Heterocycles thiazole

Active Raney nickel induces desulfurization of many sulfur-containing heterocycles thiazoles are fairly labile toward this ring cleavage agent. The reaction occurs apparently by two competing mechanisms (481) in the first, favored by alkaline conditions, ring fission occurs before desul-, furization, whereas in the second, favored by the use of neutral catalyst, the initial desulfurization is followed by fission of a C-N bond and formation of carbonyl derivatives by hydrolysis (Scheme 95). 

Addition of thiamine. The conversion of pyruvate to acetyl CoA begins by reaction of pyruvate with thiamine pyrophosphate, a derivative of vitamin Bj. The hydrogen on the heterocyclic (thiazole) ring of thiamine pyrophosphate is weakly acidic and can be removed by reaction with base to yield a nucleophilic ylide much like the phosphorus ylides used in Wittig reactions (Section 19.12). This nucleophilic ylide adds to the ketone carbonyl group of pyruvate to yield a tetrahedral intermediate. 

The general pattern of alkylation of 2-acylaininothiazoles parallels that of 2-aminothia2ole itself (see Section III.l). In neutral medium attack occurs on the ring nitrogen, and in alkaline medium a mixture of N-ring and N-amino alkylation takes place (40, 43, 161. 163). In acidic medium unusual behavior has been reported (477) 2-acetamido-4-substituted thiazoles react with acetic anhydride in the presence of sulfuric acid to yield 2-acetylimino-3-acetyl-4-phenyl-4-thiazolines (255) when R = Ph. but when R4 = Me or H no acetylation occurs (Scheme 151). The explanation rests perhaps in an acid-catalyzed heterocyclization with an acetylation on the open-chain compound (253), this compound being stabilized... 

Nucleophilic reactivity of the sulfur atom has received most attention. When neutral or very acidic medium is used, the nucleophilic reactivity occurs through the exocyclic sulfur atom. Kinetic studies (110) measure this nucleophilicity- towards methyl iodide for various 3-methyl-A-4-thiazoline-2-thiones. Rate constants are 200 times greater for these compounds than for the isomeric 2-(methylthio)thiazole. Thus 3-(2-pyridyl)-A-4-thiazoline-2-thione reacts at sulfur with methyl iodide (111). Methyl substitution on the ring doubles the rate constant. This high reactivity at sulfur means that, even when an amino (112, 113) or imino group (114) occupies the 5-position of the ring, alkylation takes place on sulfiu. For the same reason, 2-acetonyi derivatives are sometimes observed as by-products in the heterocyclization reaction of dithiocarba-mates with a-haloketones (115, 116). 

A 2-methylthio substituent decreases the basicity of thiazole pK = 2.52) by 0.6 pK unit (269). The usual bathochromic shift associated with this substituent in other heterocycles is also found for the thiazole ring (41 nm) (56). The ring protons of thiazole are shielded by this substituent the NMR spectrum of 2-methylthiothiazole is (internal TMS, solvent acetone) 3.32 (S-Me) 7.3 (C -H) 6.95 (Cj-H) (56, 270). Typical NMR spectra of 2-thioalkylthiazoles are given in Ref. 266. 

A-2-Thiazoline-5-thiones are generally not obtained by direct heterocyclization reactions (352). Instead, most of the reported preparations involve reactions in which the thiazole ring is already formed with the suitable mercapto precursors in the 5-position. 

Thioacetyl derivatives (155) are obtained by direct heterocyclization reactions (365. 378, 563) and by a sulfur-oxygen exchange" reaction involving thioacetic acid and A-2-oxazoline-5-one (154) or A-2-thiazoline-5-one (156) (Scheme 81) (365, 378, 379). Ra-Ni reduction of 155 affords the 5-unsubstituted thiazole (379). 

Many monomeric heterocyclic anhydrobases can be isolated now using specific methods (44), but application of these methods to thiazole ring did not succeed however, appropriate conditions lead to the separation of a dimer, the structure of which has been established by its NMR Spectra and chemical reactivity (26). The most probable mechanism of its formation appears identical with the one previously described in the benzothiazolium series (24). A second molecule of quaternary salt A3... 

Mercaptoselenazoies with Q to C,o cyclic hydrocarbon substituents in the 4-position have been mentioned as giving negative images from photosolubie emulsions (38. 39). Equally cited are other heterocycles such as thiazole. oxazole, or imidazole. 

A comparison of the reactivity of the heterocycles, selenazoie, thiazole. and pyridine, was made by Ochiai (41), who used theoretical considerations to show that the degree of aromaticity was ... 

In conclusion, in terms of electrophilic reactivity a methyl group in the 2-position is equally reactive in the two categories of heterocycles (selenazole and thiazole). Of the two positions ortho to nitrogen, only the 2-position is activated. The 5-position is sensitive to electrophilic reagents and resembles more closely the para position of a benzene ring. 

