Esters azomethine ylide 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions

Dipolar addition to nitroalkenes provides a useful strategy for synthesis of various heterocycles. The [3+2] reaction of azomethine ylides and alkenes is one of the most useful methods for the preparation of pyrolines. Stereocontrolled synthesis of highly substituted proline esters via [3+2] cycloaddition between IV-methylated azomethine ylides and nitroalkenes has been reported.147 The stereochemistry of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides derived from aromatic aldehydes and L-proline alkyl esters with various nitroalkenes has been reported. Cyclic and acyclic nitroalkenes add to the anti form of the ylide in a highly regioselective manner to give pyrrolizidine derivatives.148... 

Azomethine ylides of pyrrolo[l,2- ]pyrazine <1996JOC4655> and 3,4-dihydro pyrrolo[l,2-tf]pyrazine <1997T9341> undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with a number of dipolarophiles. For example, the ylide 178 reacts with propargylic ester 179 to give the tricyclic derivative 180 (Equation 43). 

Synthetic work commenced with evaluation of an azomethine ylide dipole for the proposed intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition. A number of methods exist for the preparation of azomethine ylides, including, inter alia, transformations based on fluoride-mediated desilylation of a-silyliminium species, electrocyclic ring opening of aziridines, and tautomerization of a-amino acid ester imines [37]. In particular, the fluoride-mediated desilylation of a-silyliminium species, first reported by Vedejs in 1979 [38], is among the most widely used methods for the generation of non-stabilized azomethine ylides (Scheme 1.6). 

Microwave-induced 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions involving azomethine ylides have been widely reported in the literature. Bazureau showed that imidates derived from a-amino esters 120, as potential azomethine ylides, undergo 1,3-dipolar cyclo-additions with imino-alcohols 121 in the absence of solvent under microwave irradiation. This reaction leads to polyfunctionalized 4-yliden-2-imidazolin-5-ones 122 (Scheme 9.36) [87]. 

The most commonly applied ot,p-unsaturated ester auxiliary is the menthol group. It is inexpensive and easy to handle. Several different menthyl 2-alkenoates (157), in particular acrylates, have been applied in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions (Scheme 12.51). The major drawback of the menthyl ester auxiliary in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are the poor selectivities often associated with these reactions, except for reactions with azomethine ylides. 

The synthesis of proline-fused heterocyclic systems by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition has been well-established in solution-phase synthesis (Scheme 14) [42]. It is usually performed as a one-pot, three-component reaction of a dipo-larophile with an in situ prepared azomethine ylide. Perfluoroalkanesulfonyl protected hydroxybenzaldehydes [43] or fluorous alcohol protected amino esters [44] have been developed as two different fluorous components for the synthesis of proline derivatives 11 and 12. 

A one-pot, double intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides was developed by reaction of 4 equiv of an O-allyl salicyl-adehyde with a fluorous amino ester under microwave heating to generate a novel hexacyclic ring system 13 that contains seven stererocenters (Scheme 15) [45]. 

Besides the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides to C60, the Bingel cycloprop anation reaction is widely used for regioselective functionalization of fullerenes. In principle, this versatile modification involves the generation of carbon nucleophiles from a-halo esters and their subsequent addition to C60 [19]. The addition takes place exclusively on double bonds between two six-membered rings of the fullerene skeleton, yielding methanofullerenes. As shown in Scheme 2, addition of diethylbromomalonate to C60, in the presence of an auxiliary base... 

In the area of [3 + 2]-cycloadditions (1,3-dipolar cycloadditions), chiral silver catalysts have been utilized extensively for the enantioselective formation of five-membered rings from prochiral substrates. For example, Zhang and co-workers360 have reported the highly enantioselective Ag(i)-catalyzed [3 + 2]-cycloaddition of azomethine ylides to electron-deficient alkenes. Thus, reaction of ct-imino esters 442 with dimethyl maleate in the presence of catalytic amounts of silver(i) acetate and the chiral bisferrocenyl amide phosphine 443 provided the chiral pyrrolidines 444 with high stereoselectivities and chemical yields (Scheme 131). Only the endo-products were isolated in all cases. 

The first evidence for the existence of acyclic N-unsubstituted azomethine ylides as tautomers of imines was reported by Grigg (77CC125 78CC109). When the imines of a-amino esters are heated in benzene or toluene in the presence of a variety of dipolarophiles, pyrrolidine- or 3-pyrroline-2-carboxylates are isolated in high yields. These heterocycles correspond to the products produced by the 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of N-unsubstituted azomethine ylides, indicating the thermal equilibrium between the imine esters... 

Azomethine ylides are very important 1,3-dipoles, and they are usually used to react with alkenes leading to the formation of the highly substituted pyrrolidine derivatives [17]. A novel and practical process for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides with alkenes had been reported by j0rgensen and coworkers [18]. They proposed that a dipol-chiral base ion pair would be generated between a-imino ester-metal complex and a cinchona alkaloid, and subsequent cycloaddition with dipolarophile would take place in a stereoselective manner (Scheme 10.13). 

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