2-Isoxazoline, cycloaddition

In theory, three isoxazolines are capable of existence 2-isoxazoline (2), 3-isoxazoline and 4-isoxazoline. The position of the double bond may also be designated by the use of the prefix A with an appropriate numerical superscript. Of these only the 2-isoxazolines have been investigated in any detail. The preparation of the first isoxazoline, 3,5-diphenyl-2-isoxazoline, from the reaction of )3-chloro-)3-phenylpropiophenone with hydroxylamine was reported in 1895 (1895CB957). Two major syntheses of 2-isoxazolines are the cycloaddition of nitrile A-oxides to alkenes and the reaction of a,/3-unsaturated ketones with hydroxylamine. Since 2-isoxazolines are readily oxidized to isoxazoles and possess some of the unique properties of isoxazoles, they also serve as key intermediates for the synthesis of other heterocycles and natural products. 

Nitrile A-oxides, under reaction conditions used for the synthesis of isoxazoles, display four types of reactivity 1,3-cycloaddition 1,3-addition nucleophilic addition and dimerization. The first can give isoxazolines and isoxazoles directly. The second involves the nucleophilic addition of substrates to nitrile A-oxides and can give isoxazolines and isoxazoles indirectly. The third is the nucleophilic addition of undesirable nucleophiles to nitrile A-oxides and can be minimized or even eliminated by the proper selection of substrates and reaction conditions. The fourth is an undesirable side reaction which can often be avoided by generating the nitrile A-oxide in situ and by keeping its concentration low and by using a reactive acceptor (70E1169). 

A -Isoxazolines are readily available from the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile -oxides with alkenes and from the condensation reaction of ehones with hydroxylamine. Therefore, methods of conversion of -isoxazolines into isoxazoles are of particular interest and of synthetic importance. 

The two major methods of preparation are the cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to alkenes and the reaction of a,/3-unsaturated ketones with hydroxylamines. Additional methods include reaction of /3-haloketones and hydroxylamine, the reaction of ylides with nitrile oxides by activation of alkyl nitro compounds from isoxazoline AT-oxides (methoxides, etc.) and miscellaneous syntheses (62HC(i7)i). 

The cycloaddition of benzonitrile oxide to cis- and rrans-l,2-dichloroethylene produced the appropriate cis- and trans-4,5-dichloro-3-phenyl-2-isoxazoline diastereomers. Base elimination produced only one compound, 4-chloro-3-phenyloxazole (Scheme 103) (70CJC3753). 

Bravo et al. studied the reaction of various ylides with monooximes of biacetyl and benzil. Dimethylsulfonium methylide and triphenylarsonium methylide gave 2-isoxazolin-5-ol and isoxazoles, with the former being the major product. Triphenylphosphonium methylide and dimethyloxosulfonium methylide gave open-chain products (Scheme 135) (70TL3223, 72G395). The cycloaddition of benzonitrile oxide to enolic compounds produced 5-ethers which could be cleaved or dehydrated (Scheme 136) (70CJC467, 72NKK1452). 

Furoxan nitrolic acid 34 was converted into isoxazoline 36 (96% yield) on storage in CH2CI2 solution in the presence of water (93CHE1099, 93KGS1283) (Scheme 12). The intermediate 35 could be trapped as [3 + 2] cycloaddition product 37. Reaction of nitrolic acid 34 with an excess of N2O4 also occurred via 35, giving 3-cyano-4-nitrofuroxan 38. 

Reaction of 2-(A -allylamino)-3-formyl-4//-pyrido[l, 2-u]pyrimidin-4-ones 219 in EtOH with HONH2 HCI yielded ( )-oximes 220 at 0°C and 221 (R = PhCH2) under reflux. Heating 220 (R = H) in a boiling solvent afforded cw-fused tetracyclic cycloadducts 221 (R = H). In an aprotic solvent (e.g., benzene or MeCN) the main a>fused cycloadducts 221 (R = H) were accompanied by a mixture of trauA-fused cycloadducts 222, A -oxides 223 and tetracyclic isoxazoline 224 (96T887). The basicity of the 2-allylamino moiety of compounds 219 affected the rate of the conversion. Cycloadditions were also investigated in dioxane and BuOH. 

