Penicillin 6-methylthio

The early chemistry leading to these derivatives was originally carried out via the 6a-(methylthio) derivative (17) which was prepared by way of a Schiff s base (39). The 6a-thiomethyl group could then be displaced by various nucleophiles giving rise to 6a-methoxy or other 6a-substituted penicillins. A stereo-specific one-step introduction of a methoxy group at C-6 in penicillins provided a simple entry to 6a-methoxy penicillins (40) in yields ranging from 50—62%. 

The reactivity of ketenimines such as 146 is related to substituent R. Ketenimines were isolable when R was phenyl or alkyl. In contrast, ketenimines wherein R was halogen, thienyl, phenylthio, methylthio, or methylsulfonyl were sufficiently reactive to afford iminoethers (147) at -78°C in the presence of excess lithium methoxide. The trimethyl-chlorosilane-quinoline procedure satisfactorily converted all these substituted iminoethers to amides in good yields. The overall sequence proved amenable for use with cephalosporin acids, by prior protection of the carboxyl group as a silyl ester. Extension of this method to the penicillin series permitted the preparation of 6a-methoxyketenimine 149 and 6a-methoxyimino ether 150 from the corresponding methyl 6p-(2-chlorophenyl)acetamido and fi -dichloroacetamidopenicillanates, respectively. No further transformations of these substances were reported. 

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