Diazoacetophenones

Halofluonnation of a-diazoacetophenone by N halosuccmimides in hydrogen fluonde-pyndine provides good yields of a-fluoro-a-haloacetopheiiones [6] (equation 24)... 

Reaction of 2-pyrrolylbenzoic acid derivative 122 with PCI5 and subsequent reaction with diazomethane gave the diazoacetophenone 123 that upon treatment with silver oxide, sodium carbonate and sodium thiosulfate afforded acetic acid derivative 124, cyclization with acetic anhydride gave 125 (91JHC77) (Scheme 24). 

The role of Lewis acids in the formation of oxazoles from diazocarbonyl compounds and nitriles has primarily been studied independently by two groups. Doyle et al. first reported the use of aluminium(III) chloride as a catalyst for the decomposition of diazoketones.<78TL2247> In a more detailed study, a range of Lewis acids was screened for catalytic activity, using diazoacetophenone la and acetonitrile as the test reaction.<80JOC3657> Of the catalysts employed, boron trifluoride etherate was found to be the catalyst of choice, due to the low yield of the 1-halogenated side-product 17 (X = Cl or F) compared to 2-methyI-5-phenyloxazole 18. Unfortunately, it was found that in the case of boron trifluoride etherate, the nitrile had to be used in a ten-fold excess, however the use of antimony(V) fluoride allowed the use of the nitrile in only a three fold excess (Table 1). 

The yields of cyclopropanes in this case are low in relation to the amount of acetophenone formed. However, similar cyclopropane product ratios are obtained when photolysis is carried out in the presence of Michler s ketone as sensitizer. Thus the carbene intermediate produced in the direct irradiation is thought to be a triplet, as suggested by the nonstereospecificity of its addition. Whether this intermediate arose from singlet diazoacetophenone (via singlet decomposition and intersystem crossing of the singlet carbene) or by decomposition of the triplet molecule was not determined. 

Cyclopropanation of C=C bonds by carbenoids derived from diazoesters usually occurs stereospeciflcally with respect to the configuration of the olefin. This has been confirmed for cyclopropanation with copper 2S,S7,60 85), palladium 86), and rhodium catalysts S9,87>. However, cyclopropanation of c -D2-styrene with ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of a (l,2-dioximato)cobalt(II) complex occurs with considerable geometrical isomerization88). Furthermore, CuCl-catalyzed cyclopropanation of cis-2-butene with co-diazoacetophenone gives a mixture of the cis- and trans-1,2-dimethylcyclopropanes 89). 

Considering the above-mentioned facts, according to which simple diazoketones yield dihydrofurans with ketene acetals but cyclopropanes with enol ethers, one exports an interlink between these clear-cut alternatives to exist, i.e. substrates from which both cyclopropanes and dihydrofurans result. In fact, providing an enol ether with a cation-stabilizing substituent in the a-position creates such a situation The Rh2(OAc)4-catalyzed decomposition of -diazoacetophenone in the presence of ethyl vinyl ether produces mainly cyclopropane 82 (R=H), but a small amount of dihydro-... 

The relative yields of 93, 94 and 95 in the molybdenum-catalyzed reactions turned out to be exceptionally sensitive towards catalyst concentration, with different characteristics for different reaction partners. For example, the following yields of 93, 94 and 95 b were obtained when oo-diazoacetophenone reacted with acrylonitrile in the presence of different amounts of Mo(CO)6 46, 2, 50% (0.2 mol-% catalyst) 68, 3, 28% (1 mol-%) 83, 4, 0% (15 mol-%). In contrast, the yield of cyclopropane... 

Whereas pyrrole was reported not to give N/H insertion by ketocarbenoids, such a reaction mode does occur with imidazole Copper-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate at 80 °C in the presence of imidazole gives ethyl imidazol- 1-ylacetate exclusively (93 %) small amounts of a C-alkylated imidazole were obtained additionally under purely thermal conditions 244). N/H insertion also takes place at benzimidazole 245 a). The reaction is thought to begin with formation of an N3-ylide, followed by N1 - C proton transfer leading to the formal N/H insertion product. Diazomalonic raters behave analogously however, they suffer complete or partial dealkoxycarbonylation under the reaction conditions 244) (Scheme 34). N-alkylation of imidazole and benzimidazole by the carbenoids derived from co-diazoacetophenone and 2-(diazoacetyl)naphthalene has also been reported 245 b>. 