Nitronates derived from primary nitroalkanes can be regarded as a synthetic equivalent of nitrile oxides since the elimination of an alcohol molecule from nitronates adds one higher oxidation level leading to nitrile oxides. This direct / -elimination of nitronates is known to be facilitated in the presence of a Lewis acid or a base catalyst [66, 72, 73]. On the other hand, cycloaddition reactions of nitronates to alkene dipolarophiles produce N-alkoxy-substituted isoxazolidines as cycloadducts. Under acid-catalyzed conditions, these isoxazolidines can be transformed into 2-isoxazolines through a ready / -elimination, and 2-isoxazolines correspond to the cycloadducts of nitrile oxide cycloadditions to alkenes [74]. 

Accordingly, cyclic nitronates can be a useful synthetic equivalent of functionalized nitrile oxides, while reaction examples are quite limited. Thus, 2-isoxazoline N-oxide and 5,6-dihydro-4H-l,2-oxazine N-oxide, as five- and six-membered cyclic nitronates, were generated in-situ by dehydroiodination of 3-iodo-l-nitropropane and 4-iodo-l-nitrobutane with triethylamine and trapped with monosubstituted alkenes to give 5-substituted 3-(2-hydroxyethyl)isoxazolines and 2-phenylperhydro-l,2-oxazino[2,3-fe]isoxazole, respectively (Scheme 7.26) [72b]. Upon treatment with a catalytic amount of trifluoroacetic acid, the perhydro-l,2-oxazino[2,3-fe]isoxazole was quantitatively converted into the corresponding 2-isoxazoline. Since a method for catalyzed enantioselective nitrone cycloadditions was established and cyclic nitronates should behave like cyclic nitrones in reactivity, there would be a good chance to attain catalyzed enantioselective formation of 2-isoxazolines via nitronate cycloadditions. 

Hydrogenolytic cleavage of isoxazolines has also proved useful in preparation of -dihydroxy ketones and -hydroxy carboxylic acids (47). The isoxazolines were prepared by a [3 -1- 2] cycloaddition. 

A two-step sequence of nitrile oxide-olehn cycloaddition and reduction of the resulting A -isoxazolines offers a unique and attractive alternative to the classical aldol reaction and its many variants (2J). The procedure bypasses traditional problems, including enolate equilibrium and cross condensation (20). 

The intramolecular cycloaddition of a nitrile oxide (a 1,3-dipole) to an alkene is ideally suited for the regio- and stereocontrolled synthesis of fused polycyclic isoxazolines.16 The simultaneous creation of two new rings and the synthetic versatility of the isoxa-zoline substructure contribute significantly to the popularity of this cycloaddition process in organic synthesis. In spite of its high degree of functionalization, aldoxime 32 was regarded as a viable substrate for an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Indeed, treatment of 32 (see Scheme 17) with sodium hypochlorite... 

A highly stereocontrolled synthesis of (+) testosterone 49 was accomplished wherein the A/B ring system was constructed via INOC reaction of 47 to isox-azoline 48 (Scheme 6) [24]. The cycloaddition was assumed to be taking place via a chair-like TS 47 providing isomerically pure isoxazoline 48 in 87 % yield. 

The reaction of the a-bromo aldoxime 52e (R = R = Me) with unsaturated alcohols has been extended to the heterocyclic systems furfuryl alcohols and 2-thiophene methanol [29b]. The furanyl and thiophenyl oximes 63a-c were treated with NaOCl and the resulting heterocyclic nitrile oxides were found to undergo spontaneous intramolecular dipolar cycloaddition to produce the unsaturated tricyclic isoxazolines 64a-c in high yield (Eq. 5). In these cases, the heterocyclic ring acts as the dipolarophile with one of the double bonds adding to the nitrile oxide [30]. 

