Knoevenagel Michael addition/cyclization

The use of special enamines in the three-component Knoevenagel-Michael addition/cyclization sequence directly led to Af-alkyl- or Af-aryl-substituted 2-amino-4//-pyrans. Perumal et al. therefore applied catalytic amounts of piperidine in ethanol at ambient temperature to add ( )-Al-methyl-l-(methylthio)-2-nitroethenamine 49 to the previously formed Michael acceptor in a one-pot fashion (Scheme 13.16) [7]. This protocol provides the desired lV-methyl-2-amino-4//-pyrans 50/51 in good yields. The methylthio substituent serves as a good leaving group facilitating the cyclization subsequent to the Michael addition reaction by nucleophilic substitution. 

SCHEME 13.16 Piperidine-catalyzed Knoevenagel/enamine-Michael addition/cyclization sequence. 

An acid-catalyzed version of this reaction was published by Wang et al. in 2013 [50]. A substoichiometric amount of acetic acid in refluxing ethanol mediates the Knoevenagel/ enamine-Michael addition/cyclization sequence to provide the spirodihydropyridines in high yields. 

Jiang et al. described the proline-catalyzed reaction of several amines 143 with alkynes 141, various aldehydes 142, and 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 144 to afford 1,4-dihydro-pyridines 145 in moderate to good yields (65-85%) (Scheme 13.37) [62]. Mainly three reactions are involved in the production of those products the first one is a proline-catalyzed Knoevenagel reaction between the aldehydes 142 and the 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds 144 to give Michael acceptors. The second one is a hydroamination reaction of the alkyne 141 to yield enamines, which in the third reaction undergo an enamine-Michael addition/cyclization sequence to provide the desired products. 

A series of 2-amino-4 /-thiopyrans 268 has been synthesized by one-pot Knoevenagel condensation/Michael addition/cyclization of several p-oxodithioesters 265, active methylene compounds 267, and various aldehydes 266 (Scheme 13.62) [102], The products could be isolated in good to excellent yields (70-93%), after stirring for a few hours in refluxing dichloromethane. Analogous 4-spirothio-pyrans 272 have been prepared by Majumdar et al. [103]. These reactions were conducted without any catalyst in refluxing ethanol, and the products could also be isolated in excellent yields (89-99%). 

Besides the domino Michael/SN processes, domino Michael/Knoevenagel reactions have also been used. Thus, Obrecht, Filippone and Santeusanio employed this type of process for the assembly of highly substituted thiophenes [102] and pyrroles [103]. Marinelli and colleagues have reported on the synthesis of various 2,4-disubstituted quinolines [104] and [l,8]naphthyridines [105] by means of a domino Michael addition/imine cyclization. Related di- and tetrahydroquinolines were prepared by a domino Michael addition/aldol condensation described by the Hamada group [106]. A recent example of a domino Michael/aldol condensation process has been reported by Brase and coworkers [107], by which substituted tetrahydroxan-thenes 2-186 were prepared from salicylic aldehydes 2-184 and cycloenones 2-185 (Scheme 2.43). 

Generally, MCRs based on aminoazoles and synthetic precursors of a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds proceed via a sequence of Knoevenagel-type condensation, which was already mentioned (see Scheme 3), Michael-like addition, cyclization, and water elimination. For example, the authors of [47] considered the following mechanism (Scheme 9). 

Interestingly enough, a closely related protocol was successfully proposed for the synthesis of spirooxindoles-containing tetrahydrochromene skeletons when aromatic aldehydes were switched for isatin derivatives. This high-yielded reaction was performed with dimedone, 4-hydroxycoumarin, or barbituric acids in water using triethylbenzylammonium chloride (TEBA) as catalyst (Scheme 36) [125]. A Knoevenagel condensation occurred first between isatin and malonitrile derivative, followed by Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl substrates and cyclization to the cyano moiety. 

The three-component reaction of indole (2) with sugar hydroxyaldehyde 281 and Meldrum s acid 282, with a catalytic amount of D,L-proline, afforded the 3-substitution product 283 as a single isomer [203]. The substituent possesses the czs-fused furo [ 3,2- b ] pyranonc skeleton. The proline catalyzes the Knoevenagel condensation of the sugar aldehyde 281 and Meldrum s acid 282 to provide the alkylidene derivative 284 of Meldrum s acid. Then a diastereo-selective Michael addition of indole and an intramolecular cyclization of this adduct 285 with evolution of carbon dioxide and elimination of acetone furnish the furopyranone in one-pot (Scheme 62). 

The first step of this process involves the Knoevenagel condensation of an aldehyde with malononitrile to form the corresponding Knoevenagel product (5). The second molecule of malononitrile then undergoes Michael addition to 5 followed by simultaneous thiolate addition to C N of the adduct and cyclization to dihydropyridine (6) which on aromatization and oxidation (air) under the reaction conditions leads to pyridine. 

