1.5- dicarbonyl compounds, cyclization

It is not customary to attempt the isolation of ketone or aldehyde intermediates (121) the formula serves merely as a reminder that once hydrolysis of the protecting enol ether or acetal occurs, the same type of structure is formed from any given dicarbonyl compound. Cyclization has been carried out in refluxing ethanolic picric acid or acetic anhydride with a few drops of sulfuric acid, but Hansen and Amstutz (63JOC393) offered excellent theoretical reasons for avoiding an excess of acid, and reported that best results (Table 3) can be obtained by refluxing the dry hydrobromide in acetic anhydride containing no sulfuric acid. 

Cyclization with acid now causes a lot to happen. The 1,4-dicarbonyl compound cyclizes to a lactone, not to a furan, and the redundant ester group is lost by hydrolysis and decarboxylation. Notice that the double bond moves into conjugation with the lactone carbonyl group. Finally, the reduction gives the furan. No special precautions are necessary—as soon as the ester is partly reduced, it loses water to give the furan whose aromaticity prevents further reduction even with UA1H4. H... 

There is one example in which part of the amidine system is a C—N bond in a heterocyclic ring. The enamino ketone condensation products (42) of 3-amino-l,2,4-oxadiazoles and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds cyclize in basic medium to form 60-80% yields of imidazoles. The driving force for this reaction is provided by the well-established, general attack of a nucleophilic centre in the side-chain at N-2 of the heterocyclic ring, but it is unusual in that a carbon nucleophile (rather than an oxygen or nitrogen species) is implicated (Scheme 23). 

Tetralone-8-carboxylic acid, an example of a cis unsaturated 1,4-dicarbonyl compound, cyclizes with phenylhydrazine to give 2,7,8,9-tetrahydro-2-phenyl-3//-benzo[<7e]cinnolin-3-one in over 90% yield <81S59>. 

Vinyl ethers and a,P unsaturated carbonyl compounds cyclize in a hetero-Diels-Alder reaction when heated together in an autoclave with small amounts of hydroquinone added to inhibit polymerisation. Acrolein gives 3,4-dihydro-2-methoxy-2JT-pyran (234,235), which can easily be hydrolysed to glutaraldehyde (236) or hydrogenated to 1,5-pentanediol (237). With 2-meth5lene-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds the reaction is nearly quantitative (238). 

Insertion Reactions. Isocyanates also may undergo iasertion reactions with C—H bonds. Acidic compounds, such as 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds (6), react readily at room temperature to form carboxyamides. At higher temperatures carboxyamides frequentiy undergo secondary reactions leading to cyclized products (33,34). 

The cyclization of 6-aminouracils with three-carbon fragments such as a,B- unsaturated carbonyl compounds, /3-dicarbonyl compounds, acetylenic esters, etc., is dealt with as a [3+3] reaction (see Section 2.15.5.7.2). Reactions with alkoxymethylenemalonates and related compounds are regarded as proceeding through [6 + 0 (y)] cyclizations (see Section 2.15.5.4.2). 

Model studies directed toward the synthesis of Ecteinascidin 743 employed an elegant Pictet-Spengler cyclization of phenethylamine 54 and the 1,2-dicarbonyl compound 55 to assemble the spiro tetrahydroisoquinoline 56 in a stereospecific fashion. " The silica-catalyzed condensation reaction provided 56 in excellent yield. 

As described above for the synthesis of thiophenes, the microwave assisted Lawesson s reagent mediated cyclization of various 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds yielded the desired 2-alkoxythiazoles in 90% yields [1] (Scheme 9). 

Two other examples of microwave-assisted Paal-Knorr reactions were reported in 2004, describing the synthesis of a larger set of pyrroles with different substituents around the ring. The methods differ mainly in the syntheses employed to produce the 1,4 dicarbonyl compounds required for the cyclization. A variation of the Stetter reaction between an acyl silane and dif-... 

Thiophenes of type 31 (X-Y = CH) were generated via Lawesson s reagent-mediated cyclization of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds 30 under microwave irradiation in the absence of solvent [37]. The reaction was carried by mixing the two solid reagents in a glass tube inserted inside a household microwave apparatus and irradiating until the evolution of H2S ceased. An interesting application of this method is the preparation of liquid crystals and other ferro- and antiferroelectric material such as compound 33 (Scheme 10). 

The cyclization of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds with aldehydes in the presence of NH4OAC to give imidazoles was employed in a combinatorial study that compared conventional and microwave heating in the preparation of a library of sulfanyl-imidazoles (Scheme 15). The study employed an array of expandable reaction vessels that could accommodate a pressure build-up system for heating without loss of volatile solvents or reagents. A 24-membered library of imidazoles (48 and 49) was prepared in 16 min instead of the 12 h required using conventional heating [45]. 

