Iminium salt quaternary

In most reviews of enamine chemistry the reactions of iminium salts are scattered throughout the review and are consequently not covered in a comprehensive manner. This chapter will be an attempt to look at reactions that, at one stage or another, proceed by nucleophilic addition to the iminium intermediate. The subject of enamines has been reviewed 1-4) and certain aspects of iminium salt chemistry such as reduction of aromatic quaternary salts have been treated in detail (5). Consequently, the reduction of aromatic quaternary salts with complex hydrides will be presented here only briefly. Although the literature (especially 1950-1967) has been checked with care, the author can make no claim to completeness. The... 

The reduction of iminium salts can be achieved by a variety of methods. Some of the methods have been studied primarily on quaternary salts of aromatic bases, but the results can be extrapolated to simple iminium salts in most cases. The reagents available for reduction of iminium salts are sodium amalgam (52), sodium hydrosulfite (5i), potassium borohydride (54,55), sodium borohydride (56,57), lithium aluminum hydride (5 ), formic acid (59-63), H, and platinum oxide (47). The scope and mechanism of reduction of nitrogen heterocycles with complex metal hydrides has been recently reviewed (5,64), and will be presented here only briefly. 

A methylenciminium salts derived from formaldehyde B ternary iminium salts derived from aldehydes C quaternary iminium salts derived from ketones... 

The TEAF system can be used to reduce ketones, certain alkenes and imines. With regard to the latter substrate, during our studies it was realized that 5 2 TEAF in some solvents was sufficiently acidic to protonate the imine (p K, ca. 6 in water). Iminium salts are much more reactive than imines due to inductive effects (cf. the Stacker reaction), and it was thus considered likely that an iminium salt was being reduced to an ammonium salt [54]. This explains why imines are not reduced in the IPA system which is neutral, and not acidic. When an iminium salt was pre-prepared by mixing equal amounts of an imine and acid, and used in the IPA system, the iminium was reduced, albeit with lower rate and moderate enantioselectivity. Quaternary iminium salts were also reduced to tertiary amines. Nevertheless, as other kinetic studies have indicated a pre-equilibrium with imine, it is possible that the proton formally sits on the catalyst and the iminium is formed during the catalytic cycle. It is, of course, possible that the mechanism of imine transfer hydrogenation is different to that of ketone reduction, and a metal-coordinated imine may be involved [55]. 

Two new syntheses to fused isoxazoles are worth mentioning. In a study for the synthesis of various related fused [l,3,5]triazinium salts, Okide described <1994JHC535> the conversion of 3-amino-5-methylisoxazole 223 with the iminium salt 224. The quaternary perchlorate salt 225 was obtained in medium yield (44%). A Russian research group <2004KGS592> reported that the isoxazole derivative 226 undergoes thermal cyclization when heated in xylene at higher temperature for an extended time, and the cyclized product 227 can be obtained in 53% yield. 

Quaternary ammonium cyanoborohydrides have been used for the reduction of iminium salts [14] and in the reductive amination of aldehydes and ketones [15]. 

Keywords imines, carbocation, oxonium salt, quaternary salts, waste-free, solid-solid reaction, iminium salts... 

In the total synthesis of reserpine, Woodward and collaborators (10) have reported that the quaternary iminium salt J8 was reduced with aqueous metha-nolic sodium borohydride to methyl 0-acetyl isoreserpate 09). This is the anticipated product whether the stereochemical sense of the reaction is subject to steric or thermodynamic control as pointed out by Woodward. It is also the expected one on the basis of stereoelectronic control. 

Homologous biphenyl and binaphthyl tertiary azepines (4) and quaternary iminium salts, prepared from (+)-(5,5 )-L-acetonamine, behave as effective catalysts for the enantioselective epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes with Oxone (ee up to 83%).113... 