Monoalkylation of Af-tosylallylamine 10 with dibromoalkane 101 proceeded in 60-90% yield (Eq. 10 see also Scheme 3 and Eq. 2) [17]. The bromoalkyl-amines 102 were converted to nitro compounds 103. In situ transformation of 103 into nitrile oxides led to spontaneous cycloaddition with formation of isox-azolines fused to 5-, 6-, and 7-membered ring heterocycles 104 a-c. Under very high dilution conditions, 103 d was converted to 104 d, an isoxazoline fused to an 8-membered azocine, in low (10%) yield. 

A regio- and stereospecific INOC reaction of unsymmetrical silaketals 114, synthesized in one pot from unsaturated alcohols, nitro ethanol, and dichloro-silanes, via the nitrile oxide 115 to isoxazolines 116 has been described (Scheme 14) [37a]. The intermolecular version of the cycloaddition, under similar conditions, proceeds with poor regio and stereoselectivity. 

Although nitrile oxide cycloadditions have been extensively investigated, cycloadditions of silyl nitronates, synthetic equivalent of nitrile oxides in their reactions with olefins, have not received similar attention. Since we found that the initial cycloadducts, hl-silyloxyisoxazolidines, are formed with high degree of stereoselectivity and can be easily transformed into isoxazolines upon treatment with acid or TBAF, intramolecular silylnitronate-olefin cycloadditions (ISOC) have emerged as a superior alternative to their corresponding INOC reactions [43]. Furthermore, adaptability of ISOC reactions to one-pot tandem sequences involving 1,4-addition and ISOC as the key steps has recently been demonstrated [44]. 

ISOC reaction was employed to synthesize substituted tetrahydrofurans 172 fused to isoxazolines (Scheme 21) [44b]. The silyl nitronates 170 resulted via the nitro ethers 169 from base-mediated Michael addition of allyl alcohols 168 to nitro olefins 167. Cycloaddition of 170 followed by elimination of silanol provided 172. Reactions were conducted in stepwise and one-pot tandem fashion (see Table 16). A terminal olefinic Me substituent increased the rate of cycloaddition (Entry 3), while an internal olefinic Me substituent decreased it (Entry 4). 

A strategy involving sequential 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions has been reported for the synthesis of novel bis-isoxazolo substituted piperidines 192a and 192b (Eqs. 18 and 19) [53]. It consists of the Michael addition of an unsaturated alkox-ide 185 to )3-nitrostyrene 184 followed by an INOC or ISOC reaction to provide isoxazolines 187-189 (Eq. 18 and Table 18). A polymer supported acyl chloride... 

Because of the relative instabihty of many trimethylsilyl nitronates 1036, 1037, they should be reacted in situ with olefins 1053 [103-105] or acetylenes [127] to generate the isooxazolidines 1054 [103-105, 107-117, 119-133] or isoxazoles [127] (Scheme 7.37) The isoxazolidines 1054 with R2=H readily ehminate trimethylsilanol 4 in the presence of acids such as TsOH to form the isoxazolines 1055 in high yields [104, 105] (Scheme 7.37 cf. also the cycloadditions with acrylonitrile in Scheme 7.42). 

The reduction of the isoxazoline ring after the cycloaddition was not successful with the usual reagents (see p. 532), but Sml2 accomplished the reaction. In contrast to the epoxidation used as the final step in most of the other epothilone A syntheses, the epoxide was introduced through a sulfite intermediate. Deprotection of C(15) leads to intramolecular displacement at the sulfite with formation of the epoxide (Steps E-3 and E-4). 

Tam and coworkers [311] developed a method for the synthesis of 1,3-disubsti-tuted cyclopentanes 6/4-124 and cyclopentenes. Thus, reaction of the condensed isoxazolines 6/4-123, easily obtainable by a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, gave 6/4-124 in good yields using Mo(CO)6 (Scheme 6/4.30). 

Various kinds of chiral acyclic nitrones have been devised, and they have been used extensively in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions, which are documented in recent reviews.63 Typical chiral acyclic nitrones that have been used in asymmetric cycloadditions are illustrated in Scheme 8.15. Several recent applications of these chiral nitrones to organic synthesis are presented here. For example, the addition of the sodium enolate of methyl acetate to IV-benzyl nitrone derived from D-glyceraldehyde affords the 3-substituted isoxazolin-5-one with a high syn selectivity. Further elaboration leads to the preparation of the isoxazolidine nucleoside analog in enantiomerically pure form (Eq. 8.52).78... 

