Radical cyclization, with imines

Clerici and Porta reported that phenyl, acetyl and methyl radicals add to the Ca atom of the iminium ion, PhN+Me=CHMe, formed in situ by the titanium-catalyzed condensation of /V-methylanilinc with acetaldehyde to give PhNMeCHMePh, PhNMeCHMeAc, and PhNMeCHMe2 in 80% overall yield.83 Recently, Miyabe and co-workers studied the addition of various alkyl radicals to imine derivatives. Alkyl radicals generated from alkyl iodide and triethylborane were added to imine derivatives such as oxime ethers, hydrazones, and nitrones in an aqueous medium.84 The reaction also proceeds on solid support.85 A-sulfonylimines are also effective under such reaction conditions.86 Indium is also effective as the mediator (Eq. 11.49).87 A tandem radical addition-cyclization reaction of oxime ether and hydrazone was also developed (Eq. 11.50).88 Li and co-workers reported the synthesis of a-amino acid derivatives and amines via the addition of simple alkyl halides to imines and enamides mediated by zinc in water (Eq. 11.51).89 The zinc-mediated radical reaction of the hydrazone bearing a chiral camphorsultam provided the corresponding alkylated products with good diastereoselectivities that can be converted into enantiomerically pure a-amino acids (Eq. 11.52).90... 

Scheme 29 describes a plausible mechanism for the formation of the products which fit the observed coulometric (n 0.45 F/mol) and preparative results. The intramolecular cyclization process involves a dimerization between a radical cation 52a and the ketene imine 52 to form the intermediate radical cation 52b which then cyclizes to the radical 52c which can abstract a hydrogen atom leading to 54 or can be further oxidized and transformed through a cyclization and deprotonation reaction to 53 which involves 1 F/mol. However, it seems that the [2 -1- 3]-cycloaddition between the parent compound 52 and the cation 52d giving rise to 55 is the fastest reaction as compared with the intramolecular cyclization of 52d to 53. This can also explain the low consumption of electricity. 

Radical cyclizations are often used in ring formations and are an effective methodology in the synthesis of piperidines. The intramolecular cyclization of an oxime ether, such as 63 onto an aldehyde or ketone gives a new entry into cyclic amino alcohols <99JOC2003, 99H(51)2711>. Similarly, reaction of a terminal acetylene with BujSnH generates a vinyl radical, which will cyclize with an imine moiety to give 3-methylenepiperidine <99TL1515>. The indolizidine alkaloid ipalbidine was prepared by a sulfur-controlled 6-exo-selective radical cyclization of an a/p/ia-phenylthio amide <99H(50)31>. 

Marcus treatment does not exclude a radical pathway in lithium dialkyl-amide reduction of benzophenone. It does, however, seem to be excluded (Newcomb and Burchill 1984a,b) by observations on the reductions of benzophenone by N-lithio-N-butyl-5-methyl-l-hex-4-enamine in THF containing HMPA. Benzophenone is reduced to diphenylmethanol in good yield, and the amine yields a mixture of the acyclic imines no cyclic amines, expected from radical cyclization of a putative aminyl radical, were detected. An alternative scheme (17) shown for the lithium diethylamide reduction, accounts for rapid formation of diphenylmethoxide, and for formation of benzophenone ketyl under these conditions. Its key features are retention of the fast hydride transfer, presumably via the six-centre cyclic array, for the formation of diphenylmethoxide (Kowaski et al., 1978) and the slow deprotonation of lithium benzhydrolate to a dianion which disproportion-ates rapidly with benzophenone yielding the ketyl. The mechanism demands that rates for ketyl formation are twice that for deprotonation of the lithium diphenylmethoxide, and, within experimental uncertainty, this is the case. 

MISCELLANEOUS REACTIONS OF DIHYDROPYRIDINES Additional tests for net hydride transfers initiated by single-electron transfer include the use of substrates in which such pathways would necessarily involve readily ring-opened cyclopropylmethyl or readily cyclized 5-hexenyl radicals. Products from these radical reactions are not formed in NAD+/ NADH dependent enzymic reductions or oxidations (Maclnnes et al., 1982, 1983 Laurie et al., 1986 Chung and Park, 1982). Such tests have also been applied in non-enzymic reductions. Thus cyclopropane rings in cyclopropyl 2-pyridyl ketones, or imines of formylcyclopropane (van Niel and Pandit, 1983, 1985 Meijer et al., 1984) survive Mg+2 catalysed reduction by BNAH or Hantzsch esters but are opened by treatment with tributylin hydride. 