With the procedure for constructing the quaternary carbon stereocenter in hand, the conversion of the ris-form to the trans form was explored in accordance with the synthetic plan shown in Scheme 9. The ketone moiety of the 1,4-conjugated adduct 61 was protected by an acetal group, followed by decarboxylation of compound 65 using sodium ethylthiolate to yield lactam trans-62 and cis-62 as an 8 1 diastereomixture [31]. The reason why the lactam trans-62 was obtained as a major product is that the subsequent protonation after decarboxylation proceeded kinetically. This assertion is supported by experimental results in which the trans- and cis-lactam diastereomixture (8 1) in ethanol was refluxed in the presence of potassium hydroxide to afford a 1 5 mixture [15,32,33]. The mixture of the lactam trans-62 and cis-62 was reduced with DIBALH, followed by treatment with sodium hydroxide to give bicyclic enamine 63. The kinetic iminium salt prepared from bicyclic enamine 63 with hydrochloric acid was reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride, leading to the frans-decahydroisoquinoline structure [22], The acetal moiety of the resultant 67 was removed to provide the objective ketones 68a and 2c. This method enabled the construction of the tra s-decahydroisoquinoline structure without an intermediate resembling the neurotoxic MPTP, and in fewer steps. 

This reaction allows the preparation of tertiary methylamines from secondary amines via treatment with formaldehyde in the presence of formic acid. The formate anion acts as hydride donor to reduce the imine or iminium salt, so that the overall process is a reductive amination. The formation of quaternary amines is not possible. 

This time another cyclic amine, pyrrolidine was used to make the enamine 107 and acylation occurred cleanly at carbon in spite of the formation of a quaternary centre. The wide ranging yields are for different Ar groups.21 The intermediate is an iminium salt 108 that can be isolated. The equilibrium methods used earlier for 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds would not work here as the product 104 cannot form a stable enolate. 

Hydrastine has been prepared by the hydrogenolysis of the 1-phenyl-l/f-5-tetrazolyl ether of (—)-a-narcotoline,154 and in the racemic form by the reductive cyclization of the quaternary salt of the keto-acid (53) that is obtained from oxidoberberine (51) as described above.133 The lactone (80), prepared by the dye-sensitized photo-oxidation of oxidonorcoralyne followed by reduction with sodium borohydride and from 6 -acetylpapaveraldine by oxidation with hypo-bromite followed by reduction, has been TV-methylated and reduced with sodium borohydride to an isomer of cordrastine.133 Cordrastine itself has been synthesized by the electrolytic reduction of a mixture of the iminium salt (81) and bromomeconine (82), a process that has been shown to be of general applicability to the synthesis of alkaloids of this group.155... 

Although dehydroreticulinium chloride has been identified as a natural alkaloid (276a), its chemical stability at pH 8.5, the optimum for enzymatic reduction (275), requires some comment. The amorphous base obtained on extraction of an aqueous solution of dehydroreticulinium iodide rendered alkaline with ammonium hydroxide suggests that it is an enamine with an exocyclic double bond (276b), which is readily converted to a quaternary iminium salt on addition of acid. Therefore, it cannot be excluded that the species reduced at pH 8.5 is the enamine. 

When preformed iminium salts are utilized in Mannich reactions, the reaction medium no longer needs to be a protic solvent, so the use of aprotic solvents allows the transformation of sensitive intermediates such as metal enolates. L.A. Paquette et al. carried out the highly regioselective introduction of an exo-methylene functionality during the total synthesis of (-)-O-methylshikoccin by reacting a potassium enolate with the Eschenmoser salt. The resulting p-A/,A/-dimethylamino ketone was converted to the corresponding quaternary ammonium salt and elimination afforded the desired a,p-unsaturated ketone (Eschenmoser methenylation). 

