Isoquinoline, aromaticity electrophilic substitution reaction

Electrophilic aromatic substitutions Quinoline and isoquinoline undergo electrophilic aromatic substitution on the benzene ring, because a benzene ring is more reactive than a pyridine ring towards such reaction. Substitution generally occurs at C-5 and C-8, e.g. bromination of quinoline and isoquinoline. 

Tetrahydroisoquinolines were also prepared by an electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 2-amidoacroleins. Exposure of IV-aryl-substituted 3-amido-1,3-dioxins 82 to Lewis acids results in retrocycloadditions to afford 2-amidoacroleins 83 and concomitant electrophilic aromatic substitution to afford tetrahydroisoquinolines 84 <01OL3349>. The synthesis of isoquinoline derivatives via cyclization reactions received attention as well. Some examples include the preparation of isoquinolines by a photocyclization of l-methoxy-2-azabuta-l,3-dienes <01TL3575>. The photochemically induced preparation of 1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphtho[2,l-/ isoquinolines was also reported <01T1981>. 

Reaction of phenylethyl amine with aldehyde or ketone forms intermediate imine, which under the acidic conditions is protonated to give the highly reactive iminium ion. Electrophilic substitution on the aromatic ring provides 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro isoquinoline after rapid loss of a proton and... 

An aryne multicomponent reaction involving isoquinoline and 5-bromo-1-methylisatin resulted in spirooxazino isoquinolines (Scheme 66).The reaction occurs with a number of iV-substituted isatins. Quinoline can replace the isoquinoline as well. Carbonyls other than the isatins can trap the anion as well. A variety of aromatic, aliphatic, and heteroaromatic aldehydes can function as the electrophile. When pyridine replaces isoquinoUne as the nucleophilic trap, the reaction forms an oxindole but not an oxazino pyridine derivative (14SL608). 

Quinoline and isoquinoline show that electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions are the more reactive benzene ring because the pyridine ring is less reactive. Indole undergoes electrophilic aromatic substitution primarily in the pyrrole ring because it is much more reactive than the benzene ring 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 51, 53. 

The azanaphthalenes (benzopyridines) quinoline and isoquinoline contain an electron-poor pyridine ring, susceptible to nucleophilic attack, and an electron-rich benzene ring that enters into electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions, usually at the positions closest to the heterocyclic unit. 

Heterocyclic amines are compounds that contain one or more nitrogen atoms as part of a ring. Saturated heterocyclic amines usually have the same chemistry as their open-chain analogs, but unsaturated heterocycles such as pyrrole, imidazole, pyridine, and pyrimidine are aromatic. All four are unusually stable, and all undergo aromatic substitution on reaction with electrophiles. Pyrrole is nonbasic because its nitrogen lone-pair electrons are part of the aromatic it system. Fused-ring heterocycles such as quinoline, isoquinoline, indole, and purine are also commonly found in biological molecules. 

The synthesis of 3-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines was accomplished by electrophilic aromatic substitution of polysubstituted phenols and phenyl ethers with Lewis acid-generated tosyliminium ions of 2-tosyl-3-methoxytetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives <00SL801>. In addition isoquinoline was reported to react with N-tosylated (R)- or (S)-amino acid fluorides to afford optically active dihydroimidazoisoquinolinones. The reaction proceeds via acylation followed by attack of the tosylamino group at Cl of the intermediate 2-tosylaminoacylisoquinolinium salt <00TL5479>. 

As in the Skraup quinoline synthesis, loss of two hydrogen atoms is necessary to reach the fully aromatic system. However, this is usually accomplished in a separate step, utilising palladium catalysis to give generalised isoquinoline 6.14. This is known as the Bischler-Napieralski synthesis. The mechanism probably involves conversion of amide 6.12 to protonated imidoyl chloride 6.15 followed by electrophilic aromatic substitution to give 6.13. (For a similar activation of an amide to an electrophilic species see the Vilsmeier reaction, Chapter 2.)... 

Another useful variation is the Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis, also known as the Pictet-Spengler reaction. The reactive intermediate is an iminium ion 49 rather than an oxygen-stabilized cation, but attack at the electrophilic carbon of the C=N unit (see 16-31) leads to an isoquinoline derivative. When a p-aryla-mine reacts with an aldehyde, the product is an iminium salt, which cyclizes with an aromatic ring to complete the reaction and generate a tetrahydroisoquinoline." ° A variety of aldehydes can be used, and substitution on the aromatic ring leads to many derivatives. When the reaction is done in the presence of a chiral thiourea catalyst, good enantioselectivity was observed." ... 

One of the most powerful methods for the construction of tetrahydroisoquinoline systems is the Pictet-Spengler cyclisation. The reaction consists of the condensation of a b-phenylethylamine derivative with a carbonyl compound, generating an imine (Schiffs base), which undergoes cyclisation via an intramolecular electrophilic aromatic substitution yielding the isoquinoline derivative. The Pictet-Spengler reaction is traditionally carried out in a protic solvent with acid catalysts, usually acetic acid or trifluoroacetic acid. 

Since heteroaromatic compounds sometimes exhibit interesting physical properties and biological activities, construction of substituted heteroaromatics has drawn some attention. Heteroaromatics can be divided into two major categories. One is the tt-electron-sufhcient heteroaromatics, such as pyrrole, indole, furan, and thiophene those easily react with electrophiles. The other is the 7r-electron-deficient heteroaromatics, such as pyridine, quinoline, and isoquinoline those have the tendency to accept the nucleophilic attack on the aromatic ring. Reflecting the electronic nature of heteroaromatics, the TT-electron-deflcient ones are usually used as the electrophiles.t The rr-electron-sufficient heteroaromatics having simple structures, such as 2-iodofuran and 2-iodothio-phene, have also been utilized as the electrophiles. Not only the electronic nature of the heteroaromatics but also coordination of the heteroatom to the palladium complexes influence catalytic activity. This is another reason why the couphng reaction did not proceed efficiently in some cases. 

Reactions with Electrophiles. The structure of isoquinoline 1 is the result of fusing benzene and pyridine together. Electrophilic aromatic substitution predominately occurs on the benzene ring under acidic conditions and usually addition takes place at the 5-position but can sometimes add to the 8-position. The rate of electrophilic aromatic substitution is slower for isoquinoline compared to naphthalene. The nitrogen in isoquinoline reacts similar to a pyridine nitrogen and will add a variety of electrophilic species such as 0-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)hydroxylamine 2 to aminate the nitrogen (eq 1). Friedel-Crafts acylation and alkylation do not work due to the formation of IV-acyl or IV-alkyl isoquinolinium salts. 

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