Azides 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions

Unlike the mesoionic 1,2,3-oxadiazoles (see Chapter 5.03), mesoionic 1,2,3,4-oxatriazoles 5 and 6 do not undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. Azides formed by loss of carbon dioxide from anhydro-5-hydroxy-l,2,3,4-oxatria-zolium hydroxides 4, on prolonged heating with lithium chloride, may be trapped by cycloaddition to an alkyne < 1996CHEC-II(4)679>. 

Dipolar cycloaddition reactions with azides, imines, and nitrile oxides afford synthetic routes to nitrogen-containing heterocycles (25—30). 

Azidofurazans and -furoxans undergo dipolar cycloaddition reactions with unsaturated compounds, in some cases regiospecifically. Thus, reaction of 3-amino-4-azidofurazan with l-morpholinyl-2-nitroethene (toluene, reflux, 70 hours) gives 4-nitro-l,2,3-triazole 204 in 87% yield (99MI1, 000KGS406). Cycloaddition of the same azide to alkynes was accomplished by formation of a mixture of position isomers 205 and 206. Regiospecific addition was observed only in singular cases... 

Similarly, the regiospecific 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of 1-methyl-1,2-dihydropyridines 41 with cyanogen azide (50a) and selected organic azides 50c and 50g afforded 2-methyl-2,7-diazabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-4-enes 57, which can be elaborated to 1-methyl-l,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridylidene-2-cyanamide (58) and 1-methyl-2-piperidylidenes 59a-d (85CJC2362). 

A microwave-assisted three-component reaction has been used to prepare a series of 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles with complete control of regiose-lectivity by click chemistry , a fast and efficient approach to novel functionalized compounds using near perfect reactions [76]. In this user-friendly procedure for the copper(l) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides and alkynes, irradiation of an alkyl halide, sodium azide, an alkyne and the Cu(l) catalyst, produced by the comproportionation of Cu(0) and Cu(ll), at 125 °C for 10-15 min, or at 75 °C for certain substrates, generated the organic azide in situ and gave the 1,4-disubstituted regioisomer 43 in 81-93% yield, with no contamination by the 1,5-regioisomer (Scheme 18). 

The authors have also elaborated a microwave-enhanced one-pot procedure [90] for the Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. In a typical procedure, a pyrazinone with a triple bond connected to the core via C - O linkage, was reacted with a suitable benzylic bromide and NaNs in presence of the Cu(I) catalyst in a t Bu0H/H20 system under microwave irradiation (Scheme 26). The cycloaddition was found to proceed cleanly and with full regioselectivity. As the azide is generated in situ, this procedure avoids the isolation and purification of hazardous azides, which is especially important when handling the ahphatic ones, which are known to be toxic and explosive in nature. 

Recently, Li et al. have reported an efficient 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides with electron-deficient alkynes without any catalysts at room temperature in water.128 The reaction has been applied successfully to the coupling of an azido-DNA molecule with electron-deficient alkynes for the formation of [l,2,3]-triazole heterocycle (Eq. 4.66). 

Benzocyclobutene, when generated by oxidation of its iron tricarbonyl complex, can function as the dipolarophile in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions with arylnitrile oxides (Scheme 113).177 Unfortunately the synthetic versatility of this type of process is limited because of the unreactivity of other 1,3-dipolar species such as phenyl azide, benzonitrile N-phenylimide, and a-(p-tolyl)benzylidenamine N-oxide.177... 

Click chemistry has been particularly active in various fields this year. For example, ample applications of click chemistry have been seen in carbohydrate chemistry. Various /weiido-oligosacchardies and amino acid glycoconjugates were synthesized via an intermolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction using easily accessible carbohydrate and amino acid derived azides and alkynes as building blocks <06JOC364>. The iterative copper(I)-catalyzed... 

S. Dedola, S. A. Nepogodiev, and R. A. Field, Recent applications of the Cul-catalysed Huisgen azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction in carbohydrate chemistry, Org. Biomol. Chem.., 5 (2007) 1006-1017. 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions to unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds have been known for quite some time and have become an important part of strategies for organic synthesis of many compounds (Smith and March, 2007). The 1,3-dipolar compounds that participate in this reaction include many of those that can be drawn having charged resonance hybrid structures, such as azides, diazoalkanes, nitriles, azomethine ylides, and aziridines, among others. The heterocyclic ring structures formed as the result of this reaction typically are triazoline, triazole, or pyrrolidine derivatives. In all cases, the product is a 5-membered heterocycle that contains components of both reactants and occurs with a reduction in the total bond unsaturation. In addition, this type of cycloaddition reaction can be done using carbon-carbon double bonds or triple bonds (alkynes). 

Triazole derivatives are very interesting compounds that can be prepared by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions between azides and alkynes. Loupy and Palacios reported that electron-deficient acetylenes react with azidoethylphosphonate 209 to form the regioisomeric substituted 1,2,3-triazoles 210 and 211 under microwaves in solvent-free conditions (Scheme 9.65) [114]. This procedure avoids the harsh reaction conditions associated with thermal cycloadditions (toluene under reflux) and the very long reaction times. 

