Nitrene aryl azides

Photolysis of azides again leads to loss of N2, but in this case what is left behind is a ni-trene (Eq. 16.75). Photolysis of azides is the best route to nitrenes. Because of the high reactivity of nitrenes, aryl azides have been popular reagents for photoaffinity labeling (see the... 

The Siindberg indole synthesis using aromadc azides as precursors of nitrenes has been used in synthesis of various indoles. Somekmds of aryl azides are readily prepared by S Ar reacdon of aromadc nitro compounds v/ilh an azide ion. For example, 2,4,6-trinitrotoliiene (TNT can be converted into 2-aryl-4,6-dinitroindole, as shovmin Eq. 10.60. ... 

Photolysis of aryl azides in amine solution, with a tertiary amine as cosolvent to promote stabilization of the singlet nitrene, has met with some success. For example, the yield of 2-piperidino-3 W-azepme. obtained by the photolysis of phenyl azide in piperidine, is increased from 35 to 58% in the presence of A A /V. /V -tetramethylethylenediamine (TMLDA).180 Also, an improved yield (36 to 60 %) of A,(V-diethyl-3W-azepin-2-amine (38, R = Et) can be obtained by irradiating phenyl azide in triethylamine, rather than in dicthylaminc, solution.181 Photolysis (or thermolysis) of phenyl azide in TMEDA produces, in each case, 38 (R = Et) in 40% yield.181 In contrast, irradiation of phenyl azide in aniline with trimethylamine as cosolvent furnishes jV-phenyl-377-azepin-2-amine (32, R = Ph) in only low yield (2%).35... 

The addition of nitrenes leads predominantly to the closed [6,6] bridged isomers. The corresponding [5,6] bridged isomer is - if at all - formed only in small amounts, probably via a direct addition to the [5,6] bond [394]. Nitrenes have been generated by thermolysis of azido-formic esters [172,395 00], photolysis of aroyl azides [401] or aryl azide [402], elimination of O-4-nitrophenylsulfonylalkylhydroxamic acid [403] or reaction of amines with Pb(OAc)4 [404]. 

Substituted 3,5-dihydro-4//-pyridazino[4,5-, ]indol-4-ones 50 <2001H(55)1105, 2002T10137> and 2,5-dihydro-l/7-pyridazino[4,5-7]indol-l-ones 52 <2006T121> have been synthesized from 5-(2-aminophenyl)pyridazin-3(2/0-ones 49 and 4-(2-aminophenyl)pyridazin-3(27/)-ones 51, respectively. For this purpose diazotization of the amino groups was followed by a nucleophilic substitution with sodium azide affording aryl azides. Upon heating of these compounds, the ring-closed products were obtained most probably via the formation of an electrophilic nitrene (Scheme 10). 

For most aryl azides, the rate constants of singlet nitrene decay and product formation (triplet nitrene and/or ketenimine) are the same. Thus, in all these phenyl-nitrenes cyclization to substituted benzazirines is the rate-limiting step of the process of isomerization to ketenimine, as is the case for the parent phenylnitrene. The only known exception, o-fluorophenylnitrene, will be discussed in the next section. 

Laser flash photolysis of a series of fluorinated aryl azides produces the transient spectra of the corresponding singlet nitrenes. ° With the exception of singlet o-fiuorophenylnitrene (39s), the rate of decay of the singlet nitrene was equal to the rate of formation of the reaction products, for example, didehydroazepines and triplet nitrenes. Values of fejsc and the Arrhenius parameters for azirine formation are summarized in Table 11.5. 

Nitrene intermediates are formed in the thermal decomposition reactions of most alkyl azides, aryl azides, sulfonyl azides, and azidoformates. Some decompositions, however, must be regarded as proceeding by a synchronous mechanism. They are discussed in this section. 

Photochemically reactive molecules have often been used as labels for specific sites in proteins and nucleic acids. Psoralen derivatives serve as relatively nonspecific photochemically activated crosslinking agents for DNA and double-stranded RNA.195 Aryl azides are converted by light to aryl nitrenes, which react in a variety of ways including insertion into C-H bonds (Eq. 23-27).200 201 In some cases UV irradiation can be used to join natural substrates to enzymes or hormones to receptors. For example, progesterone, testosterone, and other steroids have been used for direct photoaffinity labeling of their receptors.202 Synthetic benzophenones have also been used widely as photoactivated probes.203... 

The photochemistry of aryl azides is quite complex, suggesting that the nitrene 14 may not be the only reactive intermediate and that insertion reactions may not be the only route to form photoconjugates.Although aryl nitrenes are much less susceptible to rearrangements than acyl nitrenes, they may still occur and lead to the formation of reactive intermediates such as azepines, which may go on to react with nucleophiles.[911 141 Addition of nitrenes to double bonds will generate azirines, while dimerization will produce azobenzenesJ11 Aryl azides are stable to most of the procedures used in the course of peptide synthesis except for reduction reactions. Non-photochemical reduction of aryl azides to the primary amines by thiols has been reported by Staros et al.[15]... 

Thermal decomposition of aryl azides under a nitrogen atmosphere leads to nitrenes which are able to substitute fluorine in polyfluorinated naphthalenes, albeit with a poor yield (4%). Since no substitution product was isolated when oxygen was present during this reaction, the intermediacy of a triplet nitrene was proposed, which is completely trapped by oxygen.207... 

The most popular type of photosensitive functionality is the aryl azide derivative. On photolysis, phenyl azide groups form short-lived nitrenes that react rapidly with the surrounding chemical environment (Gilchrist and Rees, 1969). Nitrenes can insert nonspecifically into chemical bonds of target molecules, including undergoing addition reactions with double bonds and insertion reactions into active hydrogen bonds at l"l C—H and N—H sites. Abundant evidence, however, indicates that the photolyzed... 

However, some investigators have shown that aryl azides that possess a perfluori-nated ring structure or are substituted completely with halogen atoms are quite efficient at forming the desired nitrene intermediate (Soundararajan et al., 1993 Keana... 

Concept II is based on the flexibility of the azide functionality. Upon thermolysis or photolysis, appropriately substituted aryl azides lose nitrogen gas to give intermediate nitrenes, which in turn cyclize with suitable ori/zo-substituents to give benzoannelated heterocycles. An unsaturated ori/zo-substituent consisting of double bonds including carbon,... 

The initial product of photolysis of aryl azides, such as (70), is a singlet nitrene that relaxes into the triplet form below 160 K.72 The reactivity below 160 K is... 

The reaction products from aryl azides in photoaffinity labeling experiments have not been fully characterized. Indeed the reactions of aryl nitrenes in solution remain a topic of current research. 

The major intermolecular reaction of triplet aryl nitrenes in solution is hydrogen atom abstaction to form primary amines. For a photoaffinity reagent bound to a receptor, this would result in a failure to couple. However, it is possible that the intramolecular photochemistry of aryl azides is more relevant, and here numerous examples of insertion by triplets have been noted. Presumably, these are two step processes hydrogen atom abstraction, followed by radical coupling (cf. Figs. 2.1 and 2.3). 

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