Comparative studies have been undertaken between different heterocyclic series, especially the azoles, thiazoles. oxazoles. imidazoles, and selenazoles. In a large number of these studies, the heterocycles are condensed w ith aromatic nuclei. 

Selenium heterocycles receive far less mention in the literature than do such homologs as oxazole, thiazole, or imidazole. In fact, preparative methods of selenium heterocycles are much more limited than for the other series, mainly because of manipulatory difficulties arising from the toxicity of selenium (hydrogen selenide is even more toxic) that can produce severe damage to the skin, lungs, kidneys, and eyes. Another source of difficulty is the reactivity of the heterocycle itself, which can easily undergo fission, depending on the reaction medium and the nature of the substituents. 

Despite the inconveniences, a certain number of studies have been carried out, particularly concerning dyes containing azomethine groups. Such as hydrazones, pyrazolones, formazans, and selenazoles quinoids. Saturated heterocycles, that is, selenazolines and selenazolidines. have also been tackled. Selenium derivatives for pharmacological or physiological applications are little developed by comparison with their thiazole homologs. 

The controversy seemed then to be closed. In 1890 Hantzsch had already started his work on the structure of oximes, and his synthetic work on heterocycles was practically ended. However, 27 years later, in July 1919, Tcherniac published a new paper entitled TTiiocyanoacetone and its derivatives as isomerides (33), where, after the description of improved and generalized methods for the preparation of thiocyanoacetone he came to the explosive conclusion that the substance which has been known since 1887 as hydroxymethylthiazole is not a thiazole at all. It might be called 2-imino-4-methylthioxole, but for the sake of simplicity, and in view of the now proved existence of two other isomerides of thiocyanoacetone, it seems preferable to adopt the generic... 

Despite its V excessive character (340), thiazole, just as pyridine, is resistant to electrophilic substitution. In both cases the ring nitrogen deactivates the heterocyclic nucleus toward electrophilic attack. Moreover, most electrophilic substitutions, which are performed in acidic medium, involve the protonated form of thiazole or some quaternary thiazolium derivatives, whose reactivity toward electrophiles is still lower than that of the free base. 

Relative equilibrium ion-pair acidities have been determined by Streit-wieser and Scannon (434) for thiazole and several heterocyclic compounds by reference to hydrocarbon indicators. The pK values for the... 

Mills and Smith (504) were the first, in 1922, to develop a systematic study of the reactivity of methyl groups fixed on nitrogen-containing heterocycles. While in alkylpyridines the 2- (or 6) and 4-positions are activated, only the 2-position in thiazole corresponds to an enhanced reactivity of the methyl groups in condensation with aldehydes 4- and 5-methylthiazoles bear inert methyl groups. Quatemization of the thiazole nitrogen enhances still further the reactivity of the methyl in the 2-position (cf. Chapter IX), but it does not increase the reactivity of a methyl group in the 4-position (504). The authors invoke the possibility for 2- (and 6) methylpyridine and 2-methylthiazole to pass, to some extent, into the reactive enamine form (245), while 4-methylthiazole could adopt such a structure only with the participation of an unusual formula such as 247 (Scheme 112). 

This typical behavior of the very unsymmetrical thiazole ring led to a series of studies from the group of H. Erlenmeyer in Basle be studied the H/D exchange of 2,4-dimethyl-5-carboxythia2ole as well as that of similar methylated nitrogen heterocycles (507). The results are shown in Fig. 1-27. 

In the second, which belongs to a systematic study of the transmission of substituent effects in heterocyclic systems, Noyce and Forsyth (384-386) showed that for thiazole, as for other simple heterocyclic systems, the rate of solvolysis of substituted hetero-arylethyl chlorides in 80% ethanol could be correlated with a constants of the substituent X only when there is mutual conjugation between X and the reaction center. In the case of thiazole this situation corresponds to l-(2-X-5-thiazolyl)ethyl chlorides (262) and l-(5-X-2-thiazolyl)ethyl chlorides (263). 

Thiazoles with Heterocyouc Substituents. Thiazoles with heterocyclic substituents in the 2- or 4-position have been synthesized (Table II-9). Thus thioacetamide (or its a-substituted derivatives) react with bromomethyl heteroarylketones under reflux in alcohol to give the corresponding 2-methyl-4-heteroarylthiazoles heteroaryl groups in the 4-position were 2 -thienyl (213, 692) a-pyrrolyl and 3-method derivatives... 

VIII. THIAZOLES FROM OTHER HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS... 

Closing this chapter on thiazoie synthetic methods, I would like to point out that it is possible to obtain thiazoles from other heterocyclic compounds. 

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