Sigmatropic rearrangements Fischer indole synthesis

Retrosynthesis a in Scheme 7,1 corresponds to the Fischer indole synthesis which is the most widely used of all indole syntheses. The Fischer cyclization converts arylhydrazones of aldehydes or ketones into indoles by a process which involves orf/io-substitution via a sigmatropic rearrangement. The rearrangement generates an imine of an o-aminobenzyl ketone which cyclizes and aromatizes by loss of ammonia. 

The Fischer Indole Synthesis and Related Sigmatropic Syntheses. In the Fischer indole synthesis (26) an Ai-aryUiydra2one is cyclized, usually under acidic conditions, to an indole. The key step is a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement of an enehydra2one tautomer of the hydra2one. 

The Piloty-Robinson pyrrole synthesis (74JOC2575,18JCS639) may be viewed as a monocyclic equivalent of the Fischer indole synthesis. The conversion of ketazines into pyrroles under strongly acidic conditions apparently proceeds through a [3,3] sigmatropic rearrange-... 

In a process related to the Fischer indole synthesis, arenesulfinamides 96 underwent thermal conversion into the corresponding indoles 97 via a [3.3] sigmatropic rearrangement followed by cydization and loss of HSOH <96BSF329>. 

The Fischer indole synthesis, involving an aromatic [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement, has been used to prepare a variety of polyfluoroindoles from pentafluorophenyl- and heptafluoronaph-thylhydrazones.40 42... 

Similar enamine cyclization processes occur in several other successful heterocycle syntheses, e.g. in the Fischer indole synthesis. In this case, however, a labile N—N bond of a l-aryl-2-vinylhydrazine is cleaved in a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement, followed by cyclization and elimination of ammonia to yield the indole (B. Robinson, 1963, 1969 R. J. Sundberg, 1970). Regioselectivity is only observed if R2 contains no enolizable hydrogen, otherwise two structurally isomeric indoles are obtained. Other related cyclization reactions are found in the Pechmann synthesis of triazoles (T.L. Gilchrist, 1974) and in G. Bredereck s (1939) imidazole synthesis (M.R. Grimmett, 1970). 

The Fischer indole synthesis. The Fischer acid-catalyzed conversion of an 7V-arylhydrazone 42 into an indole is one of the most powerful and versatile methods for the preparation of indoles . The mechanism involves a [3,3] sigmatropic Claisen-type rearrangement of a protonated enehydrazine tautomer 43 to give intermediate 44, which spontaneously cyclizes by loss of ammonia, probably via indoline 45, to an indole 46 (Scheme 27). For unsymmetrical ketones, two isomeric indoles are possible and the general result is that the indole derived from the more stable (usually the more highly substituted) enehydrazine is formed. 

The Fischer indole synthesis is commonly recognized as one of the most powerful and versatile tools for construction of indoles, as reflected by the amount of recent publications in which it has been used successfully. The usual approach involves initial preparation of a phenylhydrazone 323 from a suitable phenylhydrazine and an enolizable carbonyl compound, followed by an acid-induced cyclization to the target indole 324, featuring a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement as the key step (Scheme 38). Some selected new examples of indoles prepared using standard Fischer conditions are collected in Table 2. 

This reaction was first reported by Fischer and Jourdan in 1883. It is a synthesis of indole derivatives by the treatment of aryl hydrazones coupled from aromatic hydrazines and ketones or aldehydes with either a mineral or Lewis acid. Therefore, it is generally known as the Fischer indole synthesis. In addition, it is also referred to as Fischer cyclization, Fischer indole cyclization, Fischer indole reaction, Fischer indolization, Fischer reaction, and Fischer indole annulation. Although the mechanism has been extensively studied, the one formulated by Robinson and Robinson is now generally accepted. It involves the following steps (a) initial acid-catalyzed tautomerization of an aromatic hydrazone to an ene-hydrazine, b) a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of ene-hydrazine to a M-imine intermediate, (c) re-aromatization to aniline, d) intramolecular nucleophilic attack to form aminal, and (e) extrusion of an ammonia to afford the indole. 

The first step of the Borsche-Drechsel cyclization proceeds through the same mechanism as the Fischer indole synthesis. The aryl hydrazine and cyclohexanone condense to form the iminium 5 and water. The imine nitrogen then coordinates to the Lewis acid, which causes a tautomerization of the hydrazone to the ene—hydrazine 6. This ene-hydrazine undergoes a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to form the iminium ion 7. Rearomitization through deprotonation of the benzylic proton releases the nucleophilic... 

The effect of weak forces on the equilibrium constant for the diaza-Cope rearrangement suggests that the anion effect is the strongest followed the resonance-assisted hydrogen-bond, steric, conjugation, and electronic effects. These weak forces are said to be additive." An intramolecular Fischer indole synthesis with a double bond in the tether allows a tandem [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement access to tricyclic benzo[cindole systems (Scheme 1). ... 

As was mentioned before, isomerisation of the substituted indoles does not occur under the conditions used in this study. The selectivity of the catalytic reaction should therefore only depend on the relative rates of formation of the enehydrazines 2 and 3 in the conformation which aliows their [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to occur (which is the conformation drawn in Scheme 1). The sorption data and molecular geometries indicate that the formation of both enehydrazines 2 and 3 inside the channels of zeolite beta should be possible, but 2 is probably severely hindered in adopting the conformation required for indolization, given the fact that this conformation is even bulkier than the indole isomer 4 which is formed from it. The selective Fischer synthesis of 2-benzyl-3-methylindole 5 catalyzed by zeolite beta is therefore a true example of transition state selectivity. 

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