Iodomethane Links

When macrocycle 65 is synthesized, the in/out isomer of [2]catenane 79 is also formed in 11% yield (Figure 29) [46]. A first attempt to methylate both sulfonamide groups by treatment of the DMF solution of 79 with iodomethane and potassium carbonate was successful. By bridging the two sulfonamide units with a bifunctional alkylating reagent, we were able to synthesize the first pretzel-shaped molecule [54]. Considerations of the X-ray structure analysis of amide-linked catenanes [16] and CPK models led to the diiodo compound 95 as a suitable brid-... 

Iodoform, CHI3, tri-iodomethane, is formed when alcohol and certain other compounds (66) are treated with iodine in the presence of an alkali. It can be prepared by adding iodine to a warm aqueous solution of alcohol or acetone which contains sodium carbonate. The iodoform, which separates as a yellow precipitate, is purified by crystallization from dilute alcohol. It crystallizes in yellow, lustrous, six-sided plates, which melt at 119 , and have a peculiar, very characteristic odor. The reactions by which alcohol is converted into iodoform are analogous to those as the result of which chloroform is obtained from alcohol. The formation of iodoform is often used as a test for ethyl alcohol, but as other substances, such as acetone, isopropyl alcohol, and aldehyde yield iodoform when warmed in alkaline solution with iodine, the test is not reliable unless it is known that the other substances which respond to it are absent. Most of the compounds which yield iodoform when treated in this way contain the group CH3.C linked to oxygen. 

Disaccharide Formation. Treatment of glycoside (3) with 2,2 -dipyridyl disulfide and Tri-n-butylphosphine in CH2CI2 rapidly yields thiopyridyl derivative (4) as a mixture of anomers. Activation of (4) with iodomethane, followed by treatment with glycoside acceptor (5), affords the disaccharide fragment of aver-mectin (6), exclusively a-linked in 78% yield (eq 4). Although other methods are available, this protocol offers advantages in practicality and stereoselectivity. 

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