Azides Curtius rearrangement

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. 

The Curtius rearrangement in acetic anhydride of the azide (8) prepared from 4-carboxythiazole yields 4-acetamidothiazole (Scheme 8) (47). The same reaction starting with ethyl-2-methyl-4-thiazolyl carboxy-late, failed to give the 4-aminothiazole (48). Heterocyclizations are more convenient synthetic methods (Chapter II. Table 40). 

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 " ... 

Incorporation of the phenethyl moiety into a carbocyclic ring was at first sight compatible with amphetamine-like activity. Clinical experience with one of these agents, tranylcypromine (79), revealed the interesting fact that this drug in fact possessed considerable activity as a monamine oxidase inhibitor and as such was useful in the treatment of depression. Decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of styrene affords a mixture of cyclopropanes in which the trans isomer predominates. Saponification gives acid 77. Conversion to the acid chloride followed by treatment with sodium azide leads to the isocyanate, 78, via Curtius rearrangement. Saponification of 78 affords tranylcypromine (79). 

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. 

Curtius rearrangement (Section 24.6) The conversion of an acid chloride into an amine by reaction with azide ion, followed by heating with water. 

The methyl ester 2 can be converted into the trithiatriazepinamine 12 via the hydrazide 9. Nitrosation gives the azide 10. which undergoes a Curtius rearrangement to the isocyanate 11, which is not isolated but hydrolyzed in situ to the amine 12.418... 

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... 

In contrast to the synthesis of carbocyclic rings, the Cope rearrangement has been used sparsely for generating azepinones. Recently, the enantioselectivity of the conversion of 2-aza-divinylcyclopropane 286 has been investigated. The synthesis started from the optically active cyclopropanecarboxylic acid (90% ee), which had been converted into the isocyanate 286 by initial azidation to 285 and a consecutive Curtius rearrangement. Furthermore, the conditions of the iso-... 

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). 

Another examination involves a synthesis of thienobenzazepines based on the formation of key intermediate 6 prepared according to the method of McDowell and Wisowaty (Scheme 6.2). ° Selective reduction of this intermediate using zinc dust in 28-30% ammonia solution afforded the benzoic acid 7, which upon subsequent Curtius rearrangement and aluminum trichloride-mediated cyclization furnished the oxo-azepine 8. While this synthetic approach gave the tricycle in a few synthetic transformations, many of the same concerns as above exist when considering large scale preparation of 8 the use of large amounts of zinc, sodium azide, and aluminum trichloride. 

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 carboxylic acid group is converted by CDI and sodium azide into an acid azide, which via a Curtius rearrangement gives the corresponding amine.[135a3... 

A total synthesis of O-methylarnottianamide (223) was performed by Falck et al. (177) (Scheme 34). The regio- and stereospecific cycloaddition of the 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) salt of 6,7-methylenedioxyisoquinoline (218) with a-methoxystyrene 219 resulted in 220. Compound 220 was hydrolyzed, then aromatized, and the resultant aldehyde was oxidized to carboxylic acid 221. Curtius rearrangement of the appropriate azide yielded urethane 222, which... 

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>. ... 

The pyrido[3, 4 4,5]furo[3,2-A]indole 24 can be prepared by Curtius rearrangement of 3-[5-(2-nitrophenyl)-2-furyl]-propenoic azide 25, followed by reduction of the nitrophenyl functionality of the product 26, chlorination of the tetracyclic product (PCI5), then reduction (Zn/AcOH) to give the parent compound 24 <1987CCC192> (Scheme 7). 

Rearrangement reactions have provided access to some interesting azepinone or azepine dione systems. Curtius rearrangement followed by a [3,3] sigmatropic reaction on intermediate carbonyl azides gave azepin-2-one derivatives, for example 2, in fair to moderate yield. The precursor intermediates for this sequence were made, in turn, by treatment of 2-siloxysubstituted 2-alkenylcyclopropanecarboxylic acids (for example, 1) (Scheme 1) with diphenylphosphorazidate and triethylamine <00SL725>. 

Reaction of metal nitrosyls with azide ion proceeds with formation of N2 and N20 (56). This can be viewed as the result of a nitrene transfer reaction in analogy with the Curtius rearrangement (62) and its organome-tallic counterpart (63). 

The bisamide odorine-roxburghilin and its dihydro derivative have been synthesized twice via Curtius rearrangement of a proline azide (127). The two syntheses followed similar lines and differed only in the preparation of the azide and in the solvent for rearrangement (104, 105). The stereospecificity of the Curtius rearrangement was an important argument for the determination of the absolute configuration of odorine (Scheme 23). 

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