Furan ring annelation

Interestingly, furan ring annelation is also found in the reaction of 3-bromo-4-nitroquinoline with enamines. Due to hydrolysis of the iminium intermediate, the keto group is formed, which after enolization is able to act in the intramolecular cyclization with expulsion of bromide ion (Scheme 17) (76H453). The nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen at C-2 is preferred to that of the nitro group at C-4. 

Annelation of a furan ring onto a thiophene is also possible by flash vacuum pyrolysis at 650 °C of the acrylate 368 and malonate 369, which gave 2-(methylthio)thieno[3,2-/ ]furan 370 and methyl-5-(methylthio)thieno[3,2- ]furan-2-carboxylate 371, respectively, in yields of 21% and 22% <1997J(P1)2483>. 

This method has since been used for synthesis of annelated furanes.2 An example is formulated in equation (II). The masked furane ring is introduced by reaction of an activated methylene group with dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal. 

The second communication of that year [24] is now cited more than 225 times, which also represents a remarkable number. This communication also comprised new reactivity patterns (Scheme 2). Based on the results from the first communication discussed above, a furan ring is formed from an allenyl ketone. Then the furanyne intermediate underwent a previously unknown transformation to an annelated phenol. Since they are easily accessible, furanynes can also be used directly. 

This rearrangement of allylic acetals can also be used for furan annelations, in which the formation of the new tetrahydrofuran ring is coupled with ring enlargement of the starting ring.3 The same dr-fused bicyclic tetrahydrofuran is formed from either one of the cis- or mwr-allylic diols used as starting materials. 

The lability of thieno[3,4-6]thiophene (3) and other iso-annelated systems, such as benzo[c]thiophene and benzole] furan, may be due to the strain effect (Mills-Nixon effect see also Zwanenburg et alP and references therein) in the condensed five-membered ring. The stability of the iso-annelated dithienothiophenes 7—9 is noteworthy. Simple LCAO MO method calculations on benzo[c]thiophene indicate that its instability is due to low specific delocalization energy and high free valence index at position 1. 

VII. Benz-Annelated and Hetero-Substituted Benzo[c]fnrans and Larger Ring[c]-Fused Furans... 

Two furo-annelated benzo[c]furans, a benzo[2,l-Z) 3,4-c ]difuran (341) and a benzo[1.2-/ 3,4-c ]difuran (344) have been described. Acid-catalyzed ring closure of bisfuran 340, which is available from trans-trans-1,4-dibenzo-ylbutadiene (339) and /ranx-dibenzoylethylene. yields 341 in 83% yield. An independent synthesis which starts from 4-benzoyl-2-phenylfuran (343) is outlined in Scheme 21 the isomeric compound has been obtained similarly (Scheme 22). 

These differences in orientation between benzofuran and benzo-thiophene have long puzzled chemists however, as will be discussed below, the effect of the annelation on the reactivities of the a and /3 positions of furan and thiophene rings is substantially similar, and the apparent difference in behavior originates in the different a 1(8 reactivity ratios in the two monocyclic systems. 

Annelation of steroidal dienamines with substituted phenacyl bromides (7 examples) or with benzenediazonium salts (11 examples) has been shown to lead to the corresponding furano- and indolo-steroids.89 Thus the A3,5-dienamine derived from A4-androstene-3,17-dione reacted with p-bromophenacyl bromide to yield the A5-androstano[3,4-h]furan (199) in 26% yield, and reaction of the same A3,5-dienamine with benzenediazonium fluoroborate at -45 °C led to formation of the hydrazone (200) which underwent Fischer-indole cyclization on treatment with phosphorus oxychloride to produce the A4-androstano[6,7-6]indole (201). The A3,5-dienamine derived from 17/3-acetoxyandrost-4-en-3-one has been converted into the benz[4,5,6]-steroid (202 R1 = Me, R2 = H) by reaction with methyl vinyl ketone and into the analogous benzsteroid (202 R1 = H, R2 = Me) on treatment with crotonal-dehyde.90 A route to the condensed pyrroline ring system (203) has been devised... 

An alternate route for the annelation of a pyrrole ring employs the base-catalyzed condensation of furan-, thiophene-, and selenophene-carbox-ald ydes with ethyl azidoacetate the bicyclic products are indole Isoster-es. The Isomeric (3,2-b)pyrroles can be similarly prepared from the corresponding 2-carboxaldehydes. 

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