Imines, alkylation formation

The introduction of alkyl groups at the a-carbon of amino acids has been accomplished most efficiently by formation of imine esters. For example, the benzaldehyde imine of ethyl glycinate can be deproton-ated and alkylated (equation 39)." Other imines also have been used." Optical activity has been introduced by using chiral palla um ligands during the alkylation step, ° chiral alcohols to form the ester, and chiral ketones to form the imine." Alkylation of 2-pyrrole acetate esters has been accomplished in a similar fashion." ... 

In an extension of their earlier work, Ojima and coworkers have described analogous reactions using vinyl silyl ketene acetals (160 equation 19). 9 xhe carbon-carbon bond forming step in these reactions occurs exclusively at the terminal carbon of the vinyl silyl ketene acetal (160) to give cyclized 5,6-dihy-dro-2-pyridones (162), methyl 5-amino-2-pentenoates (163), or mixtures. Steric and electronic factors play an important role in the formation of cyclized products, which are favored by the lack of an a-sub-stituent (R ) and the presence of an N-alkyl group on the imine (R ). Formation of (162) and (163) proceeds by a common metalated intermediate, since in reactions that form cyclized products (162), quenching at -50 °C leads to acyclic products. Yields are good to excellent when corrected for recovered imine (161), but a 100% excess of vinyl silyl ketene acetal (160) must be employed. It is curious to note that these reactions require much lower initial temperatures (-100 C) than those of silyl ketene acetals. 

All these compounds are mesogenic, whereas the Schiff bases from which they are formed are not. The effect of complexation is therefore the determining factor in the ordering of the imine alkyl chains that leads to an arrangement compatible with the formation of a liquid crystal. 

Urea itself and JV.JV -disubstituted ureas can be conveniently utilized as versatile and environmentally safe building blocks for the synthesis of more complex targets containing the ureido moiety, through various reactions, including displacement of one or both amino groups, N-alkylation, and imine/enamine formation. Some recent applications are summarized below. 

Mechanistically, enzymatic activation of the aldol donor substrates is achieved by stereospecific deprotonation along tw o different pathw ays (figures 5.5 and 5.6) [29]. Class I aldolases bind their substrates covalently via imine-enamine formation w ith an active site lysine residue to initiate bond cleavage or formation (Eigure 5.5) this can be demonstrated by reductive interception of the intermediate w ith borohydride w hich causes irreversible inactivation of the enzyme as a result of alkylation of the amine [30, 31]. 

A problem that is not entirely avoidable is the formation of imine byproducts via reaction of the released amine with the aldehydic group in the photoproduct. This occurrence could be suppressed with alkyl or aryl substitution at the benzylic position, leading to the formation of a less reactive ketone in comparison with the nitroso aldehyde formed with no substitution at the benzylic position. Imine byproduct formation is also less likely to occur in relatively nonpolar solvent systems, such as THF, which ultimately limits the application of the o-nitrobenzyl carbamate photoprotecting group to nonaqueous systems in this regard. 

Experimental evidence, obtained in protonation (3,6), acylation (1,4), and alkylation (1,4,7-9) reactions, always indicates a concurrence between electrophilic attack on the nitrogen atom and the -carbon atom in the enamine. Concerning the nucleophilic reactivity of the j3-carbon atom in enamines, Opitz and Griesinger (10) observed, in a study of salt formation, the following series of reactivities of the amine and carbonyl components pyrrolidine and hexamethylene imine s> piperidine > morpholine > cthyl-butylamine cyclopentanone s> cycloheptanone cyclooctanone > cyclohexanone monosubstituted acetaldehyde > disubstituted acetaldehyde. 

The formation of bicyclic imines (263,264) from piperidine enamines and y-bromopropyl amines may appear at first sight to be a simple extension of the reactions of enamines with alkyl halides. However, evidence has been found that the products are formed by an initial enamine exchange, followed by an intramolecular enamine alkylation. Thus y-bromodiethylamino-propane does not react with piperidinocyclohexene under conditions suitable for the corresponding primary amine. Furthermore, the enamine of cyclopentanone, but not that of cyclohexanone, requires a secondary rather than primary y-bromopropylamine, presumably because of the less favorable imine to enamine conversion in this instance. 

A related enamine alkylation is seen in the rearrangement of an ethylene imine vinylogous amide, which was heated with sodium iodide in diglyme. The presumed internal enamine alkylation constitutes a critical step in an oxocrinane synthesis (265). Use of an ethylene imine urethane for alkylation of an enamine and formation of the hexahydroindole system has also been reported (266). 