Esters of acetylenedicarboxylic acid 1023 are commercially readily available, are very reactive as dipolarophiles, and the carboxylic groups in products of their reactions can be easily converted to many other functionalities. Therefore, they are often the first choice as substrates for 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to azides 1024 (Huisgen reaction). The reactions are carried out at room or elevated temperature, and the yields of 1,2,3-triazoles 1025 are usually high to quantitative (Equation 22). Several products obtained in this way are presented as structures 1026-1034. Some details about the reactions leading to these products are given in Table 10. 

Use of unsubstituted acetylene as a substrate in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with azides results in 4,5-unsubstituted triazoles. The reactions have to be carried out under pressure. In an example given in Equation (23) showing synthesis of an antibacterial agent, a solution of azide 1049 in dimethoxyethane is transferred to a pressure bomb that is then charged with acetylene and heated at 90 °C for 12 h to give triazole derivative 1050 in 74% yield <2003BMC35>. 

In addition, the mechanism of the zinc-catalyzed [3+2] dipolar cycloaddition of azides and nitriles to form tetrazoles was examined <2003JA9983>. The energy barrier of the reaction is lowered by 5-6kcalmol 1 which corresponds to an acceleration of 3 1 orders of magnitude. The source of the catalytic activity seems to be the coordination of the Lewis acidic zinc halide to the nitrile, which is supported by model calculations. Also AICI3 was examined as another Lewis acid which catalyzes the reaction to a greater extent than ZnBr2-... 

Scheme 7.1 Click chemistry synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted-l,2,3-triazoles by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of organic azides with terminal acetylenes.

Treatment of meso-ionic l,2,3,4-oxatriazole-5-thiones (286) (Section VII, I, 3) with boiling ethanoUc ammonia yields the isomers 297. These belong to a new class of meso-ionic heterocycle, which by O-alkylation with triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate 3rield the salts 298, These are useful intermediates for the sjmthesis of a number of novel types of meso-ionic 1,2,3,4-thiatriazoles (299, 300, and 301). The l,2,3,4-thiatriazol-5-ones (297) have dipole moments in accord with their meso-ionic formulation. They are remarkably stable to acidic hydrolysis, and 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions have not been observed alkaline hydrolysis yields aryl azides. 

Since the discovery of triazole formation from phenyl azide and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in 1893, synthetic applications of azides as 1,3-dipoles for the construction of heterocychc frameworks and core structures of natural products have progressed steadily. As the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides was comprehensively reviewed in the 1984 edition of this book (2), in this chapter we recount developments of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of azides from 1984 to 2000, with an emphasis on the synthesis of not only heterocycles but also complex natural products, intermediates, and analogues. 

Warrener and co-workers (25) exploited a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction to synthesize a 7-azanorbornane 124 (Scheme 9.25). The cyclobutene-1,2-diester 121 underwent smooth cycloaddition with benzyl azide to give the triazohne 122, which... 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides combined with further synthetic transformations is a highly useful reaction for the synthesis of heterocycles and natural products. Even though the chemistry of azide cycloadditions has been known for... 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azides to acetylenic amides is particularly difficult under conventional thermal conditions and extended reaction times of 14 h to 1 week have been reported32,33. Katritzky reported a microwave-mediated solvent-free variant ofthis procedure to give N-substituted C-carbamoyl- 1,2,3-triazoles in good to excellent yields in only 30 min (Scheme 3.19)34. 

The intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azides has become an increasingly useful process for the construction of natural products and molecules of theoretical interest.192 193 For example, 2-substituted azido enone (238) was prepared from the corresponding bromide by treatment with sodium azide. Thermolysis of this material afforded aziridinyl ketone (240) presumably via a transient dipolar cycloadduct (239).193 Ketone (240) was subsequently converted to an intermediate previously used to prepare histrionicotoxin (241 Scheme 56). 

The l,2,3,4-thiatriazol-5-ones (297) have dipole moments in accord with their meso-ionic formulation.108 They are remarkably stable to acidic hydrolysis, and 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions have not been observed alkaline hydrolysis yields aryl azides. 

Regiospecific 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of dihydropyridines and some organic azides lead to high yields of fused aziridines—2,7-diazabicy-cli[4.1.0]hept-3-enes 337 [365, 366, 367] (Scheme 3.112). The reaction proceeds via the preliminary formation of an intermediate 336 and the elimination of nitrogen. Reaction of pyrimidine 334 with less reactive methoxycarbonyl and benzoyl azides does not occur [367]. Compounds 337 exhibit significant analgesic, antibacterial and antifungal activities [367]. 

Looking more at host-guest type systems, the cucurbiturils are often very efficient catalysts in cases where they simultaneously bind two guests, thus increasing effective concentration and changing a bimolecular reaction into a guas/ -unimolecular one. To take one recent example, cucurbit[6]uril (Section 6.2.4) proves to be a very efficient catalyst for the click 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of an azide with an alkyne, particularly where the substrates are suitable guests for the cavity, as in Scheme 12.20. Cucurbituril binds very effectively to ammonium ions and addition of a small amount... 

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