Isoquinolines => aldehydes

Alkyl Isoquinolines. Coal tar contains small amounts of l-methylisoquinoline [1721-93-3] 3-methylisoquinoline [1125-80-0] and 1,3-dimetliylisoquinoline [1721-94-4J. The 1- and 3-methyl groups are more reactive than others in the isoquinoline nucleus and readily oxidize with selenium dioxide to form the corresponding isoquinoline aldehydes (174). These compounds can also be obtained by the hydrolysis of the dihalomethyl group. The 1- and 3-methyhsoquinolines condense with benzaldehyde in the presence of zinc chloride or acetic anhydride to produce 1- and 3-styryhsoquinolines. Radicals formed by decarboxylation of carboxyUc acids react to produce 1-aIkyhsoquinolines. 

A variation involves the reaction of benzylamines with glyoxal hemiacetal (168). Cyclization of the intermediate (35) with sulfuric acid produces the same isoquinoline as that obtained from the Schiff base derived from an aromatic aldehyde and aminoacetal. This method has proved especially useful for the synthesis of 1-substituted isoquinolines. 

The Pictet-Spengler reaction is one of the key methods for construction of the isoquinoline skeleton, an important heterocyclic motif found in numerous bioactive natural products. This reaction involves the condensation of a P-arylethyl amine 1 with an aldehyde, ketone, or 1,2-dicarbonyl compound 2 to give the corresponding tetrahydroisoquinoline 3. These reactions are generally catalyzed by protic or Lewis acids, although numerous thermally-mediated examples are found in the literature. Aromatic compounds containing electron-donating substituents are the most reactive substrates for this reaction. 

The Pictet-Spengler reaction has been carried out on various solid support materials " and with microwave irradiation activation.Diverse structural analogues of (-)-Saframycin A have been prepared by carrying out the Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis on substrates attached to a polystyrene support. Amine 20 was condensed with aldehyde 21 followed by cyclization to give predominantly the cis isomer tetrahydroisoquinoline 22 which was further elaborated to (-)-Saframycin A analogues. 

The Pomeranz-Fritsch reaction involves the preparation of isoquinolines 4 via the acid-mediated cyclisation of the appropriate aminoacetal intermediate 3. The best yields are usually obtained when the benzaldehyde portion 1 has electron-donating substituents in the 3- or 3,4- positions relative to the aldehyde. 

Toward the end of the 19 century both Pomeranz and Fritsch independently reported the preparation of isoquinolines by the reaction of aminoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal 2 (R = Me) with aromatic aldehydes 1 followed by cyclisation in acidic media. " Unfortunately yields were often poor and not always reproducible. This has prompted the search for various improvements and modifications on the original theme, including the use of reagents other than strong mineral acid which tends to destroy the intermediate imine. ... 

The most plausible mechanism involves condensation between aldehyde 1 and amine 5 to give the corresponding imine 6. Cyclisation and subsequent elimination yields the fully unsaturated isoquinoline ring structure 4. 

The Schlittler-Muller variation of the Pomeranz-Fritsch reaction involves reaction of diethoxyethanal 17 with benzylamine 16 to prepare the desired imine 18. Intermediate 18 is subsequently cyclised to substituted isoquinoline 19. The advantage here lies in the fact that the initial condensation can still take place between an aldehyde and an amine. 

In another example reaction of aldehyde 22 and amine 23 gave imine 24 which cyclised under strongly acidic conditions to yield the corresponding isoquinoline 25 in good yields It is interesting that the aldehyde portion 22 is not benzaldehyde derived. 

Condensation between aldehyde 40 and amine 29 followed by sodium borohydride reduction of the resultant imine and cyclisation yielded isoquinoline 41 in good yield. Cyclisation occurred exclusively at the more electron-rich aromatic group. 

The oxidoreductase from Pseudomonas diminuta strain 7 that carries out hydroxylation of isoquinoline at C2 is a molybdenum enzyme containing [Fe-S] centers, which is comparable to the aldehyde oxidoreductase from Desulfovibrio gigas (Lehmann et al. 1994). 

Ugi five-center three-component reaction of pipecolinic acid and glycol aldehyde dimer with isocyanides gave a 1 1.7-2.1 diastereomeric mixture of l-oxoperhydropyrido[2,Tc][l,4]oxazine-9-carboxamides 397 (Scheme 35) <20010L4149>. Using CF3CH2OH as solvent is critical for the reaction. When 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid was employed, 1,3,4,6,11,11 a-hexahydro-[ l,4]oxazino[4,3+]isoquinoline-4-carboxarnide was formed. 

An appropriately functionalized isoquinoline (38) bearing a benzyl group is prepared from an aromatic aldehyde (37). The benzyl position is metalated with LDA and the resulting carbanion is reacted with a highly substituted methyl benzoate to produce a ketone (39). The isoquinoline nitrogen is alkylated with ethyl a-bromoacetate and the resulting quaternary salt is cyclized... 

