Imines, alkylation stability

Reductions. Nitrones and N-oxides are deoxygenated by (BnNEtjljMoS. Acyl azides give amides. Alkyl azides undergo a homocoupling reaction to form imines, whereas stabilized azides, such as acyl, sulfonyl, and aryl azides, undergo reductive elimination of... 

Alkylation of pyrimidin-2(or 4)-amine on a ring-nitrogen gives an imine, e.g. (8), of quite high basic strength (pjSTa 10.7) because its cation, e.g. (13 R = Me), has typical and effective resonance stabilization indeed, methylation of pyrimidine-2,4-diamine gives a still stronger base (pjSTa> 13) due to an even more resonance-stabilized cation (14). 

While the steric explanation is consistent with the observed selectivity, it nonetheless presents an incomplete explanation, as alkylation of 2-methyl-4-cyano-l,3-dioxane 17 also proceeded with very high syn-selectivity [11] (Eq. 5). The selective equatorial alkylation can be rationalized as an anfz-anomeric effect that disfavors axial alkylation of the ketene iminate through filled-shell repulsion. Simple lithiated nitriles are known to exist as ketene iminates, but it would be easy to rationalize the preference for equatorial alkylation by considering the relative stability of hypothetical equatorial and axial alkyllithium reagents, vide infra. Preferential equatorial alkylation was also observed by Beau... 

The preparation of thiiranes is most conveniently performed in solution. However, there are also protocols reported for reaction in the gas and solid phase. By using diazo and thiocarbonyl compounds in ether as solvent, both alkyl and aryl substituted thiiranes are accessible. As indicated earlier, aryl substituents destabilize the initially formed 2,5-dihydro-1,3,4-thiadiazole ring and, in general, thiiranes are readily obtained at low temperature (13,15,35). On the other hand, alkyl substituents, especially bulky ones, enhance the stability of the initial cycloadduct, and the formation of thiiranes requires elevated temperatures (36 1,88). Some examples of sterically crowded thiiranes prepared from thioketones and a macro-cyclic diazo compound have been published by Atzmiiller and Vbgtle (106). Diphenyldiazomethane reacts with (arylsulfonyl)isothiocyanates and this is followed by spontaneous N2 elimination to give thiirane-2-imines (60) (107,108). Under similar conditions, acyl-substituted isothiocyanates afforded 2 1-adducts 61 (109) (Scheme 5.23). It seems likely that the formation of 61 involves a thiirane intermediate analogous to 60, which subsequently reacts with a second equivalent... 

The deprotonation of Af-alkyl imines 1 with LDA to give 2-azaallyl anions 2 is a well-known reaction34 At least one stabilizing substituent R2 such as phenyl35 or alkoxycarbonyl36 at the carbon atom is necessary to achieve the deprotonation. The deprotonation of iV-benzylimines, which contain no acidic a-protons in the R1 group proceeds under relatively mild conditions37-38. 

Imines formed from ammonia and aldehydes (RCH=NH) are very unstable and readily polymerize (Section 16-4C). However, substitution of an alkyl or aryl group on the nitrogen increases the stability, and IV-substituted... 

Nucleophilic carbon radicals can C-alkylate imines, a process which is found to be substantially facilitated by an o-phenolic substituent as in e.g. (32).85 The hydroxyl is presumed to stabilize an intermediate aminyl radical. An enantioselective version of the reaction is also reported. 

The most conspicuous property of aliphatic amines, apart from their fishy smell, is their high basicity, which usually precludes N-alkylations under acidic reaction conditions (last reaction, Scheme 6.3). Hence, alkylation of amines with tertiary alkyl groups is not usually possible without the use of highly stabilized carbocations which can be formed under basic reaction conditions. Rare exceptions are N-alkyla-tions of amines via radicals (Scheme 4.2), copper-catalyzed propargylations (Scheme 6.3), and the addition of amines to some Michael acceptors and allyl palladium or iridium complexes. Better strategies for the preparation of tert-alkylamines include the addition of Grignard reagents to ketone-derived imines [13] or the reduction of tert-alkyl nitro compounds. 

The simplest amino acid, glycine, would be an ideal starting material for the synthesis of more complicated amino acids but it does not easily form enols or enoiates. The methyl ester of the ben-zaldehyde imine has two electro n-withdra wing groups to help stabilization of the enolate and conjugate addition of acrylonitrile is now possible. The base used was solid potassium carbonate with a quaternary ammonium chloride as phase transfer catalyst. Simple hydrolysis of the alkylated product leads to the extended amino acid. 

The alkylation of acyclic imines with electrophilic alkenes such as acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate or phenyl vinyl sulphone is also sensitive to steric effects and again, as a consequence, only mono-alkylation occurs398. The regioselectivity of the reaction in methanol varied from 100% attack at the more substituted a-position to 70% attack at the less substituted a -position depending upon the steric inhibition manifested and the stabilization of the competing secondary enamine tautomers (vide infra) (Scheme 204). In contrast, the reaction of butanone and other methyl ketone imines with phenyl vinyl ketone occurs twice at the more substituted a-position but this is then followed by a double cyclization process (Scheme 205). Four carbon-carbon bonds are formed sequentially in this one-pot synthesis of the bicyclo[2.2.2]octanone 205 from acyclic precursors399,400. 

Similarly, the enamine salt 15 is obtained by lithiation of 14 (equation 5). In both cases the lower steric hindrance leads to higher stability of the enaminic system33 where the double bond is formed on the less substituted carbon. The Af-metalated enamines 11 and 15 are enolate analogs and their contribution to the respective tautomer mixture of the lithium salts of azomethine derivatives will be discussed below. Normant and coworkers34 also reported complete regioselectivity in alkylations of ketimines that are derived from methyl ketones. The base for this lithiation is an active dialkylamide—the product of reaction of metallic lithium with dialkylamine in benzene/HMPA. Under these conditions ( hyperbasic media ), the imine compound of methyl ketones 14 loses a proton from the methyl group and the lithium salt 15 reacts with various electrophiles or is oxidized with iodine to yield, after hydrolysis, 16 and 17, respectively (equation 5). 

It would not be imprudent to say that most imine cycloadditions have been discovered unexpectedly during investigations on the generation of azo-methine ylides. As already discussed (Section II,C), imines 60, formed by the condensations of diethyl aminomalonate with aromatic aldehydes, quickly isomerize into highly stabilized azomethine ylides 61, which are all trapped by the imine 60 to give imidazolidine derivatives 217 (80TL2197). It has also been described above (Section II,E) that the iminium salt 75 (R = OMe, EWG = CN), formed in the N-alkylation of 6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroiso-quinoline with chloroacetonitrile, quickly loses a proton generating stabilized... 

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