Heterocyclic compounds, alkylation

Diazadienes have been used in organic synthesis for the preparation of various heterocyclic compounds. Alkylation of 1,3-diazadienes 207 and the benz-fused analog 210 at the nitrogen atom by aryl acyl bromides provided the iV-alkyl amidinium bromides 208 and 211, which underwent annulation to the 2,3-dihydro-imidazo[2,l-A]thiazole 209 and imidazo[2,l- ]benzothiazoles 212, respectively (Equations 92 and 93) <2001S741, 2002J(P1)741>. 

Heterocyclic compound Alkyl radical Radical source Method (Section II, B) Position of substitution (%) Yield (%) Ref. ... 

The quatemization reaction of the thiazole nitrogen has been used to evaluate the steric effect of substituents in heterocyclic compounds since thiazole and its alkyl derivatives are good models for such study. In fact, substituents in the 2- and 4-positions of the ring only interact through their steric effects (inductive and resonance effects were constant in the studied series). The thiazole ring is planar, and the geometries of the ground and transition states are identical. Finally, the 2- and 4-positions have been shown to be different (259. 260). 

It is well known that in nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds the reactivity of alkyl groups is enhanced. In the thiazole series, alkyl groups in the 2-position are reactive towards carbonyl compounds and condensations may be realized. 

The reaction of the enamines of cyclic ketones with alkyl isocyanates, acyl isocyanates, phenyl isothiocyanates, and acyl isothiocyanates has also been reported 112). The products are the corresponding carboxamides. The products from the isothiocyanates have been utilized as intermediates in the preparation of various heterocyclic compounds 113). 

Oddo reported that the organomagnesium derivatives of p3Trole, indole, skatole, and carbazole could be prepared in a single operation by mixing the parent heterocyclic compound with an alkyl halide and magnesium in anhydrous ether.The product formed was reported to be the same as that obtained by the more conventional procedure. However, this approach to the synthesis of the indole Grignard reagents does not seem to have been exploited in subsequent work. 

The mesomeric effect of the C=S linkage is very pronounced and is responsible for the facile quaternization of heterocyclic N-alkylated thiones (159) this effect is operative even when such a shift does not increase the aromaticity of the ring. Thione derivatives of pyridazine, benzothiazole, quinazoline, 1,3-thiazine, triazole,and isoindole are examples of compounds which readily form quaternary salts. 

Free-radical substitutions of heterocyclic compounds have been carried out with alkyl, aryl, and hydroxyl radicals in solution and with halogen atoms in the gas phase. Of these, arylations have been the most extensively investigated. 

The decomposition of diacyl peroxides provides a fairly clean method for the production of alkyl radicals and, therefore, it has been used in most quantitative and preparative studies of the alkylation of heterocyclic compounds,... 

On the basis of the reaction of alkyl radicals with a number of polycyclic aromatics, Szwarc and Binks calculated the relative selectivities of several radicals methyl, 1 (by definition) ethyl, 1.0 n-propyl, 1.0 trichloromethyl, 1.8. The relative reactivities of the three alkyl radicals toward aromatics therefore appears to be the same. On the other hand, quinoline (the only heterocyclic compound so far examined in reactions with alkyl radicals other than methyl) shows a steady increase in its reactivity toward methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl radicals. This would suggest that the nucleophilic character of the alkyl radicals increases in the order Me < Et < n-Pr, and that the selectivity of the radical as defined by Szwarc is not necessarily a measure of its polar character. 

The two principal categories of compounds studied have been diaryl or aryl alkyl sulphones (not dialkyl sulphones, which are polarographically not reducible) and S-dioxides of certain heterocyclic compounds, such as thiophene (also benzo- and dibenzothiophenes) and phenothiazines. The first named have half-wave potentials in the region of — 2.0 V, the thiophene dioxides near — 1.0 V. Some examples of each category may be given. 

