Nucleophilic substitution ring-substituted derivatives

As is broadly true for aromatic compounds, the a- or benzylic position of alkyl substituents exhibits special reactivity. This includes susceptibility to radical reactions, because of the. stabilization provided the radical intermediates. In indole derivatives, the reactivity of a-substituents towards nucleophilic substitution is greatly enhanced by participation of the indole nitrogen. This effect is strongest at C3, but is also present at C2 and to some extent in the carbocyclic ring. The effect is enhanced by N-deprotonation. 

An important method for construction of functionalized 3-alkyl substituents involves introduction of a nucleophilic carbon synthon by displacement of an a-substituent. This corresponds to formation of a benzylic bond but the ability of the indole ring to act as an electron donor strongly influences the reaction pattern. Under many conditions displacement takes place by an elimination-addition sequence[l]. Substituents that are normally poor leaving groups, e.g. alkoxy or dialkylamino, exhibit a convenient level of reactivity. Conversely, the 3-(halomethyl)indoles are too reactive to be synthetically useful unless stabilized by a ring EW substituent. 3-(Dimethylaminomethyl)indoles (gramine derivatives) prepared by Mannich reactions or the derived quaternary salts are often the preferred starting material for the nucleophilic substitution reactions. 

Piperazinothiazoies (2) were obtained by such a replacement reaction, Cu powder being used as catalyst (25. 26). 2-Piperidinothiazoles are obtained in a similar way (Scheme 2) (27). This catalytic reaction has been postulated in the case of benzene derivatives as a nucleophilic substitution on the copper-complexed halide in which the halogen possesses a positive character by coordination (29). For heterocyclic compounds the coordination probably occurs on the ring nitrogen. 

With the exception of the nuclear amination of 4-methylthiazole by sodium amide (341, 346) the main reactions of nucleophiles with thiazole and its simple alkyl or aryl derivatives involve the abstraction of a ring or substituent proton by a strongly basic nucleophile followed by the addition of an electrophile to the intermediate. Nucleophilic substitution of halogens is discussed in Chapter V. 

As we ve just seen nucleophilic ring opening of ethylene oxide yields 2 substituted derivatives of ethanol Those reactions involved nucleophilic attack on the carbon of the ring under neutral or basic conditions Other nucleophilic ring openings of epoxides like wise give 2 substituted derivatives of ethanol but either involve an acid as a reactant or occur under conditions of acid catalysis... 

Rifamycin S also undergoes conjugate addition reactions to the quinone ring by a variety of nucleophiles including ammonia, primary and secondary amines, mercaptans, carbanions, and enamines giving the C-3 substituted derivatives (38) of rifamycin SV (117,120,121). Many of the derivatives show excellent antibacterial properties (109,118,122,123). The 3-cycHc amino derivatives of rifamycin SV also inhibit the polymerase of RNA tumor vimses (123,124). 

Nucleophilic Substitutions of Benzene Derivatives. Benzene itself does not normally react with nucleophiles such as haUde ions, cyanide, hydroxide, or alkoxides (7). However, aromatic rings containing one or more electron-withdrawing groups, usually halogen, react with nucleophiles to give substitution products. An example of this type of reaction is the industrial conversion of chlorobenzene to phenol with sodium hydroxide at 400°C (8). 

In this section three main aspects will be considered. Firstly, the basic strengths of the principal heterocyclic systems under review and the effects of structural modification on this parameter will be discussed. For reference some pK values are collected in Table 3. Secondly, the position of protonation in these carbon-protonating systems will be considered. Thirdly, the reactivity aspects of protonation are mentioned. Protonation yields in most cases highly reactive electrophilic species. Under conditions in which both protonated and non-protonated base co-exist, polymerization frequently occurs. Further ipso protonation of substituted derivatives may induce rearrangement, and also the protonated heterocycles are found to be subject to ring-opening attack by nucleophilic reagents. 

Ethylene oxide is a very reactive substance. It reacts rapidly and exothermically with anionic nucleophiles to yield 2-substituted derivatives of ethanol by cleaving the carbon-oxygen bond of the ring ... 

Because of the ease of ring synthesis, symmetrically trisubstituted s-triazines have been more thoroughly studied, but a few nucleophilic substitutions of derivatives bearing a single leaving group are known. 2-Chloro-4,6-diphenyl- and 2-chloro-4,6-dimethyl-s-triazines (318) undergo facile nucleophilic displacements with ammonia, amines, and hydrazine, with alkoxide, or with hydrosulfide... 

The two most reactive types of derivatives are expected to be the 4-Le-l,3,6,8- and 4-Le-l,2,3,6-tetraazanaphthalenes 456 and 457. Of the twenty-two possible ring systems, ten are known in aromatic form, and nucleophilic substitution has been carried out on only four of these. Covalent hydration has been observed in the pteri-dines and in 1,4,6,8-tetraazanaphthalenes. 

With Oxygen Nucleophiles Aziridine ring-opening of 111 (Scheme 3.42) with water in the presence of a catalytic amount of TsOH gave the corresponding (3-hydrox-yphenylalanine derivative 121 in 72% yield as the major isomer [74], Treatment of N-(p-tolylsulfmyl) aziridine-2-carboxylates with TFA and subsequent aqueous workup resulted in the formation of j3-substituted serine derivatives [62, 63, 101]. Under these reaction conditions, not only was the aziridine ring opened, but also the N-sulfmyl group was removed treatment of 122 (Scheme 3.43) with TFA at 73 °C, for example, afforded 123 in 75% yield [101],... 

The compounds referred to as azolides are heterocyclic amides in which the amide nitrogen is part of an azole ring, such as imidazole, pyrazole, triazole, tetrazole, benzimidazole, benzotriazole, and their substituted derivatives. In contrast to normal amides, most of which show particularly low reactivities in such nucleophilic reactions as hydrolysis, alcoholysis, aminolysis, etc., the azolides are characterized by high reactivities in reactions with nucleophiles within the carbonyl group placing these compounds at about the same reactivity level as the corresponding acid chlorides or anhydrides. 11... 

The domino reaction is initiated by the chemoselective attack of the carbanion 2-458 on the terminal ring carbon atom of epoxyhomoallyl tosylate 2-459 to give the alkoxides 2-460 after a 1,4-carbon-oxygen shift of the silyl group. The final step to give the cyclopentane derivates 2-461 is a nucleophilic substitution. In some cases, using the TBS group and primary tosylates, oxetanes are formed as byproducts. 

Tetranitro derivative 90 (z-TACOT Section 12.10.15.5) treated with methanolic sodium methoxide at ambient temperature does not lead to simple product of nucleophilic substitution of a nitro group but provides compound 92. Its formation can be rationalized by introduction of the methoxy group into the 1-position, followed by scission of the remote triazole ring of 91 to give the final product. Compound 90 subjected to the vicarious nucleophilic substitution (VNS) conditions using either hydroxylamine or trimethylhydrazinium iodide gives a very insoluble red solid, which was identified as l,3,7,9-tetraamino-2,4,8,10-tetranitrobenzotriazolo[2,l- ]benzotriazole 93 (Scheme 5) <1998JOC3352>. 

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