Furo furans

Oxidative cleavage of the furo-furan unit of lignans delivers hydroxy ketones. However, the successful transformation must be carried out at -20° and under high dilution. 

Dihydrofuran (376) and 2,5-dihydrofuran (377) react with nitrile oxides to give furo[2,3-6 ]isoxazoles (378) and furo[3,4-rf]isoxazoles (379), respectively, as cycloadducts. The double bonds of furan, pyrrole and thiophene also react when the nitrile oxide is generated in situ. Thus furan and benzonitrile oxide gave (380), and with 2-methyl-2-oxazoline the cycloadduct (381) was obtained (71AG(E)810). These and related cycloadditions are discussed in Chapter 4.36. 

Spirofuran-2(5H),2 (3 H)furo[2,3-i]furan synthesis, 4, 659 Spirofuranones synthesis, 3, 734 Spiro[3.3]heptane... 

Bromination of 4//-furo[3,2-b]indole (50) occurred at the 2-position and was assisted by prior N-benzylation with the 4-benzoyl compound a 61% yield of the 2-bromo derivative was obtained. Thus, a-attack in the furan moiety predominates (78JHC123). When the pyrazolofuran (51) was treated with one molar equivalent of bromine, a mixture of the 2-bromo... 

Internal nitrenes normally react at the adjacent position. Reduction of 2-(2-nitrophenyl)furan by ethyl phosphite yields furoindole derivatives in fair yield (34%) only, whereas much better results attend the pyrolysis of 2-(2-azidophenyl)furan.280 Furopyrazoles are obtained similarly.281 Azidofurans yield nitrenes that insert into adjacent CH links to form furo-pyrroles.282 Quite different results attend either the pyrolysis or the photolysis of azide 107a for the expected insertion into the side chain occurs giving the related indole but it is accompanied by the surprising replacement of furan oxygen by nitrogen producing 107b and similar products.283... 

As can be seen, the reaction between the anisyl derivative and the acetoacetate provided also tetrasubstituted furans. A subsequent demethylation cyclization delivered furo[3,4-c]coumarins in a moderate yield <06JHC 1699>. 

A Dotz benzannulation reaction was utilized in the synthesis of the furo[2,3- >]furan core of aflatoxin B2 as illustrated below <06TL2299>. Synthesis of polynuclear aromatic compounds was achieved by using [5+5] cycloaddition of 2-alkynylarylcarbene complexes and enyne-aldehyde derivatives <06TL5303>. 

Condensed benzo[i>]furan molecules can be prepared by inter- or intra-molecular Diels-Alder reactions from furo[3,4-b]benzofurans, and some interesting intermolecular examples are listed below. As can be seen, the furo[3,4-i>]benzofuran 60 underegoes Diels-Alder reactions with naphtho-l,4-quinone in the presence of Znl2 as a Lewis acid to form the aromatized cycloadduct. When the diene precursor reacts with benzo-l,4-quinone in the absence of Znl2, the product is obtained as an endo-exo mixture <00JCS(P1)1387>. 

The l-oxa-2,4,5-cycloheptatrienes 602 and 603 were postulated to be intermediates in the rearrangement of certain (ethynylfuryl)oxiranes to furo[3,4-b]furans [251]. The replacement of the methylene groups of 1,2-cycloheptadiene (465) by SiMe2 groups and the introduction of substituents at the allene moiety allowed the preparation of isolable seven-membered ring allenes. Thus, Barton et ah [177] obtained 604 and Ando et al. [178] 605. A few reactions of these systems have also been studied [177, 252]. Both groups [178, 253] synthesized the [4.4]betweenallene 606 and determined its structure by X-ray diffraction. 

The total synthesis of the furo[3,2-a]carbazole alkaloid furostifoline is achieved in a highly convergent manner by successive formation of the car-bazole nucleus and annulation of the furan ring (Scheme 15). Electrophilic substitution of the arylamine 30 using the complex salt 6a provides complex 31. In this case, iodine in pyridine was the superior reagent for the oxidative cyclization to the carbazole 32. Finally, annulation of the furan ring by an Amberlyst 15-catalyzed cyclization affords furostifoline 33 [97]. 

One of the earliest uses for rhodium(II)-catalyzed dipoles was demonstrated in Davies furan synthesis [22]. Isomiinchnones were also shown to produce substituted furans [115]. Additional furan syntheses have been described using silylacetates [116], unsaturated esters [117], and fluoroalkyl diazo acetates [118]. The synthesis of furofuranones and indenofuranones 35 from a-diazo ketones having pendant alkynes has also been reported (Eq. 6) [119]. Other fused heterocyclic systems include furo[3,4-c]furans [120, 121] furo[2,3-b]furans [122] as well as thiobenzofurans [123], and benzoxazoles[124] have also been synthesized with this methodology. 

An example of the direct annulation of the furan ring onto the benzazepine core has been reported by Cann and co-workers (1990JHC1839). Reaction of N-acetyl-lO-bromodibenzazepine 51 with potassium ferf-butoxide yields the reactive intermediate 52. It further reacts as a dienophile with furan 53 (X = O) to produce 8H-furo[3,4-d]dibenz[fc,/]azepine 54 as a sole product (X = O, Scheme 10, Section 2.1.1.4). 

The synthesis of these rings involves annulation of the furan ring onto the preformed benzoxepine core or intramolecular oxepine C-C bond formation of the furan precursors. Thus, 2-methyldibenzo[ 7,/]furo[2,3-d]oxepines 148 (R = H, Cl)... 

An example of electrophilic substitution on position C2 of the fused furan has been reported for 8H-furo[3,4-d]dibenz[ 7,/]azepine, which reacts with f-butyl hypochlorite to afford a mono chlorinated furan ring product (1995H431). 

A series of a,a-dimethoxysilyl enol ethers has been prepared and shown to undergo diastereoselective [4+3]-cycloaddition with furan and cyclopentadiene in the presence of catalytic amounts of trimethylsilyl triflate <99SL213>. Furo[3,4-d]oxazoles and furo[3,4-d]thiazo-les react with 13-dimethyloxyallyl to give [4+3]-cycloadducts. The ring opening reaction of these compounds with H2S04Mt20 yields armulated hydroxytropones <99H(51)1225>. 

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