Imidazole carbon atom reactions

Since the regioselectivity of mercuration reactions is often hard to control, recent efforts have focused on the use of Lewis-basic substituents whose role is to direct the approach of the mercuric ion to a specific position. Reaction of the diazo derivative 74 with Hg(OAc)2 leads to mercuration of the naphthalene moiety in the 8-position rather than mercuration of the electron-rich imidazole carbon atoms. 4 Presumably, the diazo-imidazole bidentate moiety coordinates to the mercuric cation, thereby directing substitution at the naphthalene 8-position (Equation (27)). 

Figure 2 Plots of the logarithm of electron transfer rate vs. the negative of the free energy of the reaction for three ET models and six rate measurements. The data are from Refs. 54, 55, 57, 59, 60 for a Zn-substituted Candida krusei cytochrome c that was also successively substituted at histidine 33 by three Ru(NH3)4L(His 33)3+ derivatives with L = NH3, pyridine, or isonicotinamide. The shortest direct distance between the porphyrin and imidazole carbon atoms was 13 A corresponding to the 10-A edge-to-edge D/A distance. Table 1 presents a summary of the parameters used in the three calculations plotted in this figure. For a (3 of 1.2 A-1, Eq. (5) yields HAB values ( 10 cm-1) of 80 cm-1,50 cm-1, and 75 cm-1, respectively, for Eq. (1), the semiclassical model [Eq. (4)], and the Miller-Closs model at the above D/A separation distance. The s values were calculated using Eq. (6) with the following parameters aD = 10 A, aA = 6 A, and r = 13 A. The kj and H°B parameters were varied independently to produce the plotted curves.

In summary, GTP cyclohydrolase II appears to catalyze an ordered reaction that starts with the formation of a covalent guanyl adduct (15). This is followed by the hydrolytic opening of the imidazole ring (16, 17) and the hydrolysis of the resulting formamide-type intermediate (18, 19) the latter two reactions depend on the Zn ion acting as a Lewis acid, which sequentially activates two water molecules (17, 19) that attack first the imidazole carbon atom 8 of the covalent guanyl adduct 17 and then the formamide motif of the covalent intermediate 19. 

Reactions of the imidazole carbon atoms occur easily under basic or neutral conditions however, once protonated, electrophilic substitution is slowed. For example, Friedel-Crafts type alkylations and acylations do not readily occur under protic or Lewis acid conditions, which has led to die development of syntheses of imidazoles that more readily allow the desired carbon alkylated or acylated products. Nitration and halogenations of both 7V-un-substituted and A-substituted imidazoles take place with preferential addition to the 4- or 4- and 5-positions. ... 

The carbon atoms of azole rings can be attacked by nucleophilic (Section 4.02.1.6 electrophilic (Section 4.02.1.4) and free radical reagents (Section 4.02.1.8.2). Some system for example the thiazole, imidazole and pyrazole nuclei, show a high degree of aromati character and usually revert to type if the aromatic sextet is involved in a reaction. Othei such as the isoxazole and oxazole nuclei are less aromatic, and hence more prone to additio reactions. 

A multiply bonded nitrogen atom deactivates carbon atoms a or y to it toward electrophilic attack thus initial substitution in 1,2- and 1,3-dihetero compounds should be as shown in structures (110) and (111). Pyrazoles (110 Z = NH), isoxazoles (110 Z = 0), isothiazoles (110 Z = S), imidazoles (111 Z = NH, tautomerism can make the 4- and 5-positions equivalent) and thiazoles (111 Z = S) do indeed undergo electrophilic substitution as expected. Little is known of the electrophilic substitution reactions of oxazoles (111 Z = O) and compounds containing three or more heteroatoms in one ring. Deactivation of the 4-position in 1,3-dihetero compounds (111) is less effective because of considerable double bond fixation (cf. Sections 4.01.3.2.1 and 4.02.3.1.7), and if the 5-position of imidazoles or thiazoles is blocked, substitution can occur in the 4-position (112). 

In addition to the reactions described in the preceding section, alkyl groups in the 2-positions of imidazole, oxazole and thiazole rings show reactions which result from the easy loss of a proton from the carbon atom of the alkyl group which is adjacent to the ring (see Section 4.02.3.1.2). 

Carbenes are defined as molecular species with formally divalent and two-coordinate carbon atoms bearing various substituents X and Y and a lone pair of electrons. While the simple representatives are of low stability (such as CH2) and may only appear as short-lived reaction intermediates or in adducts with electron donors, some cyclic systems can be readily isolated. This is particularly true for many of the A-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), which are now widely applied as ligands to metals ( Wanzlick-Arduengo carbenes ). Such carbenes based on imidazol and benzimidazol have become the working horses in this branch of organogold chemistry (Scheme 54). 

Oxidative Animation of Nitrones to a-Amino-Substituted Nitroxyl Radicals Similar to the oxidative methoxylation reaction, oxidative animation of 4H -imidazole TV-oxides, in amine saturated alcohol solutions, give stable nitroxyl (282), nitronyl nitroxyl (283), imino nitroxyl (284) and (285) radicals with the amino group at the a-carbon atom of the nitroxyl group (Scheme 2.107) (520, 521). The observed influence of substituents on the ratio of animation products at C2 and C5 atom is close to the ratio observed in the previously mentioned oxidative methoxylation reaction. It allows us to draw conclusions about the preference of the radical cation reaction route. 

The reaction of 2-aminobenzyl alcohol 376 with 2-chloro-4,5-dihydroimidazole afforded [2-(4,5-dihydro-177-imidazol-2-ylideneamino)phenyl]methanol hydrochloride 377, which upon treatment with carbon disulfide gave l-(477-3,l-benzoxazin-2-yl)imidazolidine-2-thione 378 (Scheme 71). The assumed reaction mechanism involved the initial formation of the dithiocarbamate 379, which underwent intramolecular nucleophilic addition to furnish the unstable thiazetidine 380. By nucleophilic attack of the hydroxy group on the carbon atom of the thiazetidine ring, thiocarbamate derivative 381 was formed, which gave the final 3,1-benzoxazine 378 by an intramolecular cyclocondensation with the evolution of H2S <2006H(68)687>. 

All the carbon atoms of the purine ring were supposedly provided by HCN molecules through a complex step-by-step condensation process. In particular, oligomers of HCN, such as the HCN-trimer aminomaleonitrile (AMN) and the HCN-tetramer diaminomaleonitrile (DAMN), were found to be intermediates in this transformation (Scheme 1) [43,44]. In accordance with the present-day biosynthesis of purines in the cell, two 4,5-di-substituted imidazole derivatives, 4-aminoimidazole-5-carbonitrile (AICN) and 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamide (AICA) were successively formed from AMN and DAMN by chemical or, most probably, photochemical reactions [45-47]. Finally, a ring-closure process of AICA and HCN yielded adenine 1. 

In a patent138 a nitro-substituted cyclic enediamine was acylated by l-methyl-3-(phenoxycarbonyl)imidazolium chloride, prepared from the reaction of phenoxycarbonyl chloride and imidazole, to give product 168. Hydrolysis of 168 leads to the / -carbon atom acylated product 169. Unlike the alkylation which occurs only at the /7-carbon atom, acylation takes place both at the / -carbon and at the secondary nitrogen atom giving 168 (equation 63). 

---