Benzo[c]cinnoline is a weak base with a of 2.2 in water and 1.6 in 50% aqueous ethanol.Cryoscopic measurements show that it is dipro-tonated to some extent in 100% sulfuric acid. Well-defined quaternary salts result from heating benzo[c]cinnoline with alkyl halides and sul-fates. These are reported to decompose on treatment with ammonia, regenerating benzo[c]cinnoline, but apparently nucleophilic displacements of halogen by amines have been carried out on certain highly substituted examples in the synthesis of cationic dyestuffs. Quaternizations of benzo[c]cinnoline with a,a)-dibromo-propane and -butane are accompanied by hydrogen bromide elimination to give the cyclic iminium salts 40 and 41. When 40 is dehydrogenated, or merely refluxed in ethanol. 

Rather surprisingly alcohols are poor at reducing imines, yet TEAF works well. During our studies we rationalized that the TEAF system was sufficiently acidic (pH approximately 4) to protonate the imine (pK l approximately 6) and that it was an iminium that was reduced to an ammonium salt [14]. When an iminium was used in the I PA system, it was reduced albeit with a low rate and moderate enan-tioselectivity. Quaternary iminium salts were also reduced to tertiary amines. Hydrogen will not reduce ketones or imines using the CATHy catalysts, but hydrides such as sodium borohydride have been shown to work. 

A A -Dialkylarylamines react under classical conditions at C-4 if that position is unsubstituted. For example, A. )V-dimethylaniline reacts with formaldehyde and dimethylamine to afford 4-)V, A -dimethyl-amino-A, Af-dimethylbenzylamine in 82% yield (equation 20). Under acidic conditions fragmentation of the initial product can occur, leading to the formation of diarylmethanes. In the reaction of A A -dimethy-laniline with formaldehyde and pyrrolidine the best yield of the Mannich base (44%) is obtained in the presence of 1.5 mol equiv. of acetic acid with 4.0 mol equiv. the yield is only 7%. The reaction of N-methylenemorpholinium chloride with 4-A -morpholinylmethyl-)V,A -dimethylaniline results in the introduction of a second A -morpholinylmethyl residue at the 2-position, but with other iminium chlorides quaternary salts are formed by reaction with the nitrogen of the 4-dialkylaminomethyl group. There is dso a brief report of the use of the mixed A. Af-dialkylmethyleneiminium salt, A -f-butyl-A -methyl-methyleneiminium perchlorate, with A. Af-dimethylaniline. °... 

Quaternary ammonium, phosphonium, and arsonium salts serve cis sources of large lipophilic cations which may be employed in precipitation reactions. In addition, bis(triphenylphosphine)iminium salts, [(Ph3P>2N]X, have been employed for the precipitation of complex anions from aqueous solution.19 One advantage of the [(Ph3P)2N]+ cation is that it often combines with anionic complexes to form crystalline compounds suitable for analysis by X-ray diffraction. 

Though these alkaloids are not truly composed of two identical monomeric units, they are popularly named dimers or dimeric alkaloids. We prefer to avoid this incorrect nomenclature and would like to encourage the use of the more adequate binary terminology. In another consideration of nomenclature, we describe quaternary salts derived from an imine functionality as imonium salts, in accord with the descriptor for other onium salts (ammonium, oxonium, etc.), rather than by the frequently used iminium terminology. This nomenclature was suggested earlier (/). 

The principal feature of the chemical reactivity of QBA is the addition of a nucleophile to the iminium bond C=N (Scheme 1). The carbon atom C-6 displays the lowest 7C-electron density [97,98]. This process is associated with a number of significant alterations in the constitution, physical appearance, solubility, spectral properties, etc. The quaternary cation is a brightly coloured, polar, water-soluble species. The tertiary-nitrogen adduct has lost the colour and is non-polar and water insoluble. In the case of aminoacetal and aminal derivatives (Scheme 1, Nu = OR, NHR), the reaction is essentially reversible, i.e. the action of acid immediately converts the adduct back to the quaternary salt. Viewed from another perspective the emergence of colour is a sensitive indicator of the presence of some acid and ipso facto of deconq)osition of the adduct. 

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