1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions with nitrile ylides

Dipolarophiles which contain an electron-deficient substituent undergo smooth cycloaddition reactions with nitrile ylides. The relative reactivity of the nitrile ylide toward a series of dipolarophiles is determined primarily by the extent of stabilization afforded the transition state by interaction of the dipole highest-occupied (HO) and dipolarophile lowest-unoccupied (LU) orbitals. Substituents which lower the dipolarophile LU energy accelerate the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. For example, fumaronitrile undergoes cycloaddition at a rate which is 189,000 times faster than methyl crotonate. Ordinary olefins react so sluggishly that their bimolecular rate constants cannot be measured. 

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). 

This chapter deals mainly with the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of three 1,3-dipoles azomethine ylides, nitrile oxides, and nitrones. These three have been relatively well investigated, and examples of external reagent-mediated stereocontrolled cycloadditions of other 1,3-dipoles are quite limited. Both nitrile oxides and nitrones are 1,3-dipoles whose cycloaddition reactions with alkene dipolarophiles produce 2-isoxazolines and isoxazolidines, their dihydro derivatives. These two heterocycles have long been used as intermediates in a variety of synthetic applications because their rich functionality. When subjected to reductive cleavage of the N—O bonds of these heterocycles, for example, important building blocks such as p-hydroxy ketones (aldols), a,p-unsaturated ketones, y-amino alcohols, and so on are produced (7-12). Stereocontrolled and/or enantiocontrolled cycloadditions of nitrones are the most widely developed (6,13). Examples of enantioselective Lewis acid catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are summarized by J0rgensen in Chapter 12 of this book, and will not be discussed further here. 

Pyridines have also been used in cyclization reactions. Two noteworthy examples are shown in scheme 3. The reaction of substituted pyridine 32 with a nitrile affords imidazo[l -ajpyridine 33 in excellent yield <01JOC2862>. Oku and co-workers have reported the use of tetrahydroquinolizinium ylides in a 13-dipolar cycloaddition reaction (34- 35) <01JOC1638>. Sieburth has also published an account of the [4+4] photocyclization reaction of pyridones on route to fusicoccin <01S1185>. 

In all of the above reactions, a chiral center of the alkene was located in the allylic position. However, as shall be demonstrated next, more distant chiral centers may also lead to highly selective cycloadditions with 1,3-dipoles. In two recent papers, the use of exocyclic alkenes has been applied in reactions with C,N-diphenylnitrone (165,166). The optically active alkenes 109 obtained from (S)-methyl cysteine have been applied in reactions with nitrones, nitrile oxides, and azomethine ylides. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of 109 (R=Ph) with C,N-diphenyl nitrone proceeded to give endOa-1 Q and exOa-110 in a ratio of 70 30 (Scheme 12.36). Both product isomers arose from attack of the nitrone 68 at the... 

For intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, the application of nitrones and nitrile oxides is by far most common. However, in increasing frequency, cases intramolecular reactions of azomethine ylides (76,77,242-246) and azides (247-259) are being reported. The previously described intermolecular approach developed by Harwood and co-workers (76,77) has been extended to also include intramolecular reactions. The reaction of the chiral template 147 with the alkenyl aldehyde 148 led to the formation of the azomethine ylide 149, which underwent an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to furnish 150 (Scheme 12.49). The reaction was found to proceed with high diastereoselectivity, as only one diaster-eomer of 150 was formed. By a reduction of 150, the proline derivative 151 was obtained. 

Karlsson and Hogberg (291,292) applied the thiocarbonyl ylide 175 in a diastereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with 165. The thiocarbonyl yhde was generated in situ by an elimination reaction. The reaction with 165 gave 176 (R = Bu, BnO, Ph) with selectivities of up to 64—80% de. Furthermore, the cycloaddition of a chiral galactose-derived nitrile imine with 165 has been reported (104). 

The amino acid derived chiral oxazolidinone 188 is a very commonly used auxiliary in Diels-Alder and aldol reactions. However, its use in diastereoselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions is less widespread. It has, however, been used with nitrile oxides, nitrones, and azomethine ylides. In reactions of 188 (R = Bn, R =Me, R = Me) with nitrile oxides, up to 92% de have been obtained when the reaction was performed in the presence of 1 equiv of MgBr2 (303). In the absence of a metal salt, much lower selectivities were obtained. The same observation was made for reactions of 188 (R = Bn, R = H, R = Me) with cyclic nitrones in an early study by Murahashi et al. (277). In the presence of Znl2, endo/exo selectivity of 89 11 and up to 92% de was observed, whereas in the absence of additives, low selectivities resulted. In more recent studies, it has been shown for 188 (R =/-Pr, R = H, R =Me) that, in the presence of catalytic amounts of Mgl2-phenanthroline (10%) (16) or Yb(OTf)3(20%) (304), the reaction with acyclic nitrones proceeded with high yields and stereoselectivity. Once again, the presence of the metal salt was crucial for the reaction no reaction was observed in their absence. Various derivatives of 188 were used in reactions with an unsubstituted azomethine ylide (305). This reaction proceeded in the absence of metal salts with up to 60% de. The presence of metal salts led to decomposition of the azomethine ylide. 

These results are rationalized on the basis of the intermediate formation of thio-substituted nitrile ylides 58 that undergo regioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with the dipolarophiles. Some examples are shown in Scheme 7.15. If a dipolaro-phile is not present in the reaction mixture the nitrile ylides 58 (R2 = Me) isomerize to give the 2-aza-1,3-butadienes 59 that can be trapped in a Diels-Alder reac-... 

Cyanides can react with 1-aminopyridinium salts to give 2-substituted triazolopyridines, possibly via the pyridinium ylide. With 1-aminopyridinium iodide and cyanide ion the intermediate 4-cyanopyridine reacts with the aminopyridinium salt to give 2-(4-pyridyl)triazolopyridine (45).51 When acetonitrile or benzonitrile are used, 2-methyl- and 2-phenyltriazolo-pyridines are obtained.58 60 The reaction is thought to involve a dipolar cycloaddition of the N- mi nopyridine with the nitrile, as shown in Eq. (4). 

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