Michael addition retro-, acid derivative

Many ring-fused imidazole derivatives have been synthesized by various methods. Domino Michael addition retro-ene reaction of 2-alkoxyiminoimidazolidines and acetylene carboxylates provided a synthesis of 2,3-dihydroimidazo[l,2-a]pyrimidin-5-(l//)-ones <05T5303>. A single step synthesis of 3,5-dialkyl-9-nitroimidazo[l,2-c]quinazolin-2(3//)-ones from simple carbonyl compounds, primary amines or amino acid methyl esters and 2-azido-5-nitrobenzonitrile has been published <05TL5778>. Diels-Alder reaction of azadienes and benzimidazole-4,7-diones afforded imidazo[4,5-g ]quinoline-4,9-dione derivatives <05EJ01903>. Reaction between isocyanides and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in the presence of 4,5-diphenyl-l,3-dihydro-2//-imidazol-2-one provided a one-pot synthesis of 5//-imidazo[2,l-ft][l,3]oxazine derivatives <05T2645>. Microwave irradiation was employed in the synthesis of 1-ary 1-3-acetyl-1,4,5,6-... 

The retrosynthesis involves the following transformations i) isomerisation of the endocyclic doble bond to the exo position ii) substitution of the terminal methylene group by a more stable carbonyl group (retro-Wittig reaction) iii) nucleophilic retro-Michael addition iv) reductive allylic rearrangement v) dealkylation of tertiary alcohol vi) homolytic cleavage and functionalisation vii) dehydroiodination viii) conversion of ethynyl ketone to carboxylic acid derivative ix) homolytic cleavage and functionalisation x) 3-bromo-debutylation xi) conversion of vinyl trimethylstannane to methyl 2-oxocyclopentanecarboxylate (67). 

The Michael reaction is the conjugate addition of a soft enolate, commonly derived from a P-dicarbonyl compound 24, to an acceptor-activated alkene such as enone 41a, resulting in a 1,5-dioxo constituted product 42 (Scheme 8.14) [52]. Traditionally, these reactions are catalyzed by Bronsted bases such as tertiary amines and alkali metal alkoxides and hydroxides. However, the strongly basic conditions are often a limiting factor since they can cause undesirable side- and subsequent reactions, such as aldol cyclizations and retro-Claisen-type decompositions. To address this issue, acid- [53] and metal-catalyzed [54] Michael reactions have been developed in order to carry out the reactions under milder conditions. 

Three interesting tetrahydroquinolylimidazole alkaloids, e.g., longistrobine (23), have been characterised. Dehydrolongistrobine (24), a derivative of (23), undergoes a retro-Michael reaction upon treatment with acid to yield, in addition to succinic acid, macrorine (25), which is itself a bona fide alkaloid. 

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