Formate derivatives intermolecular trapping

Bischler-Napieralski reactions of N-acyl tryptamine derivatives 16 are believed to proceed via a related mechanism involving the initial formation of intermediate spiroindolenines (17) that rearrange to the observed 2-carboline products (18). The presence of these intermediates has been inferred by the observation of dimerized products that are presumably formed by the intermolecular trapping of the spiroindolenine by unreacted indole present in the reaction mixture." ... 

Muthusamy et al. (82) prepared a number of oxacyclic ether compounds from the tandem ylide formation-dipolar cycloaddition methodology. Their approach provides a synthetic tactic to compounds such as ambrosic acid, smitopsin, and linearol. Starting with either cyclopentane or cyclohexane templates, they prepared ylide sizes of five or six, which are trapped in an intermolecular cycloaddition reaction by the addition of DMAD. The products are isolated in good overall yield. In a second system, 2,5-disubstituted cyclohexenyl derivatives are utilized to generate the pendent ylide, then, A-phenylmaleimide is added in an intermolecular reaction, accessing highly substituted oxatricyclic derivatives such as 182 (Scheme 4.43). 

In 2004, Vignola and List [111] demonstrated the ability of proline-derived catalysts to overcome drawbacks associated with the stoichiometric alkylation of preformed aldehyde enolates when they described an elegant amino acid catalyzed intramolecular a-alkylation reaction of haloaldehydes. The reaction furnished substituted cyclopentanes, cyclopropanes, and pyrrolidines in good yields and good enantio-selectivities (Scheme 8.23), when commercially available (5)-a-methyl proline (LV) as catalyst was used. The presence of a stoichiometric amount of additional base (tertiary amine) was required, not only to trap the hydrogen halide produced in the reaction but also because it has also significant effect on the stereoselectivity of the C—C bond-formation process by stabilizing the ant/ -TS of the /ra 5-enamine intermediate. Nevertheless, an intermolecular version of the reaction remains still elusive, mainly because of the deactivation of the amine catalyst by A -alkylation with the alkyl halide [112]. 

The photochemistry of silylated derivatives continues to be intensively investigated. A typical example of a synthetically useful process is the generation of silyloxycarbenes by photoisomerization of acylsilanes. In the presence of organoboronic esters these intermediates are trapped via formal B-C bond insertion. The adducts then rearrange to a boradioxepan that can be hydrolyzed to a ketone. The overall process offers a convenient, transition metal free method for the intermolecular carbon-carbon bond formation (see Scheme 22). ... 

With this new methodology in hands, Hu et al. [166] explored the trapping of the 1,4-addition intermediate with a different electrophile for the development of a new MCR. RhjCOAc) was again the most active catalyst in the 1,4-addition/aldol-type intramolecular cascade reaction. Under the optimized reaction conditions, this three-component reaction worked well with a broad family of bifunctional substrates 135 bearing different substituents on the aryl group next to the enone moiety and a variety of alcohols 136 (Scheme 3.63). In all cases, 1-indanols 137 were obtained in 60-83% yield and with complete diastereoselectivity. Enantiopure 1-indanol was obtained employing a L-menthol-derived diazo compound. The intermolecular four-component version was also attempted, but the formation of the desired product was not observed. 

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