Acyl azides Curtius rearrangement

Modified Curtius rearrangement. Acyl azides, preferably prepared in situ under phase-transfer conditions by reaction of acid chlorides and NaN, are converted to tri-fluoroacetamides by reaction with CF,COOH in refluxing CH CI, solution. These products are cleaved to primary amines under mild conditions (equation I). ... 

Activation of the carboxylic acid as the acyl chloride permits direct reaction with azide anion to form the acyl azide substrates for Curtius rearrangement. Sodium azide is commonly used, and the reaction has been used on the process chemistry scale for the synthesis of benzyl-A-vinyl carbamate. Acryloyl chloride was combined with sodium azide in a biphasic system with phase-transfer catalysis (PTC), providing acyl azide 25. Upon heating, Curtius rearrangement provided vinyl isocyanate, which was distilled directly into benzyl alcohol containing phenothiazine (27) to inhibit polymerization of 26 and triethylamine to catalyze addition of the alcohol to the isocyanate. The vinyl carbamate product 28 was isolated by crystallization. As the autiior clearly pointed out, preparation and reaction of acyl azides, particularly on large scales, require appropriate safety precautions. 

Formation of mixed anhydrides also provides the basis for the synthesis of acyl azides (eq I ) and hence amines via the Curtius rearrangement. The azide ion is usually delivered to the most electrophilic carbonyl, but steric considerations may be important. The method is applicable even to strained cyclopropyl- and cyclobutylcarboxylic acids. Diisopropylethy-kunine (Hiinig s base) has been mooted as a superior base for the formation of mixed anhydrides. ... 

Acyl azides may loose N2 on heating and rearrange to isocyanates (Curtius rearrangement), which may be solvolyzed. Some of the possibilities of classical carboxyl conversions are exemplified in the schemes below, which are taken from a triquinacene synthesis (R. Russo, 1971 C. Merder, 1973) and the ergotamine synthesis of A. Hofmann (1963). 

In these cases the acyl azides formed have been used to prepare amines via Curtius rearrangement. The acyl chloride or azide intermediates can. however, also be reacted with amines or alcohols to form amides or esters. 

A third approach to 3-amino-/3-lactams is by Curtius rearrangement of the corresponding acyl azides. These are readily prepared from r-butyl carbazides, available via photochemical ring contraction of 3-diazopyrrolidine-2,4-diones in the presence of f-butyl carbazate (c/. Section 5.09.3.3.2). Thus treatment of (201) with trifluoroacetic acid followed by diazotiz-ation gives the acyl azide (202) which, in thermolysis in benzene and subsequent interception of the resulting isocyanate with r-butanol, yields the protected 3-amino-/3-lactam (203) (73JCS(P1)2907). 

Indolo[2,3-d][l,3]thiazine-2,4-dithione formation, 4, 299 Indolothiazines synthesis, 4, 519 Indoloyl azides Curtius rearrangement, 4, 288 Indolyl anions acylation, 4, 232 alkylation, 4, 235 Michael-type additions, 4, 236 Indomethacin... 

The thermal decomposition of an acyl azide 1 to yield an isocyanate 2 by loss of N., is called the Curtius reaction - or Curtius rearrangement. It is closely... 

The Curtius rearrangement can be catalyzed by Lewis acids or protic acids, but good yields are often obtained also without a catalyst. From reaction in an inert solvent (e.g. benzene, chloroform) in the absence of water, the isocyanate can be isolated, while in aqueous solution the amine is formed. Highly reactive acyl azides may suffer loss of nitrogen and rearrange already during preparation in aqueous solution. The isocyanate then cannot be isolated because it immediately reacts with water to yield the corresponding amine. 

Acyl azides can undergo photolytic cleavage and rearrangement upon irradiation at room temperature or below. In that case acyl nitrenes 8 have been identified by trapping reactions and might be reactive intermediates in the photo Curtius rearrangement. However there is also evidence that the formation of isocyanates upon irradiation proceeds by a concerted reaction as in the case of the thermal procedure, and that the acyl nitrenes are formed by an alternative and competing pathway " ... 

Carboxylic acid derivatives can be converted into primary amines with loss of one carbon atom by both the Hofmann rearrangement and tire Curtius rearrangement. Although the Hofmann rearrangement involves a primary-amide and the Curtius rearrangement involves an acyl azide, both proceed through similar mechanisms. 

The Curtius rearrangement, like the Hofmann rearrangement, involve migration of an -R group from the G-O carbon atom to the neighboring nitro gen with simultaneous loss of a leaving group. The reaction takes place on heat ing an acyl azide that is itself prepared by nucleophilic acyl substitution of m acid chloride. 

The Curtius rearrangement involves the pyrolysis of acyl azides to yield isocy-anates. " The reaction gives good yields of isocyanates, since no water is present to... 

Rearrangement of acyl azides in the presence of water (Curtius)... 

Employing this method, enantioenriched phenol esters 68, amides 69, and carbamates 70 (after Curtius rearrangement of the intermediate acyl azide) were prepared in yields often greater than 90% with ee-values reaching up to 97% (generally 80-95%, see Fig. 37). 

Section A of Scheme 10.15 contains a number of examples of Curtius rearrangements. Entry 1 is an example carried out in a nonnucleophilic solvent, permitting isolation of the isocyanate. Entries 2 and 3 involve isolation of the amine after hydrolysis of the isocyanate. In Entry 2, the dihydrazide intermediate is isolated as a solid and diazotized in aqueous solution, from which the amine is isolated as the dihydrochloride. Entry 3 is an example of the mixed anhydride procedure (see p. 948). The first stage of the reaction is carried out in acetone and the thermolysis of the acyl azide is done in refluxing toluene. The crude isocyanate is then hydrolyzed in acidic water. Entry 4 is a reaction that demonstrates the retention of configuration during rearrangement. 

The pyrido[l,2-tf][l,3,5]triazine-2,4(3//)-dione derivative 89 was obtained in a cycloaddition reaction of diphenyl-methyl isocyanate 90 with 2-pyridyl isocyanate 91 derived from the corresponding acyl azide via Curtius rearrangement <2002ARK438>. Compound 89 was also synthesized by the reaction of diphenylacetyl chloride 118 and picolinyl azide 116a in the presence of triethylamine (Scheme 11) <2002ARK438>. ... 

A related reaction is the Curtius rearrangement, which replaces the cimide with an azide, RCO-N3. The azide can be formed by the reaction of an acyl chloride with sodium azide. 

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