Nitro compounds, reductive transformations

Reduction of Nitro to Azoxy Compounds Nitro-azoxy reductive transformation... 

The Michael addition of nitro compounds is a useful method for the preparation of various natural products. The Michael addition of nitroalkanes to dehydroalanines gives y-nitro-a-amino acids, which provides a convenient synthesis of side-chain modified a-amino acids (Eq. 4.114).152 Transformations of y-nitro-a-amino acid derivatives into a-amino acids occur by reductive denitration (see Section 7.2) into y-oxygenated a-amino acids by the Nef reaction (Eq. 

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. 

The conversion of primary or secondary nitro compounds into aldehydes or ketones is normally accomplished by use of the Nef reaction, which is one of the most important transformations of nitro compounds. Various methods have been introduced forthis transformation (1) treatment of nitronates with acid, (2) oxidation of nitronates, and (3) reduction of nitroalkenes. Although a comprehensive review is available,3 important procedures and improved methods published after this review are presented in this chapter. The Nef reaction after the nitro-aldol (Henry reaction), Michael addition, or Diels-Alder reaction using nitroalkanes or nitroalkenes has been used extensively in organic synthesis of various substrates, including complicated natural products. Some of them are presented in this chapter other examples are presented in the chapters discussing the Henry reaction (Chapter 3), Michael addition (Chapter 4), and Diels-Alder reaction (Chapter 8). 

In recent years, the importance of aliphatic nitro compounds has greatly increased, due to the discovery of new selective transformations. These topics are discussed in the following chapters Stereoselective Henry reaction (chapter 3.3), Asymmetric Micheal additions (chapter 4.4), use of nitroalkenes as heterodienes in tandem [4+2]/[3+2] cycloadditions (chapter 8) and radical denitration (chapter 7.2). These reactions discovered in recent years constitute important tools in organic synthesis. They are discussed in more detail than the conventional reactions such as the Nef reaction, reduction to amines, synthesis of nitro sugars, alkylation and acylation (chapter 5). Concerning aromatic nitro chemistry, the preparation of substituted aromatic compounds via the SNAr reaction and nucleophilic aromatic substitution of hydrogen (VNS) are discussed (chapter 9). Preparation of heterocycles such as indoles, are covered (chapter 10). 

In contrast there are many examples for reduction processes on polymeric supports, because it is an especially useful transformation for aromatic nitro compounds in solid-phase chemistry. The reaction can be divided into two general classes polymer-bound substrates and polymer-bound oxidant- and reductant-reagents. 

The carbon dioxide anion-radical was used for one-electron reductions of nitrobenzene diazo-nium cations, nitrobenzene itself, quinones, aliphatic nitro compounds, acetaldehyde, acetone and other carbonyl compounds, maleimide, riboflavin, and certain dyes (Morkovnik and Okhlobystin 1979). The double bonds in maleate and fumarate are reduced by CO2. The reduced products, on being protonated, give rise to succinate (Schutz and Meyerstein 2006). The carbon dioxide anion-radical reduces organic complexes of Co and Ru into appropriate complexes of the metals(II) (Morkovnik and Okhlobystin 1979). In particular, after the electron transfer from this anion radical to the pentammino-p-nitrobenzoato-cobalt(III) complex, the Co(III) complex with thep-nitrophenyl anion-radical fragment is initially formed. The intermediate complex transforms into the final Co(II) complex with the p-nitrobenzoate ligand. 

Stannous chloride is used most frequently for the reduction of nitro compounds [177, 178, 179] and of quinones [180, 181], It is also suitable for conversion of imidoyl chlorides [182] and of nitriles [183] to aldehydes, for transformations of diazonium salts to hydrazines [184], for reduction of oximes [f[Pg.30]

The chemistry of nitro compounds forms the basis of a number of well-known processes, such as the Henry or the Nef reactions . Transformations such as the latter permit the interconversion between nitro and other functional groups and are therefore of prime importance. The most commonly employed methods for the reduction of primary nitroalkanes to oximes involve the use of BusSnH, Se/NaBH4, CS2 or SnCla (often in combination with thiophenol) . 

Aliphatic nitro compounds are reduced to various products, in all the published examples, only C-F bonds at a-positions are reduced, while the nitro group can be reduced in two steps. Catalytic hydrogenation of primary nitro compounds over palladium transforms them to the corresponding isonitroso compounds, i. e. oximes, while secondary nitro groups are converted into amines (Table 4). The reduction with Raney nickel alloy converts all types of nitro compounds into the corresponding amines, e. g. formation of 14.136... 

The utility of all these transformations may become clearer if you work Exercise 23-34. It will give you practice in seeing how various benzene derivatives can be prepared from primary benzenamines. Later in the chapter we shall see that amines can be prepared by the reduction of nitro compounds, which permits the following sequence of reactions ... 

It was known for long time that the 1,5- and 1,8-dinitronaphthalenes react under the action of concentrated sulphuric acid to yield naphthazarine - a valuable compound for dyeing [30], The mechanism of the formation of this compound (based on experiments of Dimroth and Ruck [18a]) probably consists in the transformation of the nitro compounds to quinone-oximes and the reduction of one of the nitro groups by hydroxylamine split off the oxime ... 

Aliphatic nitro compounds are highly versatile building blocks in organic synthesis7 8 (see Scheme 1). For example, the nitroaldol addition (Henry reaction)9 leads to the formation of 1,2-nitro alcohols, 2, which are easily transformed into 1,2-amino alcohols, 3, by reduction, and into a-hydroxycarbonyl compounds, 4, by hydrolysis10 (Nef reaction). The former process, mostly using nitromethane, has been widely employed in carbohydrate chemistry.11... 

The reduction most frequently encountered by the dye chemist is the transformation of a nitro compound into an amine, but numerous other reductions play an important role in dye chemistry. The following methods are employed. 

An additional example is the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to anilines. This reduction is a very important synthetic transformation because the nitro group is often used to activate the aromatic nuclei for nucleophilic substitutions. The amino group, however, is frequently utilized for further derivatization towards valuable products such as pharmaceuticals. 

The element tin has played an increasingly important role in organic and organome-tallic chemistry, serving as a source of Lewis acids for selective transformations [1]. The main activity in these fields has been focused on Sn(IV) compounds, and Sn(II) compounds have been used primarily as reductants of aromatic nitro compounds to aromatic amines [2]. During the last decade, however, asymmetric synthesis has developed increasingly, and in this field both Sn(II) and Sn(IV) reagents have played major roles. 

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