Reaction of 2-(A -alkyl-A -benzylamino)- and 2-[A -(rraM-crotyl)-A -ben-zylamino]-3-formyl-4/7-pyrido[l,2-n]pyrimidin-4-ones (260, R = H, Me) with tosylamine gave compounds 268 via compounds 266 and 267 (96T13097). The results of kinetic studies and MP3 calculations on the 3-formyl derivatives 252, 260 and the imines 262, 263 suggested a concerted nature for azepine-ring formation. 

Reductive alkylation with chiral substrates may afford new chiral centers. The reaction has been of interest for the preparation of optically active amino acids where the chirality of the amine function is induced in the prochiral carbonyl moiety 34,35). The degree of induced asymmetry is influenced by substrate, solvent, and temperature 26,27,28,29,48,51,65). Asymmetry also has been obtained by reduction of prochiral imines, using a chiral catalyst 44). Prediction of the major configurational isomer arising from a reductive alkylation can be made usually by the assumption that amine formation comes via an imine, not the hydroxyamino addition compound, and that the catalyst approaches the least hindered side (57). 

Several studies characterizing the reactions of alkenyl radicals with quinone dumines and quino-neimines were published in the late 1970s. Quinone dumines react with allylic radicals yielding both the reduced PPD and the alkylated product. In these experiments 2-methyl-2-pentene served as a model olefin (model for NR). Samples of the olefin and quinoneimines or quinone diimine were heated to 140°C. Isolation and analysis of products demonstrated that 40%-70% of the imine or diimine was reduced to the corresponding PPD, while 20%-50% was isolated as the alkylated product. This alkylation reaction (via an allylic radical) represents the pathway to the formation of rubber-bound antidegradant. ... 

An attractive alternative to these novel aminoalcohol type modifiers is the use of 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine (NEA, Fig. 5) and derivatives thereof as chiral modifiers [45-47]. Trace quantities of (R)- or (S)-l-(l-naphthyl)ethylamine induce up to 82% ee in the hydrogenation of ethyl pyruvate over Pt/alumina. Note that naphthylethylamine is only a precursor of the actual modifier, which is formed in situ by reductive alkylation of NEA with the reactant ethyl pyruvate. This transformation (Fig. 5), which proceeds via imine formation and subsequent reduction of the C=N bond, is highly diastereoselective (d.e. >95%). Reductive alkylation of NEA with different aldehydes or ketones provides easy access to a variety of related modifiers [47]. The enantioselection occurring with the modifiers derived from NEA could be rationalized with the same strategy of molecular modelling as demonstrated for the Pt-cinchona system. 

Bode and co-workers have extended the synthetic ntility of homoenolates to the formation of enantiomerically enriched IV-protected y-butyrolactams 169 from saccharin-derived cyclic sulfonylimines 167. While racemic products have been prepared from a range of P-alkyl and P-aryl substitnted enals and substitnted imi-nes, only a single example of an asymmetric variant has been shown, affording the lactam prodnct 169 with good levels of enantioselectivity and diastereoselectivity (Scheme 12.36) [71], As noted in the racemic series (see Section 12.2.2), two mechanisms have been proposed for this type of transformation, either by addition of a homoenolate to the imine or via an ene-type mechanism. 

The reductive alkylation of a primary amine with ketone leads to the formation of a stable imine. In the presence of hydrogen and a hydrogenation catalyst, the imine is reduced to a secondary amine. Similarly, a diamine reacts stepwise to form dialkylated secondary amines. However, several side reactions are possible for these reactions as outlined by Greenfield (12). The general scheme depicting the reaction between primary amine or diamine to yield secondary amine through a Schiff base is shown in Figure 17.1. 

The BS2 catalyst was more selective toward the formation of the dialkylated product than the Pd catalysts tested. The activity of BS2 for DAE-MIBK reaction was slower than that with acetone due to steric effects posed by the larger ketone. Here again, the imine tends to rapidly cychze to form imidazolidines or pyrimidines. Figure 17.2 shows the stepwise formation of various side products observed during the reductive alkylation of DAE with acetone. 

Ketone imine anions can also be alkylated. The prediction of the regioselectivity of lithioenamine formation is somewhat more complex than for the case of kinetic ketone enolate formation. One of the complicating factors is that there are two imine stereoisomers, each of which can give rise to two regioisomeric imine anions. The isomers in which the nitrogen substituent R is syn to the double bond are the more stable.114... 

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