The aldol reaction can be applied to dicarbonyl compounds in which the two groups are favorably disposed for intramolecular reaction. Kinetic studies on cyclization of 5-oxohexanal, 2,5-hexanedione, and 2,6-heptanedione indicate that formation of five-membered rings is thermodynamically somewhat more favorable than formation of six-membered rings, but that the latter is several thousand times faster.170 A catalytic amount of acid or base is frequently satisfactory for formation of five- and six-membered rings, but with more complex structures, the techniques required for directed aldol condensations are used. 

Scheme 2.11 shows some examples of Robinson annulation reactions. Entries 1 and 2 show annulation reactions of relatively acidic dicarbonyl compounds. Entry 3 is an example of use of 4-(trimethylammonio)-2-butanone as a precursor of methyl vinyl ketone. This compound generates methyl vinyl ketone in situ by (3-eliminalion. The original conditions developed for the Robinson annulation reaction are such that the ketone enolate composition is under thermodynamic control. This usually results in the formation of product from the more stable enolate, as in Entry 3. The C(l) enolate is preferred because of the conjugation with the aromatic ring. For monosubstituted cyclohexanones, the cyclization usually occurs at the more-substituted position in hydroxylic solvents. The alternative regiochemistry can be achieved by using an enamine. Entry 4 is an example. As discussed in Section 1.9, the less-substituted enamine is favored, so addition occurs at the less-substituted position. 

In 1997, the controversial mechanism of the Biginelli reaction was reinveshgated by Kappe using NMR spectroscopy and trapping experiments [94], and the current generally accepted process was elucidated (see Scheme 9.23). The N-acyliminium ion 9-112 is proposed as key intermediate this is formed by an acid-catalyzed reaction of an aldehyde with urea or thiourea via the semiaminal 9-111. Intercephon of 9-112 by the enol form of the 1,3-dicarbonyl compound 9-113 produces the open-chain ureide 9-114, which cyclizes to the hexahydropyrimidine 9-115. There follows an elimination to give the final product 9-116. 

Dianions or trianions derived from 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds react with nitroalkenes at low temperature to give the adduct, which undergoes a nitro-aldol type cyclization (Eq. 4.50).640... 

One of the most common approaches to pyrrole synthesis is the Paal-Knorr reaction, in which 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds are converted to pyrroles by acid-mediated dehydrative cyclization in the presence of a primary amine. The group of Taddei has reported a microwave-assisted variation of the Paal-Knorr procedure, whereby a small array of tetrasubstituted pyrroles was obtained (Scheme 6.181) [342], The pyrroles were effectively synthesized by heating a solution of the appropriate 1,4-dicarbonyl compound in the presence of 5 equivalents of the primary amine in acetic acid at 180 °C for 3 min. The same result was obtained by heating an identical mixture under open-vessel microwave conditions (reflux) for 5 min. Interestingly, the authors were unable to achieve meaningful product yields when attempting to carry out the same transformation by oil-bath heating. 

In analogy to the Paal-Knorr pyrrole synthesis described by Taddei and coworkers [342] (Scheme 6.181), similar reaction conditions were used by these authors to cyclize 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds to give furans (Scheme 6.190). Thus, heating a solution of a 1,4-dicarbonyl compound in ethanol/water in the presence of a catalytic amount of hydrochloric acid at 140 °C for 3 min provided an excellent yield of the corresponding trisubstituted furan derivative. 

In the presence of bis(acetylacetonato)nickel, a-dicarbonyl compounds readily add at the nitrile group of 4-R-substituted l,2,5-oxadiazole-3-carbonitriles 219 to form enaminofurazans 220. The adducts obtained from 4-amino-3-cyanofurazan underwent intramolecular cyclization upon heating with acetic acid in ethanol to give furazano[3,4- ]pyridine 221 derivatives in high yields (Scheme 51) <2001RCB1280>. 

Substituted furan formation by an indirect cyclization of 1,4-dicarbonyl derivatives has also been adopted as a key step in the synthesis of 3-oxa-guaianolides. Although 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds have been traditionally considered as the direct precursors for furans, treatment of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds having a tertiary acetoxy group with p-toluenesulfonic acid leads to only 11% yield of an alkenylfurans as derived from a cyclization/acetoxy-elimination route. The following scheme shows an alternative multi-step conversion of the 1,4-dicarbonyl that leads to a more acceptable yield of the acetoxyfuran . 

Reductive Cyclizations of Dicarbonyl Compounds (Pinacol and McMurry Couplings) 529... 

Aside from alcohols, other oxygen nucleophiles have also participated in hydroalkoxylation reactions with alkynes. The most common of these are 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, whose enol oxygens are readily available to add to alkynes. Cyclization reactions of this type have been carried out under Pd(0) catalysis with various aryl or vinyl iodides or triflates, often in the presence of CO, affording the corresponding furan derivatives (Equation (95)).337-340 A similar approach employing cyclic 1,3-diketones has also been reported to prepare THFs and dihydropyrans under Pd, Pt, or W catalysis.341 Simple l-alkyn-5-ones have also been isomerized to furans under the influence of Hg(OTf)2.342... 

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