Alkaloids, cularine

Details of the preparation and novel ring-opening reaction of the spirodienone (98) to (99 R = Me) with methanolic HCl have been published (c/. Vol. 3). Compound (100 R = Me) rather than (101 R = Me) appears to be an intermediate since the product formed with ethanolic HCl was (99 R = R = Et, R = Me) rather than (99 Ri = r3 = Et, R = Me). 

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The pseudobenzylisoquinoline alkaloids are fairly widespread in nature, being found among members of Berberidaceae, Annonaceae, Fumariaceae, and Ranunculaceae. The biogenesis of the pseudobenzylisoquinoline alkaloids assumes their formation from protoberberinium salts by C-8—C-8a bond scission in a Baeyer-Villiger-type oxidative rearrangement to produce the enamides of type 73 and 74. These amides may be further biotransformed either to rugosinone (76) type alkaloids by hydrolytic N-deformylation followed by oxidation or to ledecorine (75) by enzymatic reduction. These transformations were corroborated by in vitro studies (80-82). It is suggested that enamide seco alkaloids may be precursors of aporphine alkaloids (80), on one hand, and of cularine alkaloids (77), on the other. 

Rodrigues,]. A. R. Abramovitch, R. A. de Sousa,]. D. F. Leiva, G. C. Diastereoselective Synthesis of Cularine Alkaloids via Enium Ions and an Easy Entry to Isoquinolines by Aza-Wittig Electrocyclic Ring Closure.]. Org. Chan. 2004, 69, 2920-2928. 

A synthesis of 7,8-dioxygenated isoquinolines (found in cularine alkaloids) requires o-metallation of the Af-protected -phenylethylamine. The primary amine is protected by reaction with two equivalents of trimethylsilyl chloride. Phenylhydroxylamine and the allenic nitrile (53.7) react in boiling ethanol over 48 h to give a high yield of 4-aminoquinoline—an important intermediate for the synthesis of some antimalarial drugs. 

The biosynthesis of cularine alkaloids (239) by phenolic oxidation also proceeds via the dienone compound (Scheme 4) similar to the aporphine or morphinane alkaloids. 

The cularine alkaloids appear to occur only in the genera Corydalis and Dicentra. 

The proaporphine, promorphinane, and cularine alkaloids can be reconverted into the benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline bases with sodium in liquid ammonia, a process which permits correlation of the absolute configurations of the benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline, proaporphine, aporphine, promorphinane, and cularine alkaloids (375). 

Kametani et al. (544,545) and other workers (546-561) endeavored to carry out the synthesis of cularine alkaloids by phenolic oxidation (bio-genetic type of synthesis) of the corresponding derivatives of laudanosine. The paper (549) describes the synthesis of these bases via the 6-ethoxycar-bamido-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines, which were converted to 6-amino-isoquinoline. By Ullmann reaction it gives the compound 52 and ( )-cularine (51) (Scheme 18). Cularine-type alkaloids were also synthesized by the intramolecular Ullmann reaction of 7,8-disubstituted isoquinoline obtained by the usual Bischler-Napieralski reaction from the phenolic bromoamide (pathway a) (544, 548). However, in the papers referred to (557,558,561), the rings A, C, and D were formed first (pathway b), and only then was the ring formed during the synthesis of cularine. 

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