0-Carbolines 1- alkyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro

Several factors influence the diastereoselectivity of the Pictet-Spengler condensation to form 1,3-disubstituted and 1,2,3-trisubstituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines (39 and 40, respectively). The presence or absence of an alkyl substituent on the nitrogen of tryptophan has a large influence on the relative stereochemistry of the tetrahydro-P-carboline products formed from a condensation reaction with an aldehyde under various reaction conditions. 

Conversely, when A-alkyl tryptophan methyl esters were condensed with aldehydes, the trans diastereomers were observed as the major products." X-ray-crystal structures of 1,2,3-trisubstituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines revealed that the Cl substituent preferentially adopted a pseudo-axial position, forcing the C3 substituent into a pseudo-equatorial orientation to give the kinetically and thermodynamically preferred trans isomer." As the steric size of the Cl and N2 substituents increased, the selectivity for the trans isomer became greater. A-alkyl-L-tryptophan methyl ester 42 was condensed with various aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid to give predominantly the trans isomers. ... 

Tertiary p2/ -V-alkyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8- and -y-carboline derivatives can be quaternized at the same site to give 2,2-dialkyl-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8- and -y-carbolinium... 

Alkylation at the ind-N of l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carbolines has been carried out with alkyl halide after treatment with sodamide in the usual manner. Cyanoethylation of a p /r-V-substituted tetrahydro-jS-carboline in the presence of Triton B yields the corresponding 9-cyanoethyl derivative. Similarly, treatment of p / -V-methyl-l,2,3,4,4a,9b-hexahydro-y-carboline with sodamide, followed by benzyl chloride, leads to the ind-A -benzyl-substituted derivatives. l-Oxo-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-j8-carboline yields the ind-A -methyl derivative directly with dimethyl sulfate.Prolonged treatment with sodium hydride, followed by methyl iodide, yields the 2,9-dimethyl derivative. Heating with sodium hydride in acetone followed by the addition of dimethyl sulfate gives rise to the ind-V-methyl derivative. ... 

A few intriguing developments in the area of tetrahydro-P-carboline synthetic methodology include the report of a catalytic asymmetric Pictet-Spengler reaction <06JACS1086> and an enantioselective Pd-catalyzed intramolecular allylic alkylation of indoles <06JACS1424>. A one-step synthesis of 1-substituted-P-carbolines from L-tryptophan has appeared that bypassed the tetrahydro intermediate <06T10900>. 

One of the most valuable and widely used applications of C=N bond hydrogenation is in the field of reductive alkylation, in which an aldehyde or ketone is condensed with an amine and reduced in situ with an appropriate catalyst to give a substituted product. This very valuable reaction has most notably been employed for the racemic synthesis of amino acids from a-ketoesters and acids. This type of reduction can be very powerful, as illustrated by the synthesis of tetrahydro-b-carbolines 64 (76% yield) by the reductive coupling of 65 and 66 under conditions of 1 atm of hydrogen and palladium on carbon catalyst277. 

The transformation to the 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro derivatives is best accomplished by hydrogenating the 2-alkyl-p-carboline salts in methanol adjusted to pH 10 with potassium hydroxide, as shown for alstonine hydrochloride (37) (eq. 12.65),124 or hydrogenating the anhydronium base in methanol, as shown with 2-methylharman (38) (eq. 12.66).125... 

The factors that control diastereoselection in the construction of 1,3-disubstituted tetrahydro-p-car-bolines are not, as yet, well understood. With many aldehydes a slight preference for forming the trans diastereomer is observed. " This preference is somewhat greater when the indole nitrogen (Na) of the tryptamine is alkylated. Pictet-Spengler cyclizations of Nb-benzyltryptophan methyl ester under Cook s aprotic conditions are reported to provide nearly exclusively the rr 2ni-A b-benzyl-3-methoxycarbonyl-1 -substituted-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-P-carbolines. ... 

In 1983 an approach for forming either enantiomer of a 1-alkyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-p-carboline from l-(-)-tryptophan was published. Specifically, tryptophan was converted into derivatives (33) and (35) (Scheme 19). When the secondary amine (33) was condensed/cyclized with methyl 4-formyl-2,2-... 

A palladium-catalyzed allylation of indoles with allyl carbonates furnished 3-alkylated indoles <04OL3199>. An intramolecular variation with indolyl carbonates provided a novel synthesis of tetrahydro-p-carbolines and pyrazinoll,2-a indoles. 

The ability to reduce compounds under acidic conditions is ideal for the reduction of enamines. Protonation of nitrogen gives an iminium salt in acidic media that is then reduced with cyanoborohydride to an amine.Imines can be reduced in acidic media in the presence of many other functional groups, as shown by Cook s reduction of imine 165 to give 166 in 79% yield in a synthesis of substituted tetrahydro-P-carbolines. 2 This reagent is excellent for the reduction of iminium salts at neutral pH as well,l 3 and it is also useful for the reductive alkylation of amines. Dimethylamino derivatives such as 168 can be prepared from the amine (167 in this case) by treatment with formaldehyde and cyanoborohydride, even in the presence... 

Napieralski reaction of the amide 54, was subjected to catalytic hydrogenation over Pt02 in ethanol to afford the 1,3-cm disubstituted tetrahydro- -carboline 55. TVb-Alkylation, respectively with l-bromo-4-acetoxy-2(Z)-butene or l-bromo-2( )-butene in CH3CN in the presence of NaHCOa, gave the tertiary amines 56 or 57. After protection of the Na function in 56 and 57 with an acetal group, Dieckmann cyclization was conducted with... 

The )8-carboline system alkylated at C-1 occurs frequently in the indole alkaloid series and in some cases in the 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro form, as shown above. The simplest homolog with a methyl substituent is caUed harman (Fig. 12). It has been found in several plant families and also in the higher fungus Coriolus maximus (174). Recently, particular interest in 1-substituted /3-carboline derivatives has also resulted from the antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) discovered in eudis-tomins alkaloids (e.g., eudistomin S Fig. 12), isolated from the tunicate organism Eudistoma olivaceum (175). 

Methylthiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid, a condensation product of cysteine and acetaldehyde, occurs even in human blood as a consequence of ethanol consumption. Serine and threonine analogously produce C-2 substituted (2J S,4S)-oxazolidine-4-carboxylic acids (2-124). Heterocyclic products, C-2 substituted (2J S,4S)-pyrimidine-4-carboxylic acids, are also produced in the reaction of aldehydes with asparagine (2-125). Phenylalanine yields C-1 substituted (lJ S,3S)-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acids (2-126) and analogous products arise from tyrosine. Tryptophan reacts with aldehydes under the formation of 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (also known as -carboline or norharmane) derivatives, (lJ S,3S)-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-fi-carboline-3-carboxylic acids (2-127, R = H or alkyl or residues of other aldehydes and sugars), the reaction of tryptamine yields the corresponding (lRS)-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-P-carbolines. 

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