In the Lossen rearrangement

The migration of the 0-r-butoxy group with concomitant generation of the 0-t-butoxy isocyanate 562 was observed in the Lossen rearrangement of 561 induced by base deprotonation " (equation 250). 

Compounds containing neutral, monovalent nitrogen atoms are known as nitrenes. The parent structure, NH, is also called imidogen. Because most stable compounds of neutral nitrogen have a valence of 3, it is no surprise that nitrenes typically are very short lived, reactive intermediates. A short history of nitrenes has been presented by Lwowski who points out that they were first proposed by Tiemann in 1891 as transient intermediates in the Lossen rearrangement. 

Azole approach. Compounds of this type may be formed in the Lossen rearrangement of thiazole-4,5-dicarbohydroxamic acids to give compounds (447) and (448). 

Nitrenes were first proposed as reactive intermediates in the Lossen rearrangement by Tiemann in 1891, and subsequently by Stieglitz (1896) to account for the mechanisms of the related Hofmann, Curtius, and Beckmann rearrangements. Apart from an extensive amount of work by Curtius on the thermal decomposition of aryl and sulphonyl azides, interest in nitrenes declined until the reemergence of carbene chemistry in the 1950s. Reviews on nitrene chemistry by Kirmse (1959), Horner (1963), and Abramovitch (1964) reflected this renewed interest in nitrenes and provided a stimulus for the immense research effort undertaken in the 1960s, which has been surveyed in many reviews and two books.Of particular note are two chapters by Abramovitch" describing all facets of nitrenes, and an excellent chapter devoted specifically to aryl- and hetarylnitrenes by P. A. S. Smith. The present chapter is intended to update these reviews and it is hoped that it will stimulate further work, particularly on the synthetic aspects of intermolecular arylnitrene reactions. 

In the Lossen reaction a hydroxamic acid derivative (usually an 0-acyl derivative) is deprotonated by base, and rearranges via migration of the group R to give an isocyanate 2. Under the usual reaction conditions—i.e. aqueous alkaline solution—the isocyanate reacts further to yield the amine 3. The Lossen reaction is closely related to the Hofmann rearrangement and the Curtins reaction. 

The 0-acyl derivatives of hydroxamic acids give isocyanates when treated with bases or sometimes even just on heating, in a reaction known as the Lossen rearrangement. The mechanism is similar to that of 18-13 and 18-14 ... 

Figure 11. Isokinetic relationship for the Lossen rearrangement of dihydroxamic acids (208), in the log kj versus log k, plot, real (full line) and apparent (broken line) relations.

The Lossen rearrangement of an hydroxamic acid under basic conditions is a variant of the Hofmann reaction in which the aroyloxy group fills the role of the bromine.314... 

To improve the scope of the Lossen rearrangement, other structural analogous substrates to hydroxamic acids have been tested. Af-Phosphinoylhydroxylamines are the phosphorus analogues of hydroxamic acids and, when suitably activated, they undergo a Lossen-Uke rearrangement in the presence of base. 

Gallup, P. M., S. Seifter, M. Lukin and E. Meilman Application of the Lossen rearrangement of dinitrophenylhydroxamates to analysis of carboxyl groups in model compounds and gelatin. J. Biol. Chem. 235, 2619 (1950). 

These reactive intermediates were proposed first for the Lossen rearrangements in 1891 by Tiemann b and for the photochemical decomposition of hydrazoic acid in 1928 by Beckman and Dickinson 2>. The chemistry in this field, which attracted little interest for a long time, was stimulated by the development of carbene chemistry. In the last fifteen years, beginning with a summary by Kirmse 3> in 1959, excellent reviews on nitrene chemistry appeared 4-12),... 

The acyl azide undergoes a rearrangement similar to the Hofmann rearrangement (method 446) and to the Lossen rearrangement (method 448). This step is carried out in inert solvents like benzene and chloroform to give the isocyanate directly or in solvents like alcohol and water which will react with the isocyanate to form urethanes and ureas. 

