Nitro compounds hydroxylamine synthesis

Nitro compounds are versatile precursors for diverse functionalities. Their conversion into carbonyl compounds by the Nef reaction and into amines by reduction are the most widely used processes in organic synthesis using nitro compounds. In addition, dehydration of primary nitro compounds leads to nitrile oxides, a class of reactive 1,3-dipolar reagents. Nitro compounds are also good precursors for various nitrogen derivatives such as nitriles, oximes, hydroxylamines, and imines. These transformations of nitro compounds are well established and are used routinely in organic synthesis. 

I.2. Oxidation of Amines Oxidation of primary amines is often viewed as a particularly convenient way to prepare hydroxylamines. However, their direct oxidation usually leads to complex mixtures containing nitroso and nitro compounds and oximes. However, oxidation to nitrones can be performed after their conversion into secondary amines or imines. Sometimes, oxidation of secondary amines rather than direct imine oxidation seems to provide a more useful and convenient way of producing nitrones. In many cases, imines are first reduced to secondary amines which are then treated with oxidants (26). This approach is used as a basis for a one-pot synthesis of asymmetrical acyclic nitrones starting from aromatic aldehydes (Scheme 2.5) (27a) and 3,4-dihydroisoquinoline-2-oxides (27b). 

I. Condensation of N-Monosubstituted Hydroxylamines with Carbonyl Compounds Condensation of N -monosubstituted hydroxylamines with carbonyl compounds is used as a direct synthesis of many acyclic nitrones. The synthesis of hydroxylamines is being carried out in situ via reduction of nitro compounds with zinc powder in the presence of weak acids (NH4CI or AcOH) (14, 18, 132). The reaction kinetics of benzaldehyde with phenylhydroxylamine and the subsequent reaction sequence are shown in Scheme 2.21 (133). 

The rearrangement reaction continues to be of synthetic utility, often involved in industrial processes. Patent references (e.g. Reference 48) refer to the formation of 4-amino phenols. Often the reactant nitro compound is reduced (to the hydroxylamine) in an acid environment so that the two-stage reaction can be accomplished as a one-pot synthesis. 4-Amino phenol itself 45 can be made in high yield directly from nitrobenzene49 and the 4-methoxy aniline derivative 46 similarly from 2-methylnitrobenzene by hydrogenation in MeOH/H2S0450. 

The reduction of aromatic nitro compounds is believed to proceed to an intermediate mixture of nitroso compounds and substituted hydroxylamines which are not isolated but condense to form an azoxy compound which, in turn, is reduced to an azo compound. Contributing evidence to substantiate this mechanism is that the reduction of a mixture of two aromatic nitro compounds leads to a mixture of azo compounds consistent with that predicted if each of the nitro compounds were reduced to a nitroso compound and a hydroxylamine and these, in turn, reacted with each other in all possible combinations. This observation also implies that the bimolecular reduction of nitro compounds is practical only from the preparative standpoint for the production of symmetrically substituted azo compounds. Spectrophotometric studies of the reaction kinetics of the reduction of variously substituted nitro compounds may, however, uncover reasonable procedures for the synthesis of unsymmetrical azo compounds. 

The cathodic reductions of nitro compounds are among the most thoroughly investigated reactions of organic electrochemistry. At least on the laboratory scale, the reaction permits the synthesis of many intermediates with different oxidation states. However, most syntheses can now also be carried out more economically by catalytic reactions. Therefore, only a few electrochemical reactions are still of industrial interest, i.e. the single-step syntheses of hydroxylamines, aminophenols, or anisidines. 

Carbon-Heteroatom (N, S, O, Sn, Si, Se, P) Bond Formation. Primary and secondary amines (but not ammonia) undergo reaction with allylic acetates, haUdes, phosphates, and nitro compounds in the presence of Pd(PhsP)4 to provide the corresponding allylic amines (eq 26). A variety of ammonia equivalents have been demonstrated to be useful in this Pd(Ph3P)4-catalyzed alkylation, including 4,4 -dimethoxybenzhydrylamine, NaNHTs, and NaNs (eq 26). Both allylic phosphates and chlorides react faster than the corresponding acetates and (Z)-alkenes are isomerized to the ( )-isomers. The use of primary amines as nucleophiles in the synthesis of secondary allyl amines is sometimes problematic since the amine that is formed undergoes further alkylation to form the tertiary amine. Thus hydroxylamines have been shown... 

Reductive alkylations have been carried out successfully with compounds that are not carbonyls or amines, but which are transformed during the hydrogenation to suitable functions. Azides, azo, hydrazo, nitro and nitroso compounds, oximes, pyridines, and hydroxylamines serve as amines phenols, acetals, ketals, or hydrazones serve as carbonyls 6,7,8,9,12,17,24,41,42,58). Alkylations using masked functions have been successful at times when use of unmasked functions have failed (2). In a synthesis leading to methoxatin, a key... 

Methods for preparation of hydroxylamine derivatives have been reviewed in detail recently. Here, mainly new developments concerning the synthesis of hydroxylamines by substitution processes with heterobond formation are presented. Reduction of nitro, nitroso, oxime and nitrone derivatives as well as direct oxidation of amines leading to hydroxylamine compounds will not be considered. 

Synthesis of the benzo[l,2-c 3,4-c ]bis[l,2,5]thiadiazole (509) required cyclization of diamine (508). Nitration of (505) led to 4-nitro-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (506) in 95% yield. Amination of (506) with hydroxylamine in basic medium led to compound (507), immediately reduced to the diamino derivative (508). Ring closure of (508) with thionyl chloride and pyridine led to the benzo[l,2-c 3,4-c ]bis[l,2,5]thiadiazole (509) in 89% yield. Compound (509) has been successfully used in the synthesis of several fused tetracyclic compounds (Scheme 40) <75JHC829>. 

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