Carbonylation reaction indoles

The insertion of carbon monoxide into o-alkylpalladium(II) complexes followed by attack by either alcohols or amines is a powerful acylation method. This carbonylation reaction has been applied in several different ways to the reactions and syntheses of indoles. Hegedus and coworkers converted o-allylanilines to indoline esters 315 in yields up to 75% [293], In most of the examples in this section, CO at atmospheric pressure was employed. 

Many compounds will undergo dimerization reactions those containing thiols (e.g., disulfide formation) olefins, alcohols, and carboxylic acids (or other carbonyl chemistry e.g., aldol condensation reactions). Indoles have been shown to dimerize under acidic conditions. The dimerization is presumed to occur as shown in Figure 120 via protonation at C3 and nucleophilic attack of a second indole on C2. Phenols have been shown to dimerize under free radical initiated oxidative conditions, usually to ortho phenols. Nalidixic acid API undergoes dimerization under thermolysis conditions to decarboxylate and produce a dimeric structure (Fig. 121) (172). 

A detailed study of the Suzuki reaction of benzene-ring substituted bromoindoles was published <04JOC6812>. The highest yields were obtained with indole substrates containing a tosyl nitrogen protecting group. Palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reactions of unprotected bromoindoles allowed for the synthesis of indolecarboxamides. For example, treatment of 5-... 

To date, many electrophilic reagents, such as alkyl halides, alkenes, alkynes, carbonyl compounds, epoxides, alcohols, and ethers, have been investigated in AFC alkylation reactions. On the other hand, the reactive 5-membered heteroaromatic compounds, such as indole, pyrrole, furan, and thiophene derivatives, and electron-rich benzene derivatives have been successfully applied in AFC alkylation reactions. Indole and pyrrole derivatives are most popular substrates due to their high reactivity and account for almost 80% of the published methodologies. A variety of chiral organometal-lic catalysts and organocatalysts are employed in the catalytic AFC alkylation reactions with high enantiomeric control. 

Yuehchukene is a novel class of bisindole alkaloids, first isolated as a racemate from Murraya paniculata, with a basic structure of hexahydroindeno[2,l-h]indole. It has been suggested that this compound exhibits mixed estrogen and antiestrogen activities as well as potent anti-implantation. In 2000 Ishikura and his team reported a concise procedure for their preparation a carbonylation reaction was applied for intermediate synthesis (Scheme 10.19) [94]. 

Since the structural features of 3,4-disubstituted indoles are abundantly seen in the structures of various alkaloids, a number of synthetic approaches have appeared in the literature for the preparation of indole derivatives with the 3,4-disubstitution pattern. One of the recent methods was disclosed by Somd et d. (37,88) who took advantage of the reaction of thallium odination of a 3-carbonyl substituted indole, followed by the Heck reaction, for the preparation of a number of derivatives. 

Indoles can also be alkylated by lactones[l4]. Base-catalysed reactions have been reported for (3-propiolactone[15], y-butyrolactone[10] and 5-valerolac-tone[10]. These reactions probably reflect the thermodynamic instability of the N -acylindole intermediate which would be formed by attack at the carbonyl group relative to reclosure to the lactone. The reversibility of the JV-acylation would permit the thermodynamically favourable N-alkylation to occur. 

This reaction is also a key method for the formation of tetrahydro-P-carbolines 5 from indole bases 4 and aldehydes, ketones, or 1,2-di carbonyl compounds 2. These reactions are similarly acid-catalyzed or thermally-induced and have been utilized in the synthesis of numerous indole alkaloids. 

The early literature on the reactions of the indole Grignard reagents with the simple diacid chlorides, in particular with carbonyl chloride and oxalyl chloride (see Section III,C,4,b), is both conflicting and confusing and much of the work reported warrants repetition since the evidence presented in support of many of the structural assignments made is not entirel3 convincing. 

When methyl 2-(indol-2-yl)acrylate derivative (22a) reacted with A-methoxy-carbonyl-l,2-dihydropyridine (8a) in refluxing toluene, in addition to the dimer of 22a (25%), a mixture of the expected isoquinculidine 23a and the product 24a (two isomers) was obtained in 7% and 45% yields, respectively (81CC37). The formation of 24a indicates the involvement of the 3,4-double bond of dihydropyridine. Similarly, Diels-Alder reaction of methyl l-methyl-2-(indol-2-yl)acrylate (22b) with 8a gave, in addition to dimer of 22b, a mixture of adducts 23b and 24b. However, in this case, product 23b was obtained as a major product in a 3 2 mixture of two isomers (with a- and (3-COOMe). The major isomer shows an a-conhguration. The yields of the dimer, 23b, and 24b were 25%, 30%, and 6%, respectively. Thus, a substituent on the nitrogen atom or at the 3-position of indole favors the formation of the isoquinuclidine adduct 23. 

The Diels-Alder reactions of the methyl or ethyl ester of benzenesulfonylindole-2-acrylic acid with several l-alkoxycarbonyl-l,2-dihydropyridines are reported and only a single stereoisomer was obtained, as in the case of l-methoxy(ethoxy)-carbonyl-1,2-dihydropyridines. However, when the Diels-Alder reaction of 17 was carried out with 8g[R = (CHsjsC], a mixture of two stereoisomers 18gand25were obtained in a 1 1 ratio (65% total yield). The bulky rerr-butyl group creates sufficient steric interference with the indole ring to cause the loss of stereochemistry ... 

In order to allow further transformation to an indole, the carbonyl compound 8 must contain an a-methylene group. The hydrazone 1 needs not to be isolated. An equimolar mixture of arylhydrazine 7 and aldehyde or ketone 8 may be treated directly under the reaction conditions for the Fischer indole synthesis. ... 

Meerwein reactions can conveniently be used for syntheses of intermediates which can be cyclized to heterocyclic compounds, if an appropriate heteroatom substituent is present in the 2-position of the aniline derivative used for diazotization. For instance, Raucher and Koolpe (1983) described an elegant method for the synthesis of a variety of substituted indoles via the Meerwein arylation of vinyl acetate, vinyl bromide, or 2-acetoxy-l-alkenes with arenediazonium salts derived from 2-nitroani-line (Scheme 10-46). In the Meerwein reaction one obtains a mixture of the usual arylation/HCl-addition product (10.9) and the carbonyl compound 10.10, i. e., the product of hydrolysis of 10.9. For the subsequent reductive cyclization to the indole (10.11) the mixture of 10.9 and 10.10 can be treated with any of a variety of reducing agents, preferably Fe/HOAc. 

The synthesis of pyrazino-indoles has been described starting from 2-carbonyl-l-propargylindoles 241 and ammonia. The reaction gave a mixture of isomers, 242 and 243 in Scheme 90, and was optimized using... 

Another example of a one-pot indole synthesis, which proceeds through a Heck carbonylation and a Suzuki coupling, is shown below. The reaction conditions are similar to the previous example however microwave heating is employed [174] (Scheme 6.54). 

Thus far, we have discovered and demonstrated a new and effident method for the synthesis of indoles from various carbonyl compounds. This, in conjunction with the use of alkyries in the palladium-catalyzed indolization, widens the spectrum of indoles that can be prepared by these means. The simple procedure, mild reaction conditions, and ready availability of the starting materials render these methods valuable additions to indole chemistry. We next extended this method to the synthesis of the indole core of a PGD2 receptor antagonist, laropiprant 3. 

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