Carboxamides from nitriles

The addition of Grignard reagents to aldehydes, ketones, and esters is the basis for the synthesis of a wide variety of alcohols, and several examples are given in Scheme 7.3. Primary alcohols can be made from formaldehyde (Entry 1) or, with addition of two carbons, from ethylene oxide (Entry 2). Secondary alcohols are obtained from aldehydes (Entries 3 to 6) or formate esters (Entry 7). Tertiary alcohols can be made from esters (Entries 8 and 9) or ketones (Entry 10). Lactones give diols (Entry 11). Aldehydes can be prepared from trialkyl orthoformate esters (Entries 12 and 13). Ketones can be made from nitriles (Entries 14 and 15), pyridine-2-thiol esters (Entry 16), N-methoxy-A-methyl carboxamides (Entries 17 and 18), or anhydrides (Entry 19). Carboxylic acids are available by reaction with C02 (Entries 20 to 22). Amines can be prepared from imines (Entry 23). Two-step procedures that involve formation and dehydration of alcohols provide routes to certain alkenes (Entries 24 and 25). 

Oxo-4//-pyrido[ 1,2-a]pyrimidines unsubstituted at position 3 were prepared from the 3-carboxamides, 3-nitriles,268 and 3-acetyl derivatives.168... 

The Michael addition, i.e the fusion of an enolate with an a,P-unsaturated aldehyde, ketone, ester, carboxamide, or nitrile, belongs to the most prominent organic reactions/ " The literature abounds with impressive examples as is the manufacture of chrysanthemic acid from two isoprene building blocks, namely, ethyl P,P-dimethylacrylate and 4-chlorophenyl prenyl (3-methyl-2-butenyl) sulfone. ... 

Pyridazinecarboxamides are prepared from the corresponding esters or acid chlorides with ammonia or amines or by partial hydrolysis of cyanopyridazines. Pyridazinecarboxamides with a variety of substituents are easily dehydrated to nitriles with phosphorus oxychloride and are converted into the corresponding acids by acid or alkaline hydrolysis. They undergo Hofmann degradation to give the corresponding amines, while in the case of two ortho carboxamide groups pyrimidopyridazines are formed. 

An interesting example of asymmetric induction has been used for the synthesis of (—)-l from L-tryptophan. Pictet-Spengler cyclization of the corresponding amide (127) with 5-chloropentanal afforded (—)-128 as the sole product. Removal of the unwanted carboxamide function was achieved in good yield by sodium borohydride reduction of die corresponding a-amino nitrile (—)-129, resulting in (—)-l (98). 

Hydration of nitriles providing carboxamides is usually carried out m strongly basic or acidic aqueous media - these reactions require rather bars conditions and suffer from incomplete selectivity to the desired amide product. A few papers in the literature deal with the possibihty of transition metal catalysis of this reaction [28-30]. According to a recent report [30], acetonitrile can be hydrated into acetamide with water-soluble rhodium(I) complexes (such as the one obtained from [ RhCl(COD) 2] and TPPTS) under reasonably mild conditions with unprecedently high rate... 

A potential versatile route into a-amino acids and their derivatives is via a combination of (i) nitrile hydratase/amidase-mediated conversion of substituted malo-nonitriles to the corresponding amide/acid followed by (ii) stereospecific Hofmann rearrangement of the amide group to the corresponding amine. Using a series of a,a-disubstituted malononitriles 14, cyanocarboxamides 15 and bis-carboxamides 16, the substrate specificity of the nitrile hydratase and amidase from Rhodococcus rhodochrous IF015564 was initially examined (Scheme 2.7). The amidase hydrolyzed the diamide 16 to produce (R)-17 with 95% conversion and 98%e.e. Amide 17 was then chemically converted to a precursor of (S)-a-methyldopa. It was found... 

A 2-Dehydroquinuclidinyl-2- and 3-carboxamides were formed from the corresponding esters by the action of alcoholic ammonia.47,49 Quinuclidinecarboxylic esters were also used in the preparation of hydrazides and their hydrazones,95,132 and the amides in the synthesis of nitriles.47,49,90... 

In recent years there has been considerable interest in the reactions of nitriles in the coordination sphere of metal ions. Breslow et al.312 first reported that the hydrolysis of 2-cyano-l,10-phenanthro-line to the corresponding carboxamide is strongly promoted by metal ions such as copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II). Base hydrolysis of the 1 1 nickel complex is 107 times faster than that of the uncomplexed substrate. The entire rate acceleration arises from a more positive value of AS. Somewhat similar effects have been observed for base hydrolysis of 2-cyanopyridine to the corresponding carboxamide. In this case rate accelerations of 109 occurred with the nickel(II) complex.313... 

Oxo-4//-pyrido[l,2-a]pyrimidine-3-carboxamide was also prepared from the 3-nitrile.268 N-substituted carboxamides were obtained from the carboxylic acids and amines by known procedures.131,141,261,310 313... 

A key step in the synthesis of the /3-lactamase inhibitor cilastatin (Bayer, Leverkusen, Germany) is the preparation of (S)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxamide. The chemically synthesized corresponding nitrile, l-cyano-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane, is hydrolyzed by a highly active but enanhounspecific nitrile hydratase to the racemic carboxamides. An amidase from Comomonas acidovorans overexpressed in E. coli selectively hydrolyzes the undesired (R)-isomer to the acid. The remaining (S) enantiomer is obtained with > 99% e.e. and 48% conversion (the resulting E value thus exceeds 100). The (R)-acid is recycled by chemical amidation with thionyl chloride and ammonia. The process has been developed by Lonza (Visp, Switzerland) and runs on a 15 m3 scale (Rasor, 2001). 

A one-pot synthesis of 3,5-disubstituted 7-hydroxy-3//-l,2,3-triazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines (130) has been carried out by using benzyl azide, cyano-acetamide, ethyl or methyl esters of the appropriate carboxylic acid, and sodium ethoxide as catalyst. The reaction proceeds via a 5-amino-l-benzyltriazole-4-carboxamide intermediate (85JHC1607). 7-Amino-3H-l,2,3-triazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines 133 (R2 = H) were prepared starting from benzyl azide, malononitrile, and an aliphatic or aromatic nitrile, or by reaction of 130 with phosphorus oxychloride followed by amination. Compound 132 was formed in most reactions from two molecules of the 5-amino-4-cyano-l-benzyltriazole intermediate by an intermolecular nucleophilic at-... 

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