Lewis base 69 Nitro group

The condensation of nitro compounds and imines, the so-called aza-Henry or nitro-Mannich reaction, has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the enantioselective synthesis of 1,2-diamines through the intermediate /3-amino nitro compounds. The method is based on the addition of a nitronate ion (a-nitro carbanion), generated from nitroalkanes, to an imine. The addition of a nitronate ion to an imine is thermodynamically disfavored, so that the presence of a protic species or a Lewis acid is required, to activate the imine and/or to quench the adduct. The acidic medium is compatible with the existence of the nitronate anion, as acetic acid and nitromethane have comparable acidities. Moreover, the products are often unstable, either for the reversibility of the addition or for the possible /3-elimination of the nitro group, and the crude products are generally reduced, avoiding purification to give the desired 1,2-diamines. Hence, the nitronate ion is an equivalent of an a-amino carbanion. 

A variety of substituted 3-aminobenzo[6]thiophenes have been obtained by ring closure reactions of nitriles (equation 57). Various o -cyanophenylthioacetyl derivatives, when treated with base, yield the 3-amino derivatives (Section 3.15.2.2.3). The benzonitriles may be obtained by displacement of the o-nitro group from o -nitrobenzonitriles (74JOC3440). 2-Arylthio-l-chloroenamines are cyclized to 3 -dialkylaminobenzo[6]thiophenes in the presence of Lewis acid catalysts (equation 58). The 1 -chloroenamines may be prepared from t-amides or ynamines <8lH(15)l 179>. 

The Zv - complex of the merocyanine system (57) releases the zinc when it is irradiated with visible light and this results in the formation of the colourless closed spiropyranindoline (58, R = H). When the irradiation is stopped the Zn " complex reforms but this does not happen with the nitro derivative (58, R = NO2) in which it is thought that the nitro group stabilises the phenoxide ion in the open form. Other workers have also studied the complexation of spiropyran based merocyanines with transition and rare earth metal ions. An investigation of the influence of Lewis acids (hexa-fluoropropanol, trifluoroethanol and 2-fluoroethanol) on the stability of the coloured form of spiropyran and spirooxazines has been reported. Protonation of the open system produces a form that is photochemically inert and the behaviour of these acids is markedly different from that of acetic acid with such systems. 

A new catalyst incorporating chiral thiourea and nucleophilic Lewis base showed efficiency in the asymmetric BH reactions. The use of a binaphthyl-based amino-thiourea catalyst 63 synthesized by Wang et al. [ 114] resulted in good yields and enantioselectivities in the reaction of cyclohexenone and aldehydes. Another amino-thiourea 12 was demonstrated as an efficient bifunctional catalyst for the enantio-selective aza-BH reaction of (3-methyl-nitrostyrene and iV-tosyl-aldimines, affording P-nitro-y-enamines in modest to excellent enantioselectivities and diastereoselec-tivities (Scheme 9.32). It was found that no reaction occurred in the absence of the methyl group of nitroalkene [115]. A similar phophine-thiourea catalyst 64 was reported in 2008 by Wu and co-workers [116] and turned out to be efficient in the asymmetric BH reaction of MVK and aldehydes, providing fast reaction rate, good yields, and excellent enantioselectivities (87-94% ee). More recently, aL-threonine-derived phosphine-thiourea catalyst 65 was readily synthesized by Lu and coworkers [117] and applied in the enantioselective BH reaction of aryl aldehyde with methyl acrylate. 

Carbon-heteroatom double bonds can also participate in this reaction. These include both carbonyl compounds (Scheme 11.37) and imines (Scheme 11.38). Addition to aldehydes is co-catalysed by tin(II) or indium(III) salts. Under these conditions, tetrahydrofiirans are obtained. The presence or absence of the co-catalyst can also switch the reaction from one mode to another (Scheme 11.39). An indium cocatalysed cycloaddition to a 7-pyrone aldehyde 11.117 was used in a synthesis of aureothin 11.122 and A-acetylaureothamine 11.123 (Scheme 11.40). Cross-metathesis of the exo-cyc ic alkene 11.118 allowed a subsequent Suzuki coupling with a gem-dibromide 11.120 that showed the expected selectivity (Section 2.1.4.2). This reaction required the use of thallium ethoxide as the Lewis base to suppress the formation of side products. A Negishi coupling completed the synthesis of aureothin 11.122. Reduction and acylation of the nitro group yielded A-acetylaureothamine 11.123. The latter compound is active digainst Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium behind stomach ulcers. 

Below are four resonance structures of the eonjugate base of para-nitrophenol with the nitro group drawn as a full Lewis structure. Draw a fifth resonance structure that shows that nitro withdraws electrons from the ring via resonance effects. 

Most organic reactions are Lewis acid/base processes that involve the interaction of a nucleophilic center with an electrophilic center. Because electrochemistry provides the ultimate nucleophile via the electrons at the cathode surface and the ultimate electrophile via the electron holes at the anode surface, it is the ideal methodology for the characterization of the electrophilicity and nucleophilic-ity of molecules. Thus, the carbon centers of saturated hydrocarbons (e.g., CH4) are resistant to electrochemical reduction and oxidation because of their inert nature (all valence electrons are stabilized in sigma bonds an absence of any Lewis acid/base character). However, organic molecules with electrophilic components [e.g., alkyl-, aryl-, and acyl- halides carbonyl groups unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons nitro groups Brpnsted... 

Strong attachment to polyamides is encountered with numerous nitro compounds. The addition of nitro compounds to a polyamide corresponds to the reaction of a Lewis acid with a base separation of aromatic nitro compounds on polyamide can thus be regarded as ion exchange [293]. Elution with sharp zones is thus possible only with buffering solvents. A successful separation of dinitrophenylamino acids, arising from the determination of the amino end-groups of peptides and proteins, has been possible on polyamide colunms [293, 697]. 

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