Indole addition

It was envisioned that the addition of an indole derived from a tryptamine to the activated iminium ion, arising from imidazolidinone catalyst 3 and an a,p-unsaturated aldehyde, would generate a C(3)-quaternary carbon-substituted indo-lium ion. As a central feature this intermediate cannot undergo re-aromatization by means of proton loss, in contrast to the analogous 3-H indole addition pathway. As a result, 5-exo-heterocyclization of the pendant ethylamine would provide the corresponding pyrroloindoline compounds. In terms of molecular complexity, this cascade sequence should allow the rapid and enantioenriched formation of stereochemically defined pyrroloindoline architecture from tryptamines and simple a,/i-unsaturated aldehydes. 

Figure 3 Inhibition of aniline reactivity upon indole addition...

Scheme 8.48 Copper/box

The use of pseudo-C3 symmetric tris(oxazoline) 176 proved to be important in the copper-catalyzed indole addition to aryl alkylidene malonates 175 (Scheme 8.48) [139]. A comparison with the traditional tert-butyl-substituted bis(oxazoline) 173 resulted in a sharp decrease in enantioselectivity (from 92% to 69% ee). Hence, Tang proposed a sidearm effect exerted by ligand 176 to be essential for this class of acceptors. 

During recent years, asymmetric catalysis by small organic molecules has received much attention [140]. Because these reactions proceed through intermediates that are inherently less reactive, the Friedel-Crafts reactions of electron-rich (hetero)aryls generally seem to be well suited. For instance, Deng described the use of readily accessible cinchona-derived ligand 178 to perform highly enantioselective indole additions to a-ketoesters and even simple aldehydes (Scheme 8.49) [141]. Bisindole adducts, the major side products in many Lewis acid-catalyzed reactions, were formed to only a minor extent. 

Scheme 8.49 Cinchona

Scheme 16.11 Selectivity switch with Au -ADC versus Au -NHC catalysts in indole addition to...

The enantioselective, copper (II) phosphate (340) catalysed cycloisomerisation-indole addition reaction of 2-(l-alkynyl)-2-alkene-l-ones (337) and... 

As regards reaetions other than nitration brought about by some of these systems, especially noteworthy are the addition processes undergone by eertain indole derivatives when treated with solutions of nitrie aeid in aeetie aeid. Produets inelude glycols, nitro-alcohols, and nitro-alcohol acetates. Such additions might well be encountered with some polynuclear aromatie eompounds, and with sueh eompounds the possibility of nitration by addition-elimination must always be borne in mind. 

This reactivity pattern underlies a group of important synthetic methods in which an a-substituent is displaced by a nucleophile by an elimination-addition mechanism. Even substituents which are normally poor leaving groups, such as alkoxy and dialkylamino, are readily displaced in the indole series. 

Another category Ic indole synthesis involves cyclization of a-anilino aldehydes or ketones under the influence of protonic or Lewis acids. This corresponds to retro.synthetic path d in Scheme 4.1. Considerable work on such reactions was done in the early 1960s by Julia and co-workers. The most successful examples involved alkylation of anilines with y-haloacetoacetic esters or amides. For example, heating IV-substituted anilines with ethyl 4-bromoacetoacetate followed by cyclization w ith ZnClj gave indole-3-acetate esterfi]. Additional examples are given in Table 4.3. 

The main example of a category I indole synthesis is the Hemetsberger procedure for preparation of indole-2-carboxylate esters from ot-azidocinna-mates[l]. The procedure involves condensation of an aromatic aldehyde with an azidoacetate ester, followed by thermolysis of the resulting a-azidocinna-mate. The conditions used for the base-catalysed condensation are critical since the azidoacetate enolate can decompose by elimination of nitrogen. Conditions developed by Moody usually give good yields[2]. This involves slow addition of the aldehyde and 3-5 equiv. of the azide to a cold solution of sodium ethoxide. While the thermolysis might be viewed as a nitrene insertion reaction, it has been demonstrated that azirine intermediates can be isolated at intermediate temperatures[3]. 

In a related procedure A -melhyl-o-loluidine can be A-lithiated, carboxylated and C-lithiated by sequential addition of n-butyllithium, CO2, and n-butyl-lithium[5]. The resulting dilithiated intermediate reacts with esters to give 1.2-disubstituted indoles. 

