Isoquinoline carboxylic acids, decarboxylation

Isoquinoline reacts with aliphatic carboxylic acids photolyticaHy or with a silver catalyst to give excellent yields of alkylation products by decarboxylation (155). This method is useful in the synthesis of 2-benzoyhsoquinolines bearing a variety of aromatic substituents in the 1-position (156). 

Isoquinoline-1-carboxylic acid, tetrahydro- Decarboxylation Laccase, peroxidase 204... 

Tetrahydroisoquinoline-l-carboxylic acids have been anodically decarboxylated in MeOH-NaOMe on a graphite felt anode, giving 3,4-di-hydroisoquinolines (50-90%)417 This may be an example of a pseudo-Kolbe reaction in support of Hahn s theory of the biosynthesis of isoquinoline alkaloids by providing a laboratory analogy for the crucial decarboxylation step. 

Alkyl radicals for such reactions are available from many sources such as acyl peroxides, alkyl hydroperoxides, particularly by the oxidative decarboxylation of carboxylic acids using peroxy-disulfate catalyzed by silver. Pyridine and various substituted pyridines have been alkylated in the 2-position in high yield by these methods. Quinoline similarly reacts in the 2-, isoquinoline in the 1-, and acridine in the 9-position. Pyrazine and quinoxaline also give high yields of 2-substituted alkyl derivatives <74AHC(16)123). 

The ready decarboxylation of pyridine-carboxylic acids was also early appreciated. Historically, the reaction played an important role in the orientation of quinoline, isoquinoline and the benzoquinolines . Decarboxylation occurs more readily than with benzene-carboxylic acids, and in the sequence 2 > 4 > 3 (see p. 367). The decarboxylation temperatures of solid pyridine-dicarboxylic acids depend roughly on their strengths as acids— the stronger the acid the lower the temperature . At 185 -190 , pyridine-2,3,4-tricarboxylic acid gives pyridine-3,4-dicarboxylic acid, which above... 

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