The latter reagent also methylates certain heterocyclic compounds (e.g., quinoline) and certain fused aromatic compounds (e.g., anthracene, phenanthrene). The reactions with the sulfur carbanions are especially useful, since none of these substrates can be methylated by the Friedel-Crafts procedure (11-12). It has been reported that aromatic nitro compounds can also be alkylated, not only with methyl but with other alkyl and substituted alkyl groups as well, in ortho and para positions, by treatment with an alkyllithium compound (or, with lower yields, a Grignard reagent), followed by an oxidizing agent such as Bra or DDQ (P- 1511). 

Propiolaldehyde diethyl acetal has found numerous synthetic applications in the literature which may be briefly summarized. The compound has been utilized in the synthesis of unsaturated and polyunsaturated acetals and aldehydes by alkylation of metal-lated derivatives, " by Cadiot-Chodkiewicz coupling with halo acetylenes, " and by reaction with organocuprates. Syntheses of heterocyclic compounds including pyrazoles, isoxazoles, triazoles, and pyrimidines have employed this three-carbon building block. Propiolaldehyde diethyl acetal has also been put to use in the synthesis of such natural products as polyacetylenes " and steroids. ... 

Glutaconaldehyde anion serves as an interesting intermediate for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. The parent pyrylium perchlorate has been prepared from glutaconaldehyde and 70% perchloric acid in ether at -55°.° The reaction of glutaconaldehyde anion with alkyl and aryl isothiocyanates and... 

The reductive alkylation of DAP with acetone led to high conversions and selectivity to the dialkylated product over Al, Bl, and BS2 catalysts. The ASl catalyst, which typically has lower activity than the Al or Pt-based catalysts showed greater formation of heterocycles. These results indicate that a more active catalyst, a shorter reaction time, a higher operating temperature, or sterically hindered amines/ketones will help minimize the formation of the heterocycles. Similar high selectivities were obtained with DAP-MIBK reaction over BSl and BS2 catalysts with no heterocycles being formed. However, over Al, the undesired heterocyclic compound was over 15%. This indicates that the reaction between diamines and ketones has a significant potential to form heterocyclic compounds unless the interaction between these is kept to a minimum by the use of a continuous flow reactor as proposed by Speranza et al. (16) or by other methods. 

In practical terms, it is invariably a nitrogen atom that is protonated in salt formation. This always leads to a downfield shift for protons on carbons both alpha and beta to the nitrogen concerned. In alkyl amines, the expected shifts would be about 0.7 and 0.3 ppm respectively. Remember that some heterocyclic compounds (e.g., pyridine) contain nitrogen atoms that are basic enough to protonate and comparable downfield shifts can be expected (Spectrum 5.9). 

The combination of silyl enol ethers and fluoride ion provides more reactive anions to give alkylated nitro compounds in good yields after oxidation with DDQ, as shown in Eq. 9.22.36 This process provides a new method for synthesis of indoles and oxyindoles (see Chapter 10, Synthesis of Heterocyclic Compounds). 

Two patents were awarded on microbial desulfurization of sulfur-containing heterocyclic compound [155,156], the first targeting DBT and alkylated DBTs and the other benzothiophenes and alkylated benzothiophenes. In both cases, the selective cleavage of the C—S bonds is reported as the main mechanism. The claimed bacteria strains are Mycobacterium G3 strain (PERM P-16105) and R. erythropolis KA2-5-1 strain (PERM P-16277), respectively. Special emphasis was made to the desulfurization of the recalcitrant 4,6-dimethyl-dibenzothiophene. The main product from DBT... 

Intramolecular oxidation of /V-alkyl-/V -heteroarylthioureas provides a synthetic pathway to fused heterocyclic compounds (Scheme 63).149... 

Catalysed alkylation of tosylmethylisocyanate (TOSMIC) [63, 64] has extended its versatility in the preparation of l, 4-dicarbonyl compounds and as a l, 3-dipolar precursor for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. The alkylation reactions should not be conducted in carbon disulphide, as nucleophilic attack by the methylene group on the carbon disulphide leads, after ring closure and S-alkylation, to a 4-alkylthio-1,3-thiazole system [65]. 

Scheme 2.64 The clean and efficient N-alkylation of heterocyclic compounds.

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