Diazirines formation

It was not their reactivity but their chemical inertness that was the true surprise when diazirines were discovered in 1960. Thus they are in marked contrast to the known linear diazo compounds which are characterized by the multiplicity of their reactions. For example, cycloadditions were never observed with the diazirines. Especially surprising is the inertness of diazirines towards electrophiles. Strong oxidants used in their synthesis like dichromate, bromine, chlorine or hypochlorite are without action on diazirines. Diazirine formation may even proceed by oxidative dealkylation of a diaziridine nitrogen in (186) without destruction of the diazirine ring (75ZOR2221). The diazirine ring is inert towards ozone simple diazirines are decomposed only by more than 80% sulfuric acid (B-67MI50800). 

Exploratory Use of Diazirines Formation of Glycosyl Phosphines, Stannanes, N-Sulfonylamines, Esters, Boranes, and Alanes, and of 1,1-Difluorides... 

The energy difference between diazirine and diazomethane, interesting from the point of view of their isomerism, came from MS measurements (63JCP(39)3534). The appearance potentials of the CH2 ion, common to both compounds, yielded a difference in heats of formation of 125kJmor A strong peak in the mass spectrum of 3-chloro-3-methyl-diazirine (50) with relative mass 55 was ascribed to the methyldiazirinium ion (51). 

Diazirines (3) smoothly add Grignard compounds to the N—N double bond, giving 1-alkyldiaziridines. Reported yields are between 60 and 95% without optimization (B-67MI50800). The reaction is easily carried out on a preparative scale without isolation of the hazardous diazirines and may serve as an easy access to alkylhydrazines. The reaction was also used routinely to detect diazirines in mixtures. The diaziridines formed are easily detected by their reaction with iodide. Phenyllithium or ethylzinc iodide also add to (3) with diaziridine formation. 

Metal carbonyls react with diazirines with complex formation at one or both N atoms (75JOM(94)75). The 1 2 complex (187) is converted to (188) by N —N cleavage in acidic media. 

Formation of diazomethane from diazirine was also observed in a solid nitrogen matrix on irradiation (64JCP(41)3504). Labeling experiments demonstrated that elimination and uptake of nitrogen occurred. 

Methylvinyldiazirine (199) rearranges at room temperature in the course of some days. Formation of the linear isomer is followed by electrocyclic ring closure to give 3-methyl-pyrazole. The linear diazo compound could be trapped by its reaction with acids to form esters, while the starting diazirine (199) is inert towards acids (B-71MI50801). 

Formation of azines on thermolysis of diazirines was reported repeatedly (B-67MI50800), e.g. with perfluorodimethyldiazirine (204), with chloromethoxydiazirine and with chloro-phenyldiazirine. 

There are some reports on reactions involving complete N—N cleavage in diazirine reactions such as formation of amidine (205) from chlorophenyldiazirine, or on formation of products containing only one nitrogen atom. Betaine (206) was described as a product from difluorodiazirine and triphenylphosphine. Compound (207) is formed from decomposing (204) and cyclohexane (79AHC(24)63). 

Increased sensitivity towards acid is observed when protonation occurs on a functional group outside the diazirine ring, giving rise to electron dilution at the carbon atom adjacent to the diazirine carbon. The products isolated are in accord with the proposal (79AHC(24)63) that cation formation at this carbon atom leads to nitrogen extrusion, probably with formation of a vinyl cation. Thus protonated hydroxydiazirine (209) yields acetone, and methylvinyldiazirine (199) on treatment with acids yields butanone (67CB2093). 

Diazirines are in most cases more easily available than linear diazo compounds. Moreover, their decomposition via true carbenes is free of side reactions, whereas linear diazo compounds in presence of H-donors may react by a cationic pathway. Only where reactions of linear diazo compounds are optimized for carbene formation do they give the same products as do decomposing diazirines. 

The stabilization reactions of alkylcarbenes were used preparatively in some cases. The diazirine derived from adamantanone gave the dehydroadamantane (2l7) thermally in 96% yield 73ZOR430). Alkene formation was reported for a steroid with its C-3 atom part of a diazirine ring. At 140 °C a A-2-unsaturated steroid was formed 65JA2665). 

From trifluorotriaminomethane (292) and also from perfluoroguanidine (294) fluorodifluoroaminodiazirine (293) was obtained. The presence of chloride leads to the formation of chlorine-containing diazirines. 

For the preparation of the parent substance, cyclic diazomethane (67), formaldehyde, chloramine, and ammonia were reacted. Diaziri-dine formation was successful in about 20% yield the diaziridine condensed with further formaldehyde to high molecular weight products the diaziridine detected by its oxidizing power was nonvolatile. Oxidation with dichromate in dilute sulfuric acid led to gaseous diazirine (67) [Eq. (56)]. It was only investigated in solution. 

Preliminary investigations on the formation of carbenes from diazirines have already been made available. Frey and Stevens recently reported the photolysis of cyclic diazomethane. Cyclic diazomethane was irradiated in the gaseous phase with light of wavelength... 

In all cases the formation of carbenes was accompanied by partial photoisomerization of the precursor diazirines [53] into the corresponding diazo compounds [55] which possess a higher photochemical stability than the diazirines. 

