Furan based heterocycles

As demonstrated below, a Lewis acid-mediated reaction was utilized in the synthesis of dihydro[b furan-based chromen-2-one derivatives from l-cyclopropyl-2-arylethanones and allenic esters <070L4017>. The TiCh-catalyzed anti-Markovnikov hydration of alkynes, followed by a copper-catalyzed O-arylation was applied to the synthesis of 2-substituted benzo[6]furan <07JOC6149>. In addition, benzo[6]furan-based heterocycles could be made from chloromethylcoumarins <07SL1951>, substituted cyclopropanes <07AGE1726>, as well as benzyne and styrene oxide <07SL1308>. On the other hand, DBU-mediated dehydroiodination of 2-iodomethyl-2,3-dihydrobenzo[6]furans was also useful in the synthesis of 2-methylbenzo[Z>]furans <07TL6628>. 

Functionalized benzo[b]furan-based heterocycles were made from Fischer carbene complexes and heterocycle-bridged enynes in good to acceptable yields <05TL2211>. 

The copolymerization of pyrrole, thiophene, and furan-based heterocycles with each other and with other aromatic systems has afforded an impressive array of materials whose composition and properties can be controlled by judicious choice of comonomers and polymerization conditions. We remain confident that this is will continue to be a fertile field for exploration, development, and materials design. 

A palladium-catalyzed one-step synthesis of dihydrobenzo[fc]furan-based fused aromatic heterocycles from bifunctional bromoenoates or bromoalkyl indoles and iodoarenes was reported, and an example is provided in the scheme below <060L3601>. 2-Alkyl- or 2-aryl-substituted benzo[ >]furans were synthesized by a copper-TMEDA catalyzed intramolecular annulation from the corresponding ketones <06OL1467>. 

An alternative furan-based jasmone synthesis has been accomplished through oxidative cleavage of this heterocyclic ring (73AJC2671). Thus, the furan (85) was oxidized with Collins reagent to the enedione (86) and the conjugated double bond reduced with sodium dithionite. Base cyclization then gave pure (Z)-jasmone (Scheme 21). 

By synthesizing bromoalkyl-sulfur and -oxygen based heterocycles, Lautens was able to extend the strategy to include the synthesis of polycyclic thiophenes and furans [83, 84], Under similar reaction conditions to those used for nitrogen-based heterocycles, polycyclic products were obtained in good to excellent yields (Scheme 35). The electronic nature of the aryl iodide had a large impact on the observed yields, as electron-deficient aryl iodides worked well, while little to no product was obtained with electron-rich ones. Based upon these results, Lautens proposed that the mechanism of direct arylation of thiophenes occurs through an electrophilic metalation mechanism. 

Examination of various small-molecule databases reveals the wide use of saturated oxygen-based heterocyclic structures such as pyrans and furans in drug discovery. These are generally employed in either of two capacities as scaffolds or as add-ons to optimize pharmacological... 

Cycloadditions. The Lewis acidic nature of AgN03 enables activating conplexation with alkynes, allenes, and alkenes, thus permitting various cycloadditions to proceed. These Ag-catalyzed electrophilic cychzations can either occur under oxygen or nitrogen attack leading to the corresponding furan- or pyrrolidine-based heterocycles. ... 

Heterocyclic Alcohols. Thek reactions with chloroformates lead to carbonates. Thus furan- and tetrahydrofuran-derived alcohols give the corresponding carbonates in 75% yield (15). Inorganic bases and tertiary amines as acid acceptors increase the rate and yield in this reaction. 

The heterocyclic aryne (trithiadiazepyne) 12.18, generated by treatment of the monobromo derivative of 12.16 with a strong base, can be trapped as a Diels-Alder adduct with furan (Scheme 12.3). ... 

Organic chemistry is based on carbon, but nitrogen is fundamental to heterocyclic chemistry. Although there are many important aromatic heterocycles without nitrogen atoms (thiophene, furan, pyrylium salts, etc.), it is clear that the majority of heterocyclic systems contain nitrogen atoms. Thus, NMR spectroscopy ( " N NMR yields the same chemical shifts... 

One may consider phospholes to belong to the family of five-membered P-heterocycles pyrrole, furan, and thiophene. A significant difference, however, is that the phospholes described in the literature display only a slight extent of aromaticity. This is well demonstrated by the comparison of the Bird-indexes [32] of benzylphosphole [33], furan, pyrrole, and thiophene (Fig. 1). The Bird-index is an indicator of aromaticity based on the bond-equalizaton. It is the maximum (100) for benzene. 

Katritzky and his colleagues have used equilibrium proto nation to estimate the aromaticity of furan and similar heterocycles using 2,5-di-tert-butylfuran as substrate in sulfuric acid. In agreement with the foregoing discussion, the furan does not behave as a Hammett (i.e., oxygen) base but as a carbon base similar to azulene. On Reagan s Hc scale, the furan gave n = 1.22, correspond-... 

The formation of a diverse array of five-membered ring heterocycles via the cycloaddition of isocyanides with furan- or pyrrole-based enones was reported. The reaction mechanism is discussed and an example is shown below <06OL3975>. 

Structures and nomenclature for the most important five-membered monocycles with one or more heteroatoms are depicted in Scheme 1. The aromaticity scale in five-membered heterocycles has been long debated.97-101 The decreasing order of aromaticity based on various criteria is (DRE values in kcal/ mol) benzene (22.6) > thiophene (6.5) > selenophene > pyrrole (5.3) > tellurophene > fur an (4.3). Pyrrole and furan have comparable ring strains (Scheme 38). The aromaticity of furan is still controversial 100 the NMR shielding by ring current estimated it at about 60% of the aromaticity of benzene, and other methods reviewed earlier102 estimated it at less than 20%. 

Cimetidine contains an imidazole ring comparable to histamine, a sulfur atom (thioether group) in the side-chain, and a terminal functional group based upon a guanidine (see Section 4.5.4). Ranitidine bears considerable similarity to cimetidine, but there are some important differences. The heterocycle is now furan rather than imidazole, and the guanidine has been modified to an amidine (see Section 4.5.4). A newer drug, nizatidine, is a variant on ranitidine with a thiazole heterocyclic ring system. 

Aromaticity indices based on a statistical evaluation of peripheral bond orders have been derived for five-ring heterocycles a value of 50 for 1,3,4-oxadiazole compares with values of 43 and 66 for furan and thiophene respectively <85T1409>. Somewhat in contrast, O—C, C—N, and N—N bond orders of 1.3124, 1.9062, and 1.3348 (MMX, EXE calculation) for 1,3,4-oxadiazole led to the conclusion that the molecule was not aromatic <91H(32)2023>. 

The naming of endocyclic O-atom heterocycles is based on the same principles as for N-PACs e.g., the structures of furan (XVII) and dibenzofuran (XVIII) are... 

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