In a more elaborate and specific synthesis, the terpenoid indole skeleton found in haplaindole G, which is isolated from a blue-green alga, was constructed by addition of a nucleophilic formyl equivalent to enone 6.5A. Cyelization and aromatization to the indole 6.6B followed Hg -catalysed unmasking of the aldehyde group[6]. 

Boron trichloride, usually in conjunction with an additional Lewis acid, effects o-chloroacetylation of anilines. The resulting products are converted to indoles by reduction with NaBH4.[l], The strength of the Lewis acid required depends upon the substitution pattern on the ring. With ER substituents no additional... 

Indoles can also be alkylated by conjugate addition under alkaline conditions. Under acidic conditions, alkylation normally occurs at C3 (see Section 11.1). Table 9.1 includes examples of alkylation by ethyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, acrylamide and 4-vinylpyridine. 

Lithiated indoles can be alkylated with primary or allylic halides and they react with aldehydes and ketones by addition to give hydroxyalkyl derivatives. Table 10.1 gives some examples of such reactions. Entry 13 is an example of a reaction with ethylene oxide which introduces a 2-(2-hydroxyethyl) substituent. Entries 14 and 15 illustrate cases of addition to aromatic ketones in which dehydration occurs during the course of the reaction. It is likely that this process occurs through intramolecular transfer of the phenylsulfonyl group. 

Synthetic procedures involving other types of intermediates can be based on 2-lithiation. An indirect 2-alkylation can be carried out via indol-2-ylborates which can be prepared by addition of 2-lithioindoles to trialkylboranes. 

Lithiation at C2 can also be the starting point for 2-arylatioii or vinylation. The lithiated indoles can be converted to stannanes or zinc reagents which can undergo Pd-catalysed coupling with aryl, vinyl, benzyl and allyl halides or sulfonates. The mechanism of the coupling reaction involves formation of a disubstituted palladium intermediate by a combination of ligand exchange and oxidative addition. Phosphine catalysts and salts are often important reaction components. 

There are also palladium-catalysed procedures for allylation. Ethyl 3-bromo-l-(4-methylphenylsulfonyl)indole-2-carboxylate is allylated at C3 upon reaction with allyl acetate and hexabutylditin[27], Ihe reaction presumably Involves a ir-allyl-Pd intermediate formed from the allyl acetate, oxidative addition, transmetallation and cross coupling. 

A 20% excess of ethylmagnesium bromide was prepared from magnesium (6.5 g) in ether (80 ml) by adding ethyl bromide (30 g) in ether (30 ml). Indole (25.8 g) in benzene (50 ml) was then added slowly with stirring and stirring was continued for 20 min after addition was complete. A solution of allyl bromide (29.2 g) in benzene (20 ml) was then added slowly. The mixture was stirred overnight and then diluted with ether and the product isolated and purified by distillation (22.7 g, 70% yield). 

The best procedures for 3-vinylation or 3-arylation of the indole ring involve palladium intermediates. Vinylations can be done by Heck reactions starting with 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles. Under the standard conditions the active catalyst is a Pd(0) species which reacts with the indole by oxidative addition. A major con.sideration is the stability of the 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles and usually an EW substituent is required on nitrogen. The range of alkenes which have been used successfully is quite broad and includes examples with both ER and EW substituents. Examples are given in Table 11.3. An alkene which has received special attention is methyl a-acetamidoacrylate which is useful for introduction of the tryptophan side-chain. This reaction will be discussed further in Chapter 13. 

Phenylmagnesium bromide (2.8 mol) was prepared in anhydrous ether (21) from bromobenzene (440 g, 2.9 mol) and magnesium turnings (68.0 g 2.8 g-atom). To this solution was added dropwise a solution of indole (328 g, 2.8 mol) in benzene (8(X)ml). The resulting solution was stirred for 10 min and then a solution of cyclopentanoyl chloride (322 g, 2.4 mol) in benzene (800 ml) was added dropwise. The solution was stirred for 1 h and then water (11) was added carefully. The precipitate which formed was collected by filtration and dried to give 169 g of crude product. Additional product (97 g) was obtained by evaporation of the organic layer of the filtrate. The combined products were recrystallized from toluene to give 250 g (49% yield) of pure product. 

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