A one-pot three-component reaction of 2-aminobenzimidazoles, aldehydes 71 and P-ketoesters 72 has been developed for the synthesis of 4//-pyrimido[2,l-6]benzothiazoles 75 <05BMCL5553>. The reaction presumably proceeds in two steps Knoevenagel condensation of 71 with 72 produces 3-benzylidene-2,4-pentanedione 73 Michael addition of 73 with 2-aminobenzothiazole then generates 74, which cyclizes to 75. 

Although, at this point, the mechanism of this reaction is not clear, the authors proposed a reasonable mechanism as shown in Scheme 11.6. The formation of cyclohexa-1, 3-dienes was explained as follows firsL the Knoevenagel condensation of aryl aldehyde 53 with malononitrile 54 gives malononitrile 58. Next, the Michael addition reaction of 55 with malononitrile 58 affords intermediate 59, followed by the intramolecular cyclization to render intermediate 60. 

With the Knoevenagel condensation product in hand, the second step to complete the MCR is the Michael addition of the other CH-acidic component with subsequent cyclization of the generated intermediate. Differentially substituted CH acids provide diversely substituted 4H-pyrans, so the mechanistic pathways will be discussed for the three mainly applied types of CH acids (nitriles 5, carbonyls 6, and enamines 7) separately (Schemes 13.4 and 13.5). 

The products could be easily isolated by filtration, and recrystallizafion from elhanol led to the pure desired compounds. The authors suggested an iminium ion-catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation mechanism, followed by enamine-Michael addition and intramolecular cyclization. One year later, the same group reported the diammonium hydrogenphosphate-catalyzed synthesis of various pyrano-pyrimidinones by exchanging dimedone by barbituric and thiobarbituric add in aqueous ethanol at ambient temperature [13]. The desired compounds could be afforded in good yields. 

The reaction of dimedone-derived enamines 110, methyl (2-cyano)acetate 109, and formaldehyde 72 mediated by lithium perchlorate led to the formation of a Knoevenagel/ enamine-Michael addition product (Scheme 13.33) [52], This could be cyclized in a one-pot procedure with substoi-chiometric amounts of triphenyl phosphine to provide... 

SCHEME 13.34 Direct cyclization of Knoevenagel/enamine-Michael addition products to the corresponding pyridone derivatives 115, 118, and 122 [53-55],... 

P-, and S-Heterocycles The reaction of two similar or dissimilar aryl aldehydes 250/251 with malonodi-nitrile 21 or ethyl 2-cyanoacetate 175 catalyzed by Af-hetero-cyclic carbenes (NHCs) has been demonstrated to provide fully substituted furans 252 in good to high yields (74-90%), within short reaction times up to 5 h under solvent-free conditions (Scheme 13.59) [97]. This transformation is based on the umpolung of one of the aldehydes by the NHC, while the other one undergoes a Knoevenagel condensation with the CH-acidic reaction partner. The Breslow intermediate then attacks the condensation product in fashion of a Michael addition. After elimination of the NHC, base-catalyzed cyclization provides the desired products. Five different NHCs have been tested catalyzing this reaction. 

SCHEME 13.60 Knoevenagel condensation/phospha-Michael addition/double cyclization sequence for the synthesis of tetracyclic 2,3,4,lll7-tetrahydro-17/,67f-67, -[l, 2]benzoxaphospholo[2,3-fc][l,2]benzoxa-phosphol-l-ones 254 [98],... 

Because of the huge importance of pyridine derivatives, a considerable amoimt of effort has been directed to the development of multicomponent routes for their synthesis, including reactions performed in water. For instance, a one-pot four-component condensation of aldehydes, malononitrile and thiophenols in the presence of boric acid as catalyst in aqueous medium afforded high yields of 2-amino-3,5-dicaibonitrile-6-thiopyridines 46 [29], either by conventional heating or under ultrasound-aided conditions (Scheme 1.21). This reaction can also be performed in an aqneons snspension of basic almnina [30] or in water with microporous mo-lecnlar sieves as catalysts [31]. Mechanistically, this transformation involves an initial Knoevenagel condensation of the aldehyde with a molecule of malononitrile, followed by the Michael addition of the second molecule of malononitrile, reaction of one of the nitrile groups with the thiol, cyclization and a final air oxidation step. 

Lee et al found that the reaction of cyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with a,P-unsaturated aldehydes did not give the Michael-type addition products observed for enones (see Section 8.4, Figure 8.26), but products from tandem Knoevenagel condensation and cyclization [210] (Figure 8.95). 

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