Imines acetals

A direct synthesis of cyclic quinone imine acetals has been accomplished by the treatment of substituted phenol ethers bearing an alkyl azido side chain with IBTA (Eq. 39) [96JCS(CC)1491]. The cyclization reaction proceeds smoothly in polar and low nucleophilic solvents such as CF3CH2OH and (CF3)2CH0H in the presence of 10% MeOH. 

Pentan 3,3-Dihydroxy-2,4-dioxo-E14a/1, 594 (Imin - Acetal) Propansaure 3-Acetoxy- VI/2, 550 (aus Lacton) XV/1, 886 (aus Lacton)... 

Super polyphosphoric acid (PPA 4- P2O5) is an effective reagent in the Pomeranz-Fritsch cyclization, replacing the usual 6N HCl. Thus when imine acetal 4, prepared from o-methylacetophenone and aminoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal, was heated briefly with super PPA, a 30% yield of 1,8-dimethylisoquino-line was obtained. The product was then oxidized and decarbonylated to supply 8-methylisoquinoline. ... 

Imine acetal intermediates can also be efficiently cyclized using the BF3-HOAc complex in trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA), ... 

If the imine acetal is cyclized using chlorosulfonic acid without heating, the main product is a 3-chloroisoquinoline derivative. ... 

Finally a general approach to synthesize A -pyrrolines must be mentioned. This is tl acid-catalyzed (NH4CI or catalytic amounts of HBr) and thermally (150°C) induced tea rangement of cyclopropyl imines. These educts may be obtained from commercial cyan> acetate, cyclopropyl cyanide, or benzyl cyanide derivatives by the routes outlined below. Tl rearrangement is reminiscent of the rearrangement of 1-silyloxy-l-vinylcyclopropancs (p. 7 83) but since it is acid-catalyzed it occurs at much lower temperatures. A -Pyrrolines constitut reactive enamines and may be used in further addition reactions such as the Robinson anei lation with methyl vinyl ketone (R.V. Stevens, 1967, 1968, 1971). 

Aromatization of indolines is important in completing synthetic sequences in which the directive effects of the indoline ring have been used to achieve selective carbocyclic substitution[l]. Several methods for aromatization have been developed and some of these are illustrated in Table 15.2. A range of reagents is represented. One type of procedure represents use of oxidants which are known to convert amines to imines. Aromatization then provides the indole. Such reagents must not subsequently oxidize the indole. Mereuric acetate (Entry 1) is known to oxidize other types of amines and presumably reacts by an oxidative deprotonation ot- to the complexed nitrogen. 

Other methods of protecting the aldehyde group include formation of an enol acetate, an enamine, or an imine (174,175). In the enamine route, regeneration of the aldehyde is accompHshed simply by the addition of water. 

A wide variety of /3-lactams are available by these routes because of the range of substituents possible in either the ketene or its equivalent substituted acetic acid derivative. Considerable diversity in imine structure is also possible. In addition to simple Schiff bases, imino esters and thioethers, amidines, cyclic imines and conjugated imines such as cinnamy-lidineaniline have found wide application in the synthesis of functionalized /3-lactams. A-Acylhydrazones can be used, but phenylhydrazones and O-alkyloximes do not give /3-lactams. These /3-lactam forming reactions give both cis and /raMS-azetidin-2-ones some control over stereochemistry can, however, be exercised by choice of reactants and conditions. 

The reactions of ketenes or ketene equivalents with imines, discussed above, all involve the imine acting as nucleophile. Azetidin-2-ones can also be produced by nucleophilic attack of enolate anions derived from the acetic acid derivative on the electrophilic carbon of the imine followed by cyclization. The reaction of Reformatsky reagents, for example... 

Bonds between carbon and various heteroatoms (e.g. O, N, S, P) which are easily generated synthetically are strategic for disconnection. Specific bonds in this category are ester, amide, imine, thioether, and acetal. 

A later variation of the general method, which extends the scope to 20-ketones, involves reaction of the ketone with benzylamine to give the imine, followed by conversion to the A-acetyl derivative with acetic anhydride. Although the resulting compound also has a A -double bond, it does not react sufficiently fast with peracid, and a A -double bond can not be preserved. 

Comforth has reviewed literature reports and independently studied the special cases of reaction of 1 with salicylaldehyde and with 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde. Coumarins (10) are afforded in the condensation of 1 with salicylaldehyde or its imine, whereas when 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde is used, acetoxy oxazolone 12 is the major product. The initial aldol condensation product between the oxazolone and 2-acetoxybenzaldehyde is the 4-(a-hydroxybenzyl)oxazolone 11, in which base-catalyzed intramolecular transacetylation is envisioned. The product 9 (R = Ac) can either be acetylated on the phenolic hydroxy group, before or after loss of acetic acid, to yield the oxazolone 12, or it can rearrange, by a second intramolecular process catalyzed by base and acid, to the hydrocoumarin, which loses acetic acid to yield 10. When salicylaldehyde is the starting material, aldol intermediate 9 (R = H) can rearrange directly to a hydrocoumarin. Comforth also accessed pure 4-(2 -hydroxyphenylmethylene)-2-phenyloxazol-5(4//)-one (13) through hydrolysis of 12 with 88% sulfuric acid. 

Toward the end of the 19 century both Pomeranz and Fritsch independently reported the preparation of isoquinolines by the reaction of aminoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal 2 (R = Me) with aromatic aldehydes 1 followed by cyclisation in acidic media. " Unfortunately yields were often poor and not always reproducible. This has prompted the search for various improvements and modifications on the original theme, including the use of reagents other than strong mineral acid which tends to destroy the intermediate imine. ... 

Aldehyde 22 and aminoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal 23 (3eq.) were heated to reflux in toluene (Dean-Stark apparatus) until all of the starting material was consumed. The crystalline product was collected and washed with solvent to yield imine 24, which was used without further purification. 

Only in 1961 did Woodward and Olofson succeed in elucidating the true mechanism of this interesting reaction by making an extensive use of spectroscopic methods. The difficulty was that the reaction proceeds in many stages. The isomeric compounds formed thereby are extremely labile, readily interconvertible, and can be identified only spectroscopically. The authors found that the attack by the anion eliminates the proton at C-3 (147) subsequent cleavage of the N—0 bond yields a -oxoketene imine (148) whose formation was established for the first time. The oxoketene imine spontaneously adds acetic acid and is converted via two intermediates (149, 150) to an enol acetate (151) whose structure was determined by UV spectra. Finally the enol acetate readily yields the W-acyl derivative (152). 

The acetate (1) and its mosylate analog (79) have been shown to undergo cydoad-dition with the CN double bond of alkyl imines to generate substituted pyrrolidines in the presence of nickel or palladium catalyst [35]. For example, both the phenyl imine (80) and the diazene (81) gave reasonable yields of adducts (82) and (83) respectively (Scheme 2.23). 

Imines with an electron-withdrawing group at the nitrogen atom are excellent acceptors for the acetate (1) or the carbonate (13) [36]. Thus, N-tosylimines (84) gave very good yields of pyrrolidines (85) under typical conditions. The strained cyclic imine (86) and a,/ -unsaturated imine (87) both participated smoothly in the cydoadditions. The hindered nitrimine (88) also reacts well with (1) (but not with 13) to produce the pyrrolidine (89) with a 17 1 diastereoselectivity. However, the unhindered nitrimines from cyclohexanone and 2-nonanone failed to react presumably due to enolization (Scheme 2.24). 

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