Interaction of a carbonyl group with an electrophilic metal carbene would be expected to lead to a carbonyl ylide. In fact, such compounds have been isolated in recent years 14) the strategy comprises intramolecular generation of a carbonyl ylide whose substituent pattern guarantees efficient stabilization of the dipolar electronic structure. The highly reactive 1,3-dipolar species are usually characterized by [3 + 2] cycloaddition to alkynes and activated alkenes. Furthermore, cycloaddition to ketones and aldehydes has been reported for l-methoxy-2-benzopyrylium-4-olate 286, which was generated by Cu(acac)2-catalyzed decomposition of o-methoxycarbonyl-m-diazoacetophenone 285 2681... 

The first reports of N-H insertion reactions of electrophilic carbene complexes date back to 1952 [497], when it was found that aniline can be N-alkylated by diazoacetophenone upon treatment of both reactants with copper. A further early report is the attempt of Nicoud and Kagan [1178] to prepare enantiomerically pure a-amino acids by copper(I) cyanide-catalyzed decomposition of a-diazoesters in the presence of chiral benzylamines. Low enantiomeric excesses (< 26% ee) were obtained, however. 

The linear cation-radical polymerization of diazoacetophenone has been described (Jones 1981). The reaction proceeds with the evolution of nitrogen and attracts some interest as a route to porous plastic materials. 

Tris(4-bromophenyl)ammoniumyl hexafluoroantimonate was used as an oxidant. Reacting with a great excess of diazoacetophenone in dichloromethane at room temperature, the ammoniumyl transforms into tris(4-bromophenyl)amine. This means that one-electron oxidation of the substrate takes place. Diazoacetophenone transforms into a cation-radical and gives a polymer containing only the phenylcarbonyl side groups (Scheme 7.15). 

The linear polymerization of Scheme 7.15 represents an unusual case of diazoacetophenone oxidation. For instance, on the action of copper oxide, diazoacetophenone gives ketocarbene, which is involved in typical carbene reactions such as dimerization, addition to olefins, and insertion in the 0-H bonds of alcohols. If the amine cation-radical is used as an oxidant instead of copper oxide, only the polymer is formed. The ketocarbene was not observed despite careful searches (Jones 1981). 

An alternative approach in the asymmetric catalysis in 1,3-dipole cycloaddition has been developed by Suga and coworkers. The achiral 1,3-dipole 106 was generated by intramolecular reaction of an Rh(ii) carbene complex with an ester carbonyl oxygen in the Rh2(OAc)4-catalyzed diazo decomposition of <9-methoxycarbonyl-o -diazoacetophenone 105 (Scheme 12). The asymmetric induction in the subsequent cycloaddition to G=G and G=N bond was achieved by chiral Lewis acid Sc(iii)-Pybox-/-Pr or Yb(iii)-Pybox-Ph, which can activate the dipolarophile through complexation. With this approach, up to 95% ee for G=0 bond addition and 96% ee for G=G bond addition have been obtained, respectively. ... 

Phenylacetamide has been obtained by a wide variety of reactions from benzyl cyanide with water at 250-260° 6 from benzyl cyanide with water and cadmium oxide at 240° 6 from benzyl cyanide with sulfuric acid 7 8 by saturation of an acetone solution of benzyl cyanide with potassium hydrosulfide 9 from benzyl cyanide with sodium peroxide 10 by electrolytic reduction of benzyl cyanide in sodium hydroxide 11 from ethyl phenyl-acetate with alcoholic 12 or aqueous 13 ammonia from phenyl-acetic acid with ammonium acetate 14 or urea 15 from diazoacetophenone with ammoniacal silver solution 16 from phenyl-acetic acid imino ether hydrochloride and water 17 from acetophenone with ammonium poly sulfide at 215° 18 from benzoic acid 19 and by heating the ammonium salt of phenyl-acetic acid.20... 

Another method for preparing 2-phenylbenzofurans through o-hydroxydeoxybenzoins (without isolating the latter) is the rearrangement of diazoacetophenones with a copper catalyst in the presence of phenol in benzene,400 which gives directly 63% phenoxyacetophenone and 26% 2-phenylbenzofuran [Eq. (1)]. 

Direct irradiation of diazoacetophenone in cyclohexene yields much the same product distribution as that obtained through the intermediacy of triplet sensitizers, indicating that the reactant benzoyl-methylene most likely is a triplet.60 A small amount of nonstereospecific addition to the olefin occurs, but the major reaction is allylic hydrogen abstraction to yield acetophenone and dicyclohexenyl. In alcohol... 

Treatment of diazoacetophenone (317) with sodium methoxide in the presence of methanol gave, in addition to many other products, a compound which was formulated as... 

Cyclization-cycloaddition of an a-diazoacetophenone. Reaction of 1 with Rh2(OAc)4 in C6H6 at 25° results in 2 in 87% yield. This reaction is considered to involve a carbonyl ylide (a), which is trapped internally by the neighboring double bond.2... 

---