Indole derivatives, formation

The thermal chemistry of a number of aryl-substituted azirines often results in the formation of indole derivatives (68TL3499). Thus, heating a sample of azirine (152) gave 3-phenylindole (155) and dihydropyrazine (156). The formation of (155) was suggested to... 

Formation of a quinonoid carboline-type anhydro-base requires loss of resonance stabilization of the indole moiety. In the carboline anhydro-bases this is counterbalanced by the preservation of a 677 system in the hetero ring. No such balancing factor is present in the case of 3,4-dihydro-j3-carboline derivatives. Formation of the exocyclic anhydro-base in the latter case preserves benzenoid resonance. It is noteworthy that in the two cases where formation of a carboUne-type anhydro-base was reported in dihydro derivatives additional aromatic conjugation is present. 

During studies on the acid-induced formation of the alkaloid yuehchukene and related structures from pienylindoles, it was discovered that treatment of indole 173 with p-toluenesulfonic acid and silica gel leads to the formation of indolo-[3,2-b]carbazole 174 and the indole derivative 175 (Scheme 21). Similarly, the disubstituted product 176 could be isolated after TFA treatment of the substrate 177. Detailed mechanistic explanations have also been provided in this work (96T9455). 

Highly electron-deficient 1,3,6-trinitrobenzene (145) treated with phenyl acet-amidines 146 in ethanol provided low yields of a dinitroindole derivatives, probably 4,6-dinitroindoles 148 (77JOC435). Formation of indole derivatives 148 can be explained by nucleophilic substitution of the activated aromatic hydrogen leading to intermediates 147, which then cyclized to the final products 148 (Scheme 22). 

The unexpected formation of cyclopenta[b]indole 3-339 and cyclohepta[b]indole derivatives has been observed by Bennasar and coworkers when a mixture of 2-in-dolylselenoester 3-333 and different alkene acceptors (e. g., 3-335) was subjected to nonreductive radical conditions (hexabutylditin, benzene, irradiation or TTMSS, AIBN) [132]. The process can be explained by considering the initial formation of acyl radical 3-334, which carries out an intermolecular radical addition onto the alkene 3-335, generating intermediate 3-336 (Scheme 3.81). Subsequent 5-erafo-trig cyclization leads to the formation of indoline radical 3-337, which finally is oxidized via an unknown mechanism (the involvement of AIBN with 3-338 as intermediate is proposed) to give the indole derivative 3-339. 

Transition metal catalysis on solid supports can also be applied to indole formation, as shown by Dai and coworkers [41]. These authors reported a palladium- or copper-catalyzed procedure for the generation of a small indole library (Scheme 7.23), representing the first example of a solid-phase synthesis of 5-arylsulfamoyl-substituted indole derivatives. The most crucial step was the cydization of the key polymer-bound sulfonamide intermediates. Whereas the best results for the copper-mediated cydization were achieved using l-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) as solvent, the palladium-catalyzed variant required the use of tetrahydrofuran in order to achieve comparable results. Both procedures afforded the desired indoles in good yields and excellent purities [41]. 

Supercritical solutions are characterized by very low solvent densities. As a result, they possess the interesting feature that solubility is determined more by solute-solute than solute-solvent interactions. Thus we were able to express the solubilities of naphthalene and a series of indole derivatives in four different supercritical solvents (C2H4, C2H6, C02 and the highly polar CHF3) in the same functional format, only the numerical coefficients varying from one to another.57 Solute-solvent interactions do occur,58 but solubility can be represented quite... 

General Procedure for the Hydroformylation/Enamine Formation. Synthesis of Indole Derivatives. A 300 ml autoclave equipped with a magnetic stirrer was charged with the... 

Majumdar published several aza-Claisen rearrangements of 2-cyclohexenyl-1-anilines 39 (R -R =(CH2)3, Table 2, entries 22-28) [14]. The reaction was carried out upon heating the reactant in EtOH/HCl. The corresponding 2-cy-clohexenylanilines 41 were obtained with 50 to 90% yield. The cyclization to give indole derivatives 42 could be achieved in a separate step treatment of the rearrangement products 41 with Hg(OAc)2 in a suitable alcohol in the presence of acetic acid induced formation of the tetrahydrocarbazole 42. The tricyclic products 42 were synthesized with 70-85% yield. Finally, carbazoles could be obtained after DDQ dehydrogenation. 

Grigg et al. also reported the alkylation of indole at the C3-position with alcohols, catalyzed by the 1/KOH system (Scheme 5.32) [69]. A variety of indole derivatives having an alkyl substituent at the C3-position were synthesized by this methodology. The same group also developed a Cp lr-catalyzed process for successive carbon-nitrogen and carbon-carbon bond formation, starting with 2-amino-phenethyl alcohol (also see Scheme 5.22). 

With conventional methods, the formation of indole derivatives from anilines proceeds at the expense of both unsubstituted ortho positions in the phenyl ring. This leads to undesirable by-products. Particularly, the formation of by-products takes place during Fischer s synthesis of benzohet-erocycles. In the previously described ion-radical variant of the synthesis, only one indole isomer is formed—the isomer that corresponds strictly to the structure of the starting haloaniline. 

Reduced indole derivatives can be synthesized by using the phenolic oxidation approach. Thus, A-alkyl-A-benzoyltyramines 120, on treatment with IBTA in trifluoroethanol (TFE), followed by aqueous workup, afford the hexahydroindol-6-ones 122. The formation of 122 is rationalized by intramolecular Michael-type addition of amino group to the double bond of the intermediate dienone 121 (91JOC435) (Scheme 33). 

The influence of a C-2 substituent upon the reaction course has been investigated. If only a 2-aryl group is present, as in 145 (R = H), then 4-quinolones 146 are formed (85H2375). But ferricyanide oxidation of 2,4-diphenyl derivatives resulted in the release of the 2-phenyl group and formation of the quinolones 147 instead of the exptected indole derivatives (83CCC2965). 

The palladium catalysed formation of indole derivatives has been extended by Grigg, who used carbon monoxide and unsaturated amines to trap the palladium complex formed in the insertion step. Reaction 3.10. provides an example of such a transformation. The amides were converted to the cyclic derivatives using ring closing metathesis.13... 

Similar to A-allvlanilincs. their ease of formation makes N-acryloylanilines also an attractive starting material for the preparation of indole derivatives. Acrylates having an cr-substituent give rise to chiral oxindole derivatives, both a common building block of natural products and a frequently employed synthon en route to them.18 By using a chiral palladium-BINAP catalyst Overmann was able to achieve high enantioselectivity in the transformation shown in 3.14.19... 

Most of the ring closure reactions of propargylphenols bear resemblance to the formation of indole derivatives from propargylanilines. Starting from... 

V-aryl-o-haloanilines can be converted into indole derivatives in a palladium catalysed oxidative addition, C-H activation sequence. The transformation has been utilized extensively in the preparation of polycyclic compounds. In a recent example, leading to the formation of the carbazole ring system, Larock and co-workers demonstrated that the formation of the... 

An excellent example of the formation of a six membered ring is the hexabutyldistannane mediated ring closure of the brominated indole derivative shown in 4.1. The first step of the process is the palladium catalyzed exchange of one of the bromines to a tributylstannyl moiety, followed by the closure of the six membered ring in a Stille coupling.1... 

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