This approach to the isoquinoline ring, albeit a reduced isoquinoline, is mechanistically similar to the Bischler-Napieralski synthesis, in that it involves electrophilic attack of an iminium cation on to an aromatic ring. In this case, the imine intermediate is formed by reacting a phenylethylamine with an aldehyde. 

Hence, lithium salt 343a is trapped by aldehydes, and subsequent intramolecular attack of the intermediate alkoxide on the lactam moiety leads to pyridinophanes 405a and b. Ethanolysis of lactam 288 under acidic or basic conditions, even at —78°C, affords ester 406, whereas the reactions of lactams 288 and 290 with 4-methyl-l,2,4-triazoledione (MXAD) give mixtures of cycloadducts 407a and b or the respective isoquinolines. Tricyclic 290 when irradiated suffers loss of carbon monoxide to form butadiene 408. 

The formation of a Reissert anion (intermediate of type 16) is usually the introductory step in a great number of synthetic routes leading to isoquinoline as well as indole alkaloids and related compounds. On the one hand, the alkylation of a Reissert anion with alkyl halide followed by alkaline hydrolysis is the most frequently used method for the synthesis of 1-alkyl- or 1-arylalkylisoquinolines (20) (Scheme 4). On the other hand, Reissert anions react with aldehydes to form... 

This method is very useful for the construction of 1-substituted 3,4-dihydroisoquinolines, which if necessary can be oxidized to isoquinolines. A P-phenylethylamine (l-amino-2-phenylethane) is the starting material, and this is usually preformed by reacting an aromatic aldehyde with nitromethane in the presence of sodium methoxide, and allowing the adduct to eliminate methanol and give a P-nitrostyrene (l-nitro-2-phenylethene) (Scheme 3.17). This product is then reduced to the p-phenylethylamine, commonly by the action of lithium aluminium hydride. Once prepared, the p-phenylethylamine is reacted with an acyl chloride and a base to give the corresponding amide (R = H) and then this is cyclized to a 3,4-dihydro-isoquinoline by treatment with either phosphorus pentoxide or phosphorus oxychloride (Scheme 3.18). Finally, aromatization is accomplished by heating the 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline over palladium on charcoal. 

Quinoline 1-oxide undergoes nucleophilic attack by ozone to yield a hydroxamic acid (128), and 40% of the starting iV-oxide is recovered (Scheme 74). When an excess of ozone is employed the aldehydes (129) and (130) are obtained. Formation of these products has been attributed to electrophilic attack by ozone rather than further oxidation of (128), because in a separate experiment (128) yielded carbostyril on treatment with ozone. Isoquinoline 2-oxide yields 2-hydroxyisoquinolin-l-one, and acridine 10-oxide gives 10-hydroxyacridone and acridone in a similar manner to the above. Likewise, phenanthridine 5-oxide affords mainly 5-hydroxyphenanthridone. Quinoline 1-oxide undergoes oxidation by lead tetraacetate as shown (Scheme 75). 

In the early days, greatest interest was focused on the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis (by hydrochloric acid in the presence of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine) of Reissert compounds to aldehydes and the corresponding heterocyclic carboxylic acid derivatives. This reaction is fairly general for compounds of quinoline (178) and isoquinoline (179) (Table 18), but it is not applicable to pyridines as they rarely form Reissert compounds. The 3-hydroxyquino-line Reissert compound does not yield benzaldehyde, probably because acylation of the 3-hydroxy group prevents formation of the required cyclic intermediate (180). Some nitroquinolines and isoquinolines give low yields of benzaldehyde. Rather curiously, disub-stituted quinoline Reissert compounds yield less of the aldehyde than of the corresponding... 

A methyl group at position 1 in isoquinoline is sufficiently reactive to condense with an aromatic aldehyde to give a 1-styrylisoquinoline. The C-3 methyl group is far less reactive and more forcing conditions are required (Scheme 44). 

With methyl-3-nitropyridine iV-oxides, use of selenium dioxide results in complete oxidative demethylation (80TL2433). In isoquinoline methyl groups at positions 1 and 3 are efficiently oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde with selenium dioxide. 

A new synthesis of dibenzo[a,g]quinolizinium derivatives also makes use of an aldehyde cyclization (Scheme 80) (75JAP(K)7596599). In one example, a benzyl bromide bearing an acetal-masked aldehyde group in the ortho position (126) was allowed to react with the anion (127) generated by the action of phenyllithium on a Reissert compound. The condensation product was heated with alkali to cleave the benzoyl and cyano groups to yield the isoquinoline (128), then the acetal was cleaved and the resulting aldehyde cyclized to (129), presumably under acid conditions. 

Pictet-Spengler synthesis is another method of preparing isoquinolines. (3-phenylethylamine reacts with an aldehyde to produce an imine, which undergoes acid-catalysed cyclization, resulting in the synthesis of the tetrahydroisoquinoline system. Again, tetrahydroisoquinoline can he aromatized hy palladium dehydrogenation to produce an isoquinoline system. 

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