2,5-dialkyl or 2,4,5-trialkylpyrrole derivatives from the condensation of of-halo-ketones, )0-ketoesters and ammonia or amines. Therefore, it is often known as the Hantzsch pyrrole synthesis or simply the Hantzsch synthesis. During this synthesis, ammonia or amine reacts quickly with y0-keto esters to form enamine esters or 3-amino crotonates that cyclize with of-halo-ketones to form pyrrole derivatives upon heating, and the regioselectivity strongly depends on the substituents on the starting materials. Thus, this reaction can directly start from 3-amino crotonates or enamines of 0-keto esters. Further extension of this reaction from aromatic amines results in the formation of indole derivatives, or carbazole derivatives if cyclized with a-halo-cyclohexanones. The synthesized pyrroles have wide application in medicinal chemistry, conducting polymers, molecular optics, sensors,etc. 

Indole has also been demonstrated to undergo a thermally induced condensation with trifluoroacetaldehyde ethyl hemiacetal to give a variety of products depending on the reaction conditions, e.g., the 6,12-dihydroindolo[3,2-f)]carbazole 172, which could be isolated in low yield from the mixture originating from the heating of equimolar amounts of the reactants in the absence of solvent. The formation of an intermediate indolenine species was suggested to account for the outcome (88JFC47). 

During studies on the acid-induced formation of the alkaloid yuehchukene and related structures from pienylindoles, it was discovered that treatment of indole 173 with p-toluenesulfonic acid and silica gel leads to the formation of indolo-[3,2-b]carbazole 174 and the indole derivative 175 (Scheme 21). Similarly, the disubstituted product 176 could be isolated after TFA treatment of the substrate 177. Detailed mechanistic explanations have also been provided in this work (96T9455). 

Studies on the Bischler-Napieralski cyclization of A -acetyltryptamine in the presence of indole have led to the isolation of numerous products, among which the indolocarbazole 186 could be found in 3.5% yield. This outcome was rationalized as a result of the intermediacy of a spiroindolenine species formed under these conditions [89H(28)175]. During detailed studies on the polymerization of indole, formation of a low yield of the related indolo[3,2-h]carbazole 187 was discovered in the product mixture originating from the treatment of indole with p-toluenesulfonic acid at elevated temperature [88JCS(P1)2387]. In an investigation of the condensation of p-benzoquinone with 4-substituted anilines, an indolo[3,2-h]carbazole derivative has been reported to be formed in 2% yield (80JOC1493). 

Potassium salts of pyrrole, 2-acetylpyrrole, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole, 9-carbazole, indole, imidazole, and 1,2,4-triazole react with [Tr-CjHjFe ( 0)2 ] to form ct-N derivatives, e.g., [7r-C5H5Fe(CO)2(CT-N-pyrrolyl)] (III) (400, 421), shown to be intermediates in the formation of the n-complexes e.g., (IV) (400). Anions [M(CO)5L] (M = Cr, Mo, W) were similarly prepared from the hexacarbonyls and alkali metal derivatives of succinimide, phthalimidine, and saccharin (49). 

Blechert and coworkers have developed a very efficient one-pot synthesis of 2-vinylindole derivatives, starting from an aldehyde, phenyUiydroxylamine, and cyanoallene [64], These 2-vinyl indole species have demonstrated good synthetic utility in constructing linear carbazole skeletons that could be useful as key intermediates in the assembly of indole alkaloids [65]. Early on, it was discovered that the Diels-Alder reactions of the 2-vinylindole species 150 did not proceed under thermal conditions, and the use of Lewis acids did not offer any advantages. However, cycloadditions with electron-deficient dienophiles 151 (at room temperature in chloroform/dichloromethane and in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid), followed by aromatization, led to the formation of the tetrahydrocarbazole structures 152 (Scheme 38). These reactions were found to proceed with high selectivity for the endo products. The tetrahydrocarbazoles 152 could then be oxidized with DDQ to form the corresponding carbazoles in good yields. 

Formal insertions into aromatic C-H bonds often proceed by another mechanism. This is also true in intramolecular cases, and the formation of carbazole from biphen-2-ylnitrene, a weU-studied example, probably occurs by an electrocycHc reaction followed by 1,5-hydrogen shift The high yielding synthesis of indoles from azidocinnamates proceeds similarly by cycHzation of a vinyl nitrene (Scheme 6.32). 

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