The observed TRIR data are consistent with Scheme 4.1. Depletion of the diazirine and formation of the carbene occurs within the time resolution (50 ns) of the experiment. Subsequent decay of the carbene (J osbd = 3.0 X 10 s ) is observed at the same rate within experimental error ( 10%) that the a-lactone is produced ( osbd = 3.2 X 10 s ) and the final decay of the a-lactone (A bsd = 2.0 X 10 s ) occurs at the same rate as the acid chloride product is formed (A sbd = 1-8 X 10 s ). The position of the a-lactone band at 1910 cm is clearly indicative of ring-closed form 1 and in very good agreement with the signal observed at 10 K (1920 cm ) by Sander and co-workers. ... 

Finally, in some cases diradical negative ions can even be generated directly npon ionization of appropriate precnrsors. For example, nitrene and carbene anions can be formed by El of organic azides, diazo-compounds, and diazirines, whereas Branman and co-workers have reported the formation of oxyallyl anions by El of flnorinated acetyl componnds (Eq. 5.12). ... 

The conformational disorder and packing structure of diazirine 91N2 is shown on the left of Scheme 7.25. The formation of azine 92 can easily be explained by the head-to-head crystallization of the chloro-diazirine, which experiences close N---C1 interactions that ultimately bring the carbene carbon close to the diazirine nitrogen... 

Diazirine is a cyclic isomer of diazomethane. According to the organometallic literature, scission of both C-N and N-N bonds can occur when diazirines interact with metal complexes. The formation of carbene ligands arises from selective cleavage of the C-N bond, whereas selective N-N bond scission results in the formation... 

Photoelimination of nitrogen from diazirines, for example, proceeds via carbene intermediates. 3-tert-Butyldiazirine (395) is converted into the cyclopropane 396 and the alkene 397 with the formation of the carbene insertion product being favored from the singlet state.328 3-Cyclopropyl-3-chlorodiazirine (398) has similarly been converted to the carbene 399 which undergoes both rearrangement to l-chlorocyclobutene(400)329 and addition... 

The photoelimination of carbon dioxide from esters and lactones is a process that has been the subject of detailed investigations. Discussion here is limited to nitrogen containing systems. 3,4-Diphenylsydnone (464), on irradiation in benzene, is converted via the nitrile imine 465 into 2,4,5-triphenyl-1,2,3-triazole (466)388 initial bond formation between N-2 and C-4 followed by loss of carbon dioxide to give the diazirine 467 is proposed to account for the formation of the nitrile imine. Nitrile imines generated in this way have been trapped with alkenes and alkynes to give pyrazoles389... 

Ifcobs is directly proportional to pyridine concentration. Therefore a plot of kobs vs. [pyridine] is linear, with a slope (k ) equal to the second order rate constant for ylide formation, and an intercept (k0) equal to the sum of all processes that destroy the carbene in the absence of pyridine (e.g.) intramolecular reactions, carbene dimerization, reactions with solvent, and, in the case of diazirine or diazo carbene precursors, azine formation. 

Additional evidence for a second intermediate in supposed carbene reactions comes from numerous studies.17-29 In the earliest experimental approach, the carbene precursor, frequently a diazirine, was photolyzed in the presence of increasing quantities of an alkene, which trapped the carbene with the formation of a cyclopropane (5 in Scheme 1). If carbene 2 were the sole product-forming intermediate, as depicted in Scheme 1, then the ratio of its alkene addition product (5) to its 1,2-H shift rearrangement product (4) would vary linearly with alkene concentration Eq. 9. 

In pentane, the distribution of 1,3-insertion product 25 to 1,2-Me shift product 26 is 91 9. Upon addition of 2-methyl-1-butene, the yield of 25 smoothly decreases (to 19% with 4 M alkene), but the yield of 26 is unaffected 1 Moreover, correlation of addn/l,3-CH insertion (to 25) for 18 is nicely linear. The simplest interpretation is that 25 comes directly from carbene 18, whereas the 1,2-Me shift product 26 comes from the excited diazirine.27 Interestingly, thermolysis of 24 at 79°C produces 90% of 25 and 10% of 26, but now the yields of both products smoothly decrease in the presence of an alkene. In thermolysis the (electronically) excited diazirine is unavailable, both 25 and 26 stem from the carbene, and their formation is suppressed by the alkene s interception of the carbene. A pyridine ylide kinetic study gave the 1,3-CH insertion rate constant (18 - 25) as 9.3 x 10s s"1.27-47... 

H shift more readily occurs with loss of nitrogen.22 Excited diazirines decay by fluorescence, carbene formation, or 1,2-H(D) migration coupled with N2 loss. C-D bonds are stronger than C-H bonds, so that deuteration retards the latter pathway and therefore RIES, leading to an increase in both fluorescence and carbene formation from 35-d6 22... 

If Scheme 2 accurately represented the PhCH2CCl chemistry, curvature in the addn/rearr vs. [alkene] correlation would persist when the carbene was generated from 37. The absence of curvature in this case counts against Scheme 2 (and the CAC mechanism), but accords with the RIES mechanism, Scheme 3. Elimination of the diazirine precursor eliminates the diazirine excited state. From 37, both cyclopropane formation and 1,2-H rearrangement proceed from a single (carbene) intermediate, and addn/rearr vs. [alkene] is linear.25... 

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