Double cyclization electrophilicity

The alkylation of acyclic imines with electrophilic alkenes such as acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate or phenyl vinyl sulphone is also sensitive to steric effects and again, as a consequence, only mono-alkylation occurs398. The regioselectivity of the reaction in methanol varied from 100% attack at the more substituted a-position to 70% attack at the less substituted a -position depending upon the steric inhibition manifested and the stabilization of the competing secondary enamine tautomers (vide infra) (Scheme 204). In contrast, the reaction of butanone and other methyl ketone imines with phenyl vinyl ketone occurs twice at the more substituted a-position but this is then followed by a double cyclization process (Scheme 205). Four carbon-carbon bonds are formed sequentially in this one-pot synthesis of the bicyclo[2.2.2]octanone 205 from acyclic precursors399,400. 

Allylic alcohols can serve as 7t-allyl cation precursors to act as electrophiles in Sn reactions with a tethered O-nucleophile giving rise to the formation of spiroannulated tetrahydrofurans <2000TL3411>. Michael acceptors are also suitable electrophiles for the cyclization to tetrahydrofuran rings <2003T1613>. The Tsuji-Trost allylation has found widespread application in the synthesis of carbo- and heterocyclic compounds. Allylic substitution has been employed in the stereoselective synthesis of 2-vinyl-5-substituted tetrahydrofurans <2001H(54)419>. A formal total synthesis of uvaricin makes twofold use of the Tsuji-Trost reaction in a double cyclization to bis-tetrahydrofurans (Equation 73) <20010L1953>. 

Electrophile-induced transannular cyclizations of DBAs were also reported for [10]annulene systems (Scheme 7.9). Reaction of iodine with [10](2.2)dinaph-thoannulene 26c gave diiodozethrene 38a, which was transformed to diethynylze-threne derivatives such as 38b by Sonogashira coupling reaction [120-122]. Moreover, bromine-induced double cyclization of highly strained [10](4.2)DBA 39 afforded dibenzopicene 40a [123]. 

Humulene reacts with electrophiles initially at the trisubstituted 6,7 double bond in a Markovnikov fashion. With N-bromosuccinimide in aqueous acetone, the attack of bromonium ion triggers a double cyclization to tricyclic bromohydrin (104) 147). The formation of the /mn -fused cyclobutane ring by electrophilic cyclization onto the 2,3-double bond is similar to the second ring closure in the caryophyllene biogenesis. By dehydration and reductive cleavage of the three-membered ring, it was possible to convert (104) into caryophyllene. 

The second part of lanosterol biosynthesis is catalyzed by oxidosqualene lanosterol cyclase and occurs as shown in Figure 27.14. Squalene is folded by the enzyme into a conformation that aligns the various double bonds for undergoing a cascade of successive intramolecular electrophilic additions, followed by a series of hydride and methyl migrations. Except for the initial epoxide protonation/cyclization, the process is probably stepwise and appears to involve discrete carbocation intermediates that are stabilized by electrostatic interactions with electron-rich aromatic amino acids in the enzyme. 

Polyene Cyclization. Perhaps the most synthetically useful of the carbo-cation alkylation reactions is the cyclization of polyenes having two or more double bonds positioned in such a way that successive bond-forming steps can occur. This process, called polyene cyclization, has proven to be an effective way of making polycyclic compounds containing six-membered and, in some cases, five-membered rings. The reaction proceeds through an electrophilic attack and requires that the double bonds that participate in the cyclization be properly positioned. For example, compound 1 is converted quantitatively to 2 on treatment with formic acid. The reaction is initiated by protonation and ionization of the allylic alcohol and is terminated by nucleophilic capture of the cyclized secondary carbocation. 

Anionic domino processes are the most often encountered domino reactions in the chemical literature. The well-known Robinson annulation, double Michael reaction, Pictet-Spengler cyclization, reductive amination, etc., all fall into this category. The primary step in this process is the attack of either an anion (e. g., a carban-ion, an enolate, or an alkoxide) or a pseudo anion as an uncharged nucleophile (e. g., an amine, or an alcohol) onto an electrophilic center. A bond formation takes place with the creation of a new real or pseudo-anionic functionality, which can undergo further transformations. The sequence can then be terminated either by the addition of a proton or by the elimination of an X group. 

