Intramolecular Fischer

While still useful for large-scale esterification of fairly robust carboxylic acids, Fischer esterification is generally not useful in small-scale reactions because the esterification depends on an acid-catalyzed equilibrium to produce the ester. The equilibrium is usually shifted to the side of the products by adding an excess of one of the reactants—usually the alcohol—and refluxing until equilibrium is established, typically several hours. The reaction is then quenched with base to freeze the equilibrium and the ester product is separated from the excess alcohol and any unreacted acid. This separation is easily accomplished on a large scale where distillation is often used to separate the product from the by-products. For small-scale reactions where distillation is not a viable option, the separation is often difficult or tedious. Consequently Fischer esterification is not widely used for ester formation in small-scale laboratory situations. In contrast, intramolecular Fischer esterification is very effective on a small scale for the closure of hydroxy acids to lactones. Here the equilibrium is driven by tire removal of water and no other reagents are needed. Moreover the closure is favored entropically and proceeds easily. 

Eisenbeis and colleagues crafted a collection of azepino[3,4-b]indoles [395] via the so-called Plancher rearrangement, which involves the formation of an indo-lenium ion and then rearrangement to the final indole product (Scheme 56, equation 1) [396-398]. Cho s group reported a novel intramolecular Fischer indolization leading to tricyclic benzo[crf indoles, and a spectacular example is shown in equation 2 [399]. Alford and colleagues used a Fischer indolization to prepare 2,3 -biindoles (equation 3) [400]. 

Lactones can be prepared by oxidation or possibly by a cyclization reaction, such as an intramolecular Fischer esterification, if the lactone is a five- or six-membered ring (called y- gamma- and 8- delta- lactones, respectively). 

FIGURE 17.33 A lactone can be formed via an intramolecular Fischer esterification. 

We have seen that a Fischer esterification is the reaction between a carboxylic acid and an alcohol (with acid catalysis). If a single compound contains both functional groups (COOH and OH), it is possible to observe an intramolecular Fischer esterification. For example, consider the following compound ... 

The mechanism is composed of two parts hydrolysis of the acetal and intramolecular Fischer esterification of the hydroxy carboxylic acid. 

The effect of weak forces on the equilibrium constant for the diaza-Cope rearrangement suggests that the anion effect is the strongest followed the resonance-assisted hydrogen-bond, steric, conjugation, and electronic effects. These weak forces are said to be additive." An intramolecular Fischer indole synthesis with a double bond in the tether allows a tandem [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement access to tricyclic benzo[cindole systems (Scheme 1). ... 

An important general method of preparing indoles, known as the Fischer Indole synthesis, consists in heating the phenylhydrazone of an aldehyde, ketone or keto-acld in the presence of a catalyst such as zinc chloride, hydrochloric acid or glacial acetic acid. Thus acrtophenone phenylhydrazone (I) gives 2-phenyllndole (I V). The synthesis involves an intramolecular condensation with the elimination of ammonia. The following is a plausible mechanism of the reaction ... 

Intramolecular cyclization in perfluoroaromanc systems proves useful for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds [72] For example, the Fischer indole synthesis, which normally requires the presence of an ortho proton, occurs satisfactonly with an ortho fluonne in theperfluoronaphthalene senes [73] (equation 37)... 

Non-heteroatom-stabilised Fischer carbene complexes also react with alkenes to give mixtures of olefin metathesis products and cyclopropane derivatives which are frequently the minor reaction products [19]. Furthermore, non-heteroatom-stabilised vinylcarbene complexes, generated in situ by reaction of an alkoxy- or aminocarbene complex with an alkyne, are able to react with different types of alkenes in an intramolecular or intermolecular process to produce bicyclic compounds containing a cyclopropane ring [20]. 

Fischer, M. Wan, P. m-Quinone methides from m-hydroxy-1,1-diaryl alkenes via excited-state (formal) intramolecular proton transfer mediated by a water trimer. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 2680-2681. 

Buchwald parlayed the powerful Buchwald-Hartwig aryl amination technology [439-447] into a simple and versatile indoline synthesis [448-452], For example, indole 368, which has been employed in total syntheses of the marine alkaloids makaluvamine C and damirones A and B, was readily forged via the Pd-mediated cyclization shown below [448], This intramolecular amination is applicable to the synthesis of -substituted optically active indolines [450], and o-bromobenzylic bromides can be utilized in this methodology, as illustrated for the preparation of 369 [451]. Furthermore, this Pd-catalyzed amination reaction has been applied to the synthesis of arylhydrazones, which are substrates for the Fischer indole synthesis [453,454],... 

The reaction of enynes with Fischer-type carbene complexes can also lead to the formation of cyclobutanones (Figure 2.23) [315]. The mechanism for this reaction is likely to be rearrangement of the intermediate, non-heteroatom-substituted vinylcarbene complex to a vinylketene, which undergoes intramolecular [2 -i- 2] cycloaddition to form the observed cyclobutanones. 

The reaction of alkoxy(alkyl)carbene chromium complexes with alkynes has been reported to give modest yields of cyclopentenones [368] and a few examples of intramolecular carbene C-H insertions of Fischer-type carbene complexes, leading to five-membered heterocycles, have been reported [369,370] (Table 2.22). 

Non-heteroatom-substituted vinylcarbene complexes are readily available from alkynes and Fischer-type carbene complexes. These intermediates can undergo the inter- or intramolecular cyclopropanation reactions of non-activated alkenes. Cyclopropanation of 1,3-butadienes with these intermediates also leads to the formation of cycloheptadienes (Entry 4, Table 2.24). 

Particularly interesting is the reaction of enynes with catalytic amounts of carbene complexes (Figure 3.50). If the chain-length between olefin and alkyne enables the formation of a five-membered or larger ring, then RCM can lead to the formation of vinyl-substituted cycloalkenes [866] or heterocycles. Examples of such reactions are given in Tables 3.18-3.20. It should, though, be taken into account that this reaction can also proceed by non-carbene-mediated pathways. Also Fischer-type carbene complexes and other complexes [867] can catalyze enyne cyclizations [267]. Trost [868] proposed that palladium-catalyzed enyne cyclizations proceed via metallacyclopentenes, which upon reductive elimination yield an intermediate cyclobutene. Also a Lewis acid-catalyzed, intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition of, e.g., acceptor-substituted alkynes to an alkene to yield a cyclobutene can be considered as a possible mechanism of enyne cyclization. 

The Dotz benzannulation reaction, based on the alkyne cycloaddition to chromium carbene complexes, is the most important application of Fischer carbene complexes. Among the various Fischer carbene complexes, alkoxy and aminocarbene complexes of chromium undergo a novel inter- and intramolecular tandem alkyne insertion/ carbene annotation sequence to give 9H-carbazoles and nf/-benzo[fl]carbazoles. 

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