Heteroaromatics electrophiles

Both acid and base catalysis have been used extensively to catalyze exchange in aromatic, and to a lesser extent, heterocyclic molecules. In acid exchange, the most widely used catalysts are sulfuric acid,122,129, 131 phosphoric acid,132 trifluoroacetic acid5133 perchloric acid,134 aluminum chloride,135 and the phosphoric acid-boron trifluoride complex.132 These reactions constitute the simplest electrophilic substitution. The mechanism for such substitution in benzenoid compounds is now comparatively well understood 122 however, the problem of heteroaromatic electrophilic substitution is still being clarified and has led to renewed interest in acid-catalyzed exchange in heterocyclic compounds.122... 

An initial broad division must be made in considering heteroaromatic electrophilic substitution, into those heterocycles which are basic and those which are not, for in the case of the former the interaction of nitrogen lone pair with the electrophile (cf. section 2.1), or indeed with any other electrophilic species in the proposed reaction... 

Scheme 5.53 Fe-catalyzed cross-coupling of alkylmagnesium reagents with heteroaromatic electrophiles under ligand-free conditions [78, 145].

Air-stable and readily accessible /f-phosphonate PinP(0)H (231) facilitates highly efficient palladium-catalyzed Kumada cross-coupling reactions of electron-rich as well as electron-poor tosylates, including heteroaromatic electrophiles (Scheme 92). ... 

Reactions of aromatic and heteroaromatic rings are usually only found with highly reactive compounds containing strongly electron donating substituents or hetero atoms (e.g. phenols, anilines, pyrroles, indoles). Such molecules can be substituted by weak electrophiles, and the reagent of choice in nature as well as in the laboratory is usually a Mannich reagent or... 

In addition to benzene and naphthalene derivatives, heteroaromatic compounds such as ferrocene[232, furan, thiophene, selenophene[233,234], and cyclobutadiene iron carbonyl complexpSS] react with alkenes to give vinyl heterocydes. The ease of the reaction of styrene with sub.stituted benzenes to give stilbene derivatives 260 increases in the order benzene < naphthalene < ferrocene < furan. The effect of substituents in this reaction is similar to that in the electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions[236]. 

Diazo coupling involves the N exocyclic atom of the diazonium salt, which acts as an electrophilic center. The diazonium salts of thiazoles couple with a-naphthol (605). 2-nitroresorcinol (606), pyrocatechol (607-609), 2.6-dihydroxy 4-methyl-5-cyanopyridine (610). and other heteroaromatic compounds (404. 611) (Scheme 188). The rates of coupling between 2-diazothicizolium salts and 2-naphthol-3.6-disulfonic acid were measured spectrophotometrically and found to be slower than that of 2-diazopyridinium salts but faster than that of benzene diazonium salts (561 i. The bis-diazonium salt of bis(2-amino-4-methylthiazole) couples with /3-naphthol to give 333 (Scheme 189) (612). The products obtained from the diazo coupling are usuallv highly colored (234. 338. 339. 613-616). 

In agreement with the theory of polarized radicals, the presence of substituents on heteroaromatic free radicals can slightly affect their polarity. Both 4- and 5-substituted thiazol-2-yl radicals have been generated in aromatic solvents by thermal decomposition of the diazoamino derivative resulting from the reaction of isoamyl nitrite on the corresponding 2-aminothiazole (250,416-418). Introduction in 5-position of electron-withdrawing substituents slightly enhances the electrophilic character of thiazol-2-yl radicals (Table 1-57). 

The thiazolyl radicals are, in comparison to the phenyl radical, electrophilic as shown by isomer ratios obtained in reaction with different aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds. Sources of thiazolyl radicals are few the corresponding peroxide and 2-thiazolylhydrazine (202, 209, 210) (see Table III-34) are convenient reagents, and it is the reaction of an alky] nitrite (jsoamyl) on the corresponding (2-, 4-, or 5-) amine that is most commonly used to produce thiazolyl radicals (203-206). The yields of substituted thiazole are around 40%. These results are summarized in Tables III-35 and IIT36. 

The classical structures of pyrrole, furan and thiophene (31) suggest that these compounds might show chemical reactions similar to those of amines, ethers and thioethers (32) respectively. On this basis, the initial attack of the electrophile would be expected to take place at the heteroatom and lead to products such as quaternary ammonium and oxonium salts, sulfoxides and sulfones. Products of this type from the heteroaromatic compounds under consideration are relatively rare. 