Despite the fact that the electrochemical oxidation of most of the nonconjugated dienes generally does not give products which result from interaction of the double bonds with one another, the anodic oxidation l-acetoxy-l,6-heptadienes gives intramolecularly cyclized products, that is, the cyclohexenyl ketones (equation 15)13. The cyclization takes place through the electrophilic attack of the cation generated from enol ester moiety to the double bond. 

The oxidative addition of palladium(O) to aryl bromide generates the arylpalladium(n) intermediate 126 (Scheme 37). The electrophilic activation of the double bond by palladium facilitates the nucleophilic attack, resulting in cyclization. 

When the cyclization occurs by activation of the carbon-carbon double bound, the anomeric configuration of the product depends on the stereochemistry of attack of the electrophile to the double bound. The attack preferably occurs from the less hindered face of the most stable conformation, that in which the allylic hydroxyl group lies on the same plane of the double bond. 

As mentioned above, the reactivity of alkoxyallenes is governed by the influence of the ether function, which leads to the expected attack of electrophiles at the central carbon C-2 of the cumulene. However, the alkoxy group also activates the terminal double bond by its hyperconjugative electron-withdrawing effect and makes C-3 accessible for reactions with nucleophiles (Scheme 8.3). This feature is of particular importance for cyclizations leading to a variety of heterocyclic products. The relatively high CH-acidity at C-l of alkoxyallenes allows smooth lithiation and subsequent reaction with a variety of electrophiles. In certain cases, deprotonation at C-3 can also be achieved. 

The examples illustrated in the almost 100 schemes in this chapter demonstrate how versatile donor-substituted allenes can be in synthetic processes. The major applications concern addition reactions and cycloadditions to the allenic double bonds, which furnish products with valuable functional groups. Of particular interest are metalations - usually at C-l of the allene unit - followed by reactions with electrophiles that deliver compounds which can often be used for cyclization reactions. A variety of highly substituted and functionalized heterocycles arises from these flexible methods, which cannot be obtained by other reactions. Many of these transformations proceed with good regioselectivity and excellent stereoselection. 

The double iron-mediated arylamine cyclization provides a highly convergent route to indolo[2,3-fc]carbazole (Scheme 16). Double electrophilic substitution of m-phenylenediamine 34 by reaction with the complex salt 6a affords the diiron complex 35, which on oxidative cyclization using iodine in pyridine leads to indolo[2,3-b]carbazole 36 [98].Thus,ithasbeen demonstrated that the bidirectional annulation of two indole rings can be applied to the synthesis of indolocarbazoles. 

Again, the exclusive formation of six-membered rings indicates that the cyclization takes place by the electrophilic attack of a cationic center, generated from the enol ester moiety to the olefinic double bond. The eventually conceivable oxidation of the terminal double bond seems to be negligible under the reaction conditions since the halve-wave oxidation potentials E1/2 of enol acetates are + 1.44 to - - 2.09 V vs. SCE in acetonitrile while those of 1-alkenes are + 2.70 to -1- 2.90 V vs. Ag/0.01 N AgC104 in acetonitrile and the cyclization reactions are carried out at anodic potentials of mainly 1.8 to 2.0 V vs. SCE. 

Although the chemistry of pentatetraenylidene complexes [M]=C(=C)3=CR R has not received as much attention as that of aUenylidenes, there is ample experimental evidence to confirm the electrophilic character of the C, Cy and carbons of the cumulenic chain [26-29, 31]. Thus, treatment of tra s-[RuCl(=C=C=C=C=CPh2) (dppe)2][PFg] (132) with alcohols or secondary amines resulted in addition of the nucleophilic solvent across the Cy=Cs double bond to give alkenyl-allenylidenes 138 (Scheme 48) [358]. In chloroform, electrophilic cyclization with one of the Ph groups occurred to give 139. This transformation is actually the parent of the later observed allenylidene to indenylidene intramolecular rearrangement (Scheme 15). 

We next focused on an electrophilic addition across the C-7, 8 double bond. It was believed that treatment with an electrophile might Induce cyclization to give the trans-fused... 

In many of these cases, the nucleophile is a C=C double bond (usually an alkenic group and less frequently an aromatic group). Alkenic oxime mesylates enable intramolecular cyclization by an electrophihc addition of the double bond to the electrophilic intermediate. These reactions are terminated by a proton loss. 

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