Imidazol-1-sulfonate esters

Nucleophilic Displacement Reactions of Imidazole-1-Sulfonate Esters... 

Ester formation from polysaccharides can be achieved in several ways First by acylation of the OH groups with carboxylic or sulfonic acid azolides, second by converting the OH groups with imidazole carboxylates into carbonates, and third by reaction of an acid leash on the polysaccharide with an alcohol by means of CDI or analogous azolides. The acid leash might, for example, be a succinate attached to the polysaccharide. 

Imidazolides of aromatic sulfonic acids react much more slowly in alcoholysis reactions than the carboxylic acid imidazolides. Although the reaction with phenols is quantitative when a melt is heated to 100 °C for several hours, with alcohols under these conditions only very slight alcoholysis is observed. In the presence of 0.05 equivalents (catalytic amount) of sodium ethoxide, imidazole sodium, of NaNH2, however, imidazolides of sulfonic acids react with alcohols almost quantitatively and exothermically at room temperature in a very short time to form sulfonic acid esters (sulfonates). (If the ratio of sulfonic acid imidazolide to alcoholate is 1 2, ethers are formed see Chapter 17). The mechanism of catalysis by base corresponds to that operative in the synthesis of carboxylic esters by the imidazolide method. Because of the more pronounced nucleophilic character of alkoxide ions, sulfonates can also be prepared in good yield by alcoholysis of their imidazolides in the presence of hydroxide ions i.e., with alcoholic sodium hydroxide. 45 Examples of syntheses of sulfonates are presented below. 

Fig. 1 Plot of log for reaction of nucleophiles with an aryl sulfinyl sulfone (139) (Table 6) vs. log k 1 for their reaction with PhS02S02Ph (191) (Table 10) in 60% dioxan at 25°C. GEE, glycine ethyl ester Im, imidazole.

In an opposite manner to bases such as 1 and 2 in terms of reactivity, polymer-supported tosyl chloride equivalent 14 is able to capture alcohols as polymer-bound sulfonates 15, which are released as secondary amines, sulfides and alkylated imidazoles with primary amines, thiols and imidazoles as nucleophiles in a substitution process (Scheme 6) [24]. This technique has further been extended for the preparation of tertiary amines [25] and esters [26]. Excess of amine was scavenged by polymer-supported isocyanate 16 [27, 28] while excess of carboxylic acid was removed by treatment with aminomethylated polystyrene 17. 

L-Histidine (2) was converted to (S)-2-hydroxy-3-(imidazol-5-yl)pro-pionic acid (38), with retention of configuration using silver nitrite and orthophosphoric acid. The acid (38) was esterified and the ester (39) treated with 4-nitrobenzenesulfonyl chloride. With the latter treatment, the hydroxyl group was esterified and the N1 atom was sulfonated. Walden inversion of the reaction product (40), using lithium bromide in 2-butan-... 

Mulzer (Scheme 8 upper left) obtained the a,/(-unsaturated ester 33 with Z configuration from aldehyde 26a via a Still-Gennari olefination with phosphonate ester 34. Reduction of the ester with DIBAH and application of L-imidazole-PPhj gives allylic iodide 35. This acts as electrophile on the -anion of sulfone 36. After reductive removal of the phenylsulfone, group 28b is obtained [23]. 

In 1991, Goff et al reported synthesis and activity testing of monoquatemary imidazole derivatives with various substituents sueh as ether, silicone, nitrile, ester, halogen, nitro, sulfone or amino group (Goff et al, 1991). Published literature reveals that syntheses started from 1-methyl-imidazole (Figure 66.5). 

Under the same basic conditions /ra . -l-acetoxymethyl-1-methyl-2-tosylcyclopropane generated an a-sulfonyl anion, which attacked the ester group intramolecularly and afforded 2,5-dimethyl-l-tosyl-3-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-ol (22) in 50% yield.Stereoselective synthesis with a chiral cyclopropyl sulfoxide was experienced when ( )-4-tolylsulfinylcyclopropane was reacted first with butyllithium and then with methyl benzoate and gave 1-benzoyl-1-[(5)-4-tolylsulfinyl]cyclopropane (23a) in 62% yield. A useful reaction took place when 2-(hy-droxymethyl)cyclopropyl phenyl sulfide was treated first with an excess of butyllithium and then with dimethylformamide and gave 2-hydroxy-l-phenylsulfanyl-3-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane (24), a lactol which has been used to carry out various useful synthetic transformations. Another useful reaction occurred when cyclopropyl phenyl sulfones were treated with butyllithium followed by an acyl imidazole to give acyl cyclopropanes in decent yield. 

A-Phosphorylated imidazoles and benzimidazoles can be made by direct phosphorylation by halides, esters, amides, amidoesters, isocyanates, and thiocyanates of phosphorus-containing acids, or from reaction of phosphonic or phosphinic imidazolides with a sulfonic acid or anhydride <82CB1636>. Stable charge transfer complexes are produced when a 1 1 or 1 2 ratio of imidazole (or benzimidazole) and sulfur trioxide are refluxed in ether, dioxane, THE, or 1,2-dichloroethane. These complexes are stable on storage in the absence of water and have sharp melting points. Indeed, the benzimidazole SO3 complex must be boiled for five hours in water to decompose it. On fusion, the complexes form the C-sulfonic acids (see Section 3.02.5.3.3) <87CHE1084>. Sulfonyl chlorides readily A-sulfonate imidazoles <94JMC332>. 

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