In general, five-membered heteroaromatic ring systems with one heteroatom all undergo preferential a rather than /3 electrophilic substitution. This is rationalized in terms of the more effective delocalization of charge in the intermediate (36) leading to a substitution than in the intermediate (37) leading to /3 substitution. 

Theoretical reactivity indices of heteroaromatic systems distinguish reactivity toward electrophilic, nucleophilic and homolytic reactions. 

The position selectivity for electrophilic substitution in the simple five-membered heteroaromatic rings is usually 2 > 3. This reflects the more favorable conjugation in intermediate A than in intermediate B. In structure A the remaining C=C bond can delocalize the positive charge more effectively than in B. Substituents on the ring can easily override this directive influence, however. 

The factors in carboaromatic nucleophilic displacements summarized in this section are likely to be characteristic of heteroaromatic reactions and can be used to rationalize the behavior of azine derivatives. The effect of hydrogen bonding and of complexing with metal compounds in providing various degrees of electrophilic catalysis (cf. Section II, C) would be expected to be more extensive in heteroaromatics. 

Both benzothiazolyl and berizolriazoly] units have been employed as heteroaromatic anion-stabilizing groups for metalated epoxides (Scheme 5.47) [71]. The successful use of a simple alkyl bromide as electrophile with 200 is notable. 

In the scientific sector, the understanding of the generally higher reactivity of heteroaromatic diazo components relative to that of aromatic diazonium salts has increased. The number of heterocyclic nitrogen atoms in azolediazonium ions has a marked influence on the N-H acidity of these ions. The pvalues of a series of such ions in aqueous solution at 0 °C (Scheme 12-4) indicate that the electrophilicity of the diazonio group in these compounds increases with the number of nitrogen atoms in the ring. ... 

Replacement of an aromatic/heteroaromatic proton with a trialkylsilyl group can confer a variety of synthetic advantages. The silyl moiety can mask a potentially acidic proton, and it can be readily removed by electrophiles, normally resulting in a process of ipso desilylation ... 

Many known color reactions involve electrophilic substitution at an electron-rich aromatic or heteroaromatic (cf. 4-(dimethylamino)-benzaldehyde - acid reagents and vanillin reagents ). Here aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes react in acid medium to yield polymethyne cations which are intensely colored di- or triarylcarbenium ions [4, 10]. 

Rovis and co-workers have also extended the intermolecular Stetter reaction to inclnde nitroaUcenes as the electrophilic component. Fluorinated triazolinm precatalyst 155 was effective in catalysing the reaction of a variety of heteroaromatic aldehydes 153 with nitroalkenes 154 to generate P-nitroketones in excellent yields and enantioselectivities. The authors propose that stereoelectronically induced conformational effects on the catalyst skeleton are key to the high selectivities observed with flnorinated catalyst 155 (Scheme 12.33) [69],... 

Other electrophilic substitution reactions on aromatic and heteroaromatic systems are summarized in Scheme 6.143. Friedel-Crafts alkylation of N,N-dimethyl-aniline with squaric acid dichloride was accomplished by heating the two components in dichloromethane at 120 °C in the absence of a Lewis acid catalyst to provide a 23% yield of the 2-aryl-l-chlorocydobut-l-ene-3,4-dione product (Scheme 6.143 a) [281]. Hydrolysis of the monochloride provided a 2-aryl-l-hydroxycyclobut-l-ene-3,4-dione, an inhibitor of protein tyrosine phosphatases [281], Formylation of 4-chloro-3-nitrophenol with hexamethylenetetramine and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at 115 °C for 5 h furnished the corresponding benzaldehyde in 43% yield, which was further manipulated into a benzofuran derivative (Scheme 6.143b) [282]. 4-Chloro-5-bromo-pyrazolopyrimidine is an important intermediate in the synthesis of pyrazolopyrimi-dine derivatives showing activity against multiple kinase subfamilies (see also Scheme 6.20) and can be rapidly prepared from 4-chloropyrazolopyrimidine and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) by microwave irradiation in acetonitrile (Scheme... 

The above examples represent Jl-heteroaromatic annulation involving the reaction of allyl anions whose double bond is a part of the heterocyclic ring system (Scheme 1). The corresponding a-oxoketene dithioacetals (1,3-electrophilic component) were generally derived from nonheterocyclic carbonyl precursors. Alternatively the Jl-heteroaromatic annulation can also be employed to a-oxoketene dithioacetals derived from heterocyclic ketones (1,3-bielectrophile) and hetero/nonheteroallyl anions (1,3-binucleophile). These reactions are described below. 

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