Early examples of intramolecular aryl radical addition reactions to heteroatom containing multiple bonds included cyclizations on N=N and C=S moieties [52, 53]. Recently, cyclizations to imines have been used as part of a new enantio-selective approach to indolines (Scheme 8). In the first step of the sequence, the required ketimines 19 were obtained by phase-transfer catalyzed alkylation of 2-bromobenzyl bromides 20 with glycinyl imines 21 in the presence of a cincho-nidinium salt [54], Due to the favorable substitution pattern on the imine moiety of 19, the tributyltin hydride mediated radical cyclization to 22 occurred exclusively in the 5-exo mode. The indoline synthesis can therefore also be classified as a radical amination. 

Many reports on tributyltin hydride-mediated intramolecular aryl-aryl coupling reactions have appeared in the literature in the 1990s [27, 121], One of the latest articles, in which many references on previous work have been included, focuses on the preparation of aporphines (Scheme 23) [122], Due to steric repulsion, an undesired 5-endo cyclization of the aryl radical on the imine nitrogen atom occurs only when more bulky substituents R are present in the benzyldihydroisoquinoline 64. With R = H, the cyclization to 65 proceeds in high yields. 

Cyclization of selenoimidates.a Reaction of the selenoimidate 1 with Bu3SnH (AIBN) generates an imidoyl radical that cyclizes to the nitrile 2 and the imine 3 of a chromanone. Only 3 is obtained if the benzyl substituent on nitrogen is changed to an alkyl group. The reaction follows a different course when an N-tolyl selenoimidate (4) is the starting imine (equation I). 

Indolines can also be prepared by radical cyclization. For example, the precursor 62 was annulated to the indoline 63 with incorporation of a N-substituent originating from the ketone component (Equation 16). This reaction seems to proceed via aryl radical addition onto an initially formed imine <20010L1009>. 

The intermediate carbon radical can be trapped by an appropriate electron-poor alkene27. Thus, slow addition (4-5 h) of tributylstannane and a catalytic amount of 2,2 -azobisisobuty-ronitrile to a solution of the /V-phcnylthio imine and methyl acrylate or di-ferf-butyl malonate (5 equivalents) in refluxing cyclohexane gives the cyclization-addition product with satisfactory to good yield but with modest stereoselectivity. 

From halides. Halides are easily converted into selenides. Since halides are also suitable radical precursors, this transformation is usually done when side reactions of halides with nucleophiles can occur. An example of this type is reported in Eq. (1). The bromide 5 was converted into a phenyl selenide, which could stand DIBALH reduction and imine formation. Tin mediated cyclization of 6 afforded the cyclopentylamine 7 in 72% yield [5]. 

Radical cyclization is not limited to reaction with a C=C unit (see 15-29 and 15-30), and reactions with both C=N and C=0 moieties are known. Reaction of MeON=CH(CH2)3CHO with Bu3SnH and AIBN, for example, led to trans-2-(methoxyamino)cyclopentanol in good yield.Conjugated ketones add to aldehyde via the p-carbon under radical conditions (2 equivalents of Bu3SnH and 0.1 equivalent of CuCl) to give a p-hydroxy ketone.Addition of radical to the C=N unit of R C=N SPh ° or R—C=N—led to cyclic imines. Radical addition to simple imines leads to aminocycloalkenes. Radical also add to the carbonyl unit of phenylthio esters to give cyclic ketones. 

Treatment of benzophenone with 153 in THF gave good yields of benzhydrol and imines 156 and 157 but no trace of cyclic products derived from 155 (formed via oxidation of 153 to give 154). The anion 153 does not cyclize under the reaction conditions. Cyclic products would be expected if 153 had been oxidized to radical 154 since 154 cyclizes 111). This and other experiments led to the conclusion that the reduction of benzophenone by dialkyl amides containing P-hydrogen atoms occurs via hydride and not via electron transfer. 

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