As discussed in Section 6.2, nitro compounds are good precursors of nitrile oxides, which are important dipoles in cycloadditions. The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides with alkenes or alkynes provides a straightforward access to 2-isoxazolines or isoxazoles, respectively. A number of ring-cleaving procedures are applicable, such that various types of compounds may be obtained from the primary adducts (Scheme 8.18). There are many reports on synthetic applications of this reaction. The methods for generation of nitrile oxides and their reactions are discussed in Section 6.2. Recent synthetic applications and asymmetric synthesis using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides are summarized in this section. 

Thus, isoxazolines are converted into y-amino alcohols and (3-hydroxy ketones stereoselec-tively. However, the intermolecular cycloaddition involving 1,2-unsymmetrically substituted alkenes such as trans-cinnamyl alcohol proceeds nonregioselectively to give a mixture of the two regioisomers (Eq. 8.63).98... 

Isoxazolines are good precursors of a,(3-unsaturated ketones.63,94 This transformation is useful for synthesis of polyenes. For example, nitrile oxide cycloaddition chemistry is used to prepare 4-oxo-2-alkenylphosphonates, which are useful to synthesize a long polyethylenic unit via Woodworth-Emmons olefination (Eq. 8.66).101... 

Alkyl and silyl nitronates are, in principle, /V-alkoxy and /V-silyloxynitrones, and they can react with alkenes in 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions to form /V-alkoxy- or /V-silyloxyisoxaz.olidine (see Scheme 8.25). The alkoxy and silyloxy groups can be eliminated from the adduct on heating or by acid treatment to form 2-isoxazolines. It should be noticed that isoxazolines are also obtained by the reaction of nitrile oxides with alkenes thus, nitronates can be considered as synthetic equivalents of nitrile oxides. Since the pioneering work by Torssell et al. on the development of silyl nitronates, this type of reaction has become a useful synthetic tool. Recent development for generation of cyclic nitronates by hetero Diels-Alder reactions of nitroalkenes is discussed in Section 8.3. 

Hassner and coworkers have developed a one-pot tandem consecutive 1,4-addition intramolecular cycloaddition strategy for the construction of five- and six-membered heterocycles and carbocycles. Because nitroalkenes are good Michael acceptors for carbon, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen nucleophiles (see Section 4.1 on the Michael reaction), subsequent intramolecular silyl nitronate cycloaddition (ISOC) or intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition (INOC) provides one-pot synthesis of fused isoxazolines (Scheme 8.26). The ISOC route is generally better than INOC route regarding stereoselectivity and generality. 

The use of silylketals derived from allylic alcohols and 1-substituted nitroethanols for the stereocontrolled synthesis of 3,4,5-trisubstituted 2-isoxazolines via intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition has been demonstrated. Here again, the use of silyl nitronates (ISOC) increases the level of selectivity compared to INOC (Eq. 8.92).145... 

The impulse to the study of these cycloadditions came from the discovery that 5-spirocyclopropane isoxazolidines (or isoxazolines) undergo a thermal rearrangement resulting in the production of selectively substituted tetrahydro-(or dihydro) pyrid-4-ones (Scheme 42) [64], In particular, cyclic nitrones gave ultimately N-bridgehead bicyclic ketones, molecular skeleton of many alkaloid families [65]. 

Compound 384 derived from the reaction of two molecules of benzonitrile oxide (341) with one of BCP (3). Its formation can be explained with the cycloaddition of a second molecule of 341 to the isoxazoline Ml to give the isoxazolidine M5, which undergoes a thermal rearrangement to 384 (Scheme 54). 

Isoxazole (as well as isoxazoline, and isoxazolidine) analogues of C-nucleosides related to pseudouridines 25 and 27 have been regioselectively synthesized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (1,3-DC) of nitrile oxides (and nitrones) derived from uracyl-5-carbaldehyde 24 and 2,4-dimethoxypyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde 26 respectively <06T1494>. 

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