Such a procedure adapted from Gross and Morell (1966) and Blumenfeld and Gallop (1962) is as follows. Visser et al. (1971) treated 2.5 to 10 mg of a modified elastase with 1 N NHjOH-HCl, adjusted to pH 9 by addition of sodium hydroxide, for 2 hr at 25°C. The excess hydroxylamine was removed either by dialysis or by precipitation of the protein at pH 3.0. The protein was then dissolved, brought to pH 8.0 by addition of NaOH and treated with an equal volume of a 1 % solution of l-fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene in ethanol. The pH of the solution was maintained at 8 by the continuous addition of NaOH. The reaction is complete when no additional alkali must be added for 5 min. The mixture is then extracted three times with ether and the aqueous phase subjected to the conditions of the Lossen rearrangement (i.e. heating to 100°C under alkaline condition (0.1 N NaOH) for 10 min). Acid hydrolysis followed by amino acid analysis permits the identification of either diaminopropionic or diaminobutyric acid which would result from either aspartate or glutamate modification, respectively. Diaminopropionic and diaminobutyric acids may be estimated on the short column of the amino acid analyzer. Diaminopropionic acid emerges with histidine. (Color values do not seem to be available.)... 

The Lessen reaction of peptide carboxylic acids has teen investigated in order to determine the carboxy terminal amino acid residue of peptides." The procedure first involves the formation of 0-pivaloylhydroxamic acids (187) by condensation of peptide carboxylic acids (184) with 0-pivaloylhy-droxylamine (185) using a water soluble carbodimide, l-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (186). The Lossen rearrangement of (187) occurs at pH 8.5 and 50 C to give a mixture of isocyanates (188) and their reaction products, which, on acidic hydrolysis, afford the aldehydes (189), ammonia and amino acids, as shown in Scheme 30." Identification of aldehydes determines the C-terminal amino acids of the original peptides. 

N// -Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) also mediates the Lossen reaction of hydroxamic acids under neutral conditions.In the conversion of the hydroxamic acid (209) to the tricyclic compound (210), the Lossen rearrangement is accompanied by an intramolecular cycloaddition (equation 54). 

A combination of triphenylphosphine and diethyl azodicarboxylate (the Mitsunobu reagent) is useful for the rapid conversion of aromatic hydroxamic acids (211) to 0-(yV-arylcarbamyl)hydroxamates (212), products of the Lossen rearrangement. In some cases, a spontaneous second Lossen rearrangement occurs to give diarylureas (213), as shown in Scheme 33. The yields of (212) and (213) are 70-85%. The intermediacy of the phosphonium salts (214) has been suggested. 

Hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid can be also used for the Lossen rearrangement. Heating acids with hy-droxylamine-O-sulfonic acid in hot mineral oil or polyphosphoric acid affords amines, though the reaction conditions for this transformation still need to be optimized (equations 56 and 57). 

A further example is the Lossen rearrangement, in which an O-acyl derivative of hydroxamic acid, RCONHOCOR, gives an isocyanate on treatment with hydroxide ion, which in turn may be hydrolysed to the amine. Illustrate this reaction pathway. 

Lossen Rearrangement,78 The thermal decomposition of hydroxamic acid derivatives leads to isocyanates or, in aqueous solution, to amines. This reaction is usually called the Lossen rearrangement. Its mechanism... 

Since leaving group R COO leaves as R COO , the rearrangement is facilitated by the presence of electron-withdrawing groups in meta or para positions. Of these four related processes the Lossen rearrangement is the least useful in the synthesis of amines because of the unavailability of hydroxamic acids. 

This reaction was first reported by Lossen in 1872. It is a thermal or alkaline conversion of hydroxamic acid into an isocyanate via the intermediacy of its O-acyl, sulfonyl, or phosphoryl derivative. In the presence of water, amine, or alcohol, the isocyanate is converted into amine, urea or urethane, respectively. Therefore, this reaction is generally known as the Lossen rearrangement. Occasionally, it is also referred to as the Lossen reaction, Lossen degradation, or Lossen transformation. ... 

The Lossen rearrangement, discovered in 1872, is the transformation of a hydroxamic acid derivative to an isocyanate by using an activated hydroxamic acid 71 as the key intermediate tScheme 4.27)Z This activation can be achieved by O-acylation, O-arylation, or O-sulfonylation. From a mechanistic point of view, a base or a thermal treatment can initiate the reaction, giving a rearrangement of the corresponding anion 72 via a three-membered ring transition state 73. 

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