Phenazine

CgHeNj. Brown-yellow crystals m.p. 103-104 C, b.p. 256 258°C. Its solutions reduce Ag ions and it is used as a photographic developer. It is also used as a dye-precursor, for the synthesis of phenazine derivatives and for characterizing inter alia) a-diketones. 

ANTTBIOTTCS - BETA-LACTAMS - CARBAPENEMS AND PENEMS] (Vol 3) Thiozolyl blue-phenazine methosulfate... 

The mechanism of oxidative dyeing involves a complex system of consecutive, competing, and autocatalytic reactions in which the final color depends on the efficiency with which the various couplers compete with one another for the available diimine. In addition, hydrolysis, oxidation, or polymerization of diimine may take place. Therefore, the color of a mixture caimot readily be predicted and involves trial and error. Though oxidation dyes produce fast colors, some off-shade fading does occur, particularly the development of a red tinge by the slow transformation of the blue indamine dye to a red phenazine dye. 

Nitrogen Compound Autoxidation. CycHc processes based on the oxidation of hydrazobenzene and dihydrophenazine to give hydrogen peroxide and the corresponding azobenzene—phenazine were developed in the United States and Germany during World War II. However, these processes could not compete economically with the anthrahydroquinone autoxidation process. 

Many substituted quinolines are intermediates for antimalarials. The 2,4-di-substituted quinolines are produced from aniline and 1,3-diketones by the Combes quinoline synthesis (28). The reaction of aniline with nitrobenzene in the presence of dry sodium hydroxide at 140°C leads to formation of phenazine [92-82-0] and by-products (Wohl-Aue synthesis) (29). 

The parent lings are always included in phenazine [92-82-0] (4), phenoxazine [135-67-1] (5), oi phenothiazine [92-84-2] (6) ting systems. 

The first of these dyes to be made synthetically was Perkin s mauveine [6373-22 ] which is a substituted phenazine of stmcture (7). 

Azonia substitution at a naphthalene bridgehead position gives the quinolizinium ion (16). Oxonia substitution, elsewhere, forms the 1- and 2-benzopyrylium ions (17) and (18). The two most well-known monoaza systems with three aromatie fused rings are aeridine (19), derived structurally from anthraeene, and phenanthridine (20), an azaphenanthrene. The better-known diaza systems inelude phenazine (21) and 1,10-phenanthroline (22), while systems with three linearly fused pyridine rings are ealled anthyridines, e.g. the 1,9,10-isomer (23). 

A computer search of volumes 70-95 of Chemical Abstracts using the keyword Pyrazine resulted in more than 2600 references, and, after removal of fused pyrazine systems and cross-referencing the remaining references, this number increased to approximately 7000 in total. When the benzopyrazines quinoxaline and phenazine were added the number of references was in excess of 10 000, all of which might be considered to be relevant to a chapter devoted to pyrazines and their benzo analogues. 

In valence bond terms the pyrazine ring may be represented as a resonance hybrid of a number of canonical structures (e.g. 1-4), with charge separated structures such as (3) contributing significantly, as evidenced by the polar character of the C=N bond in a number of reactions. The fusion of one or two benzene rings in quinoxaline (5) and phenazine (6) clearly increases the number of resonance structures which are available to these systems. 

Phenazine also exhibits D h symmetry and numerous reports on the X-ray structure of a-phenazine have appeared (54AX129). The parameters determined at 80 K are shown in... 

Pugmire etal. have published calculated electron densities for pyrazine (68JA697), quinoxaline (69JA6381) and phenazine and the calculated total electron densities a + v) are shown in (10), (11) and (12). 

The electron density at nitrogen in phenazine is intermediate between those of pyrazine and quinoxaline and the highest electron density on the carbon atoms of the benzene rings is at C-1 (with positions 4, 6 and 9 being equivalent). ... 

The Chemical Abstracts numbering system of phenazine is used. 

Phenazine gives rise to an AA BB NMR spectrum with coupling constants /i,2 9,0, /i,3 1.67, /i,4 0 and Jx3 6.55 Hz (66CPB419). Similar coupling constants are also observed in a number of phenazines and phenazine iV-oxides. 

The NMR spectrum of quinoxaline has been measured in CDCI3 and the chemical shift values are as shown in (16) (69JA6381). Curiously, C NMR spectra of phenazine and its derivatives have been recorded in benzene solution and the chemical shift values quoted relative to benzene however, for consistency the values in (17) are quoted relative to TMS. 

A feature eommon to the pyrazine, quinoxaline and phenazine ring systems is their remarkable stability in the mass speetrometer and in all eases with the parent heterocyeles the moleeular ion is the base peak. In the ease of pyrazine, two major fragments are observed at mje 53 and 26, and these fragments are eonsistent with the fragmentation pattern shown in Seheme 1. 

Table 3 lists some of the basic physical properties of pyrazine, quinoxaline and phenazine (references are given in the main text). 

Table 3 Physical Properties of Pyrazine, Quinoxaline and Phenazine...

Determined crystallographically for a-phenazine. Phenazine exhibits polymorphism, with a-phenazine being the common polymorph. 

Electrophilic substitution reactions of unsubstituted quinoxaline or phenazine are unusual however, in view of the increased resonance possibilities in the transition states leading to the products one would predict that electrophilic substitution should be more facile than with pyrazine itself (c/. the relationship between pyridine and quinoline). In the case of quinoxaline, electron localization calculations (57JCS2521) indicate the highest electron density at positions 5 and 8 and substitution would be expected to occur at these positions. Nitration is only effected under forcing conditions, e.g. with concentrated nitric acid and oleum at 90 °C for 24 hours a 1.5% yield of 5-nitroquinoxaline (19) is obtained. The major product is 5,6-dinitroquinoxaline (20), formed in 24% yield. 

In the case of phenazine, substitution in the hetero ring is clearly not possible without complete disruption of the aromatic character of the molecule. Like pyrazine and quinoxa-line, phenazine is very resistant towards the usual electrophilic reagents employed in aromatic substitution reactions and substituted phenazines are generally prepared by a modification of one of the synthetic routes employed in their construction from monocyclic precursors. However, a limited range of substitution reactions has been reported. Thus, phenazine has been chlorinated in acid solution with molecular chlorine to yield the 1-chloro, 1,4-dichloro, 1,4,6-trichloro and 1,4,6,9-tetrachloro derivatives, whose gross structures have been proven by independent synthesis (53G327). 

Conflicting reports on the nitration of phenazine have appeared, but the situation was clarified by Albert and Duewell (47MI21400). The early work suggested that 1,3-dinitroph-enazine could be prepared in 66% yield under standard nitration conditions however, this proved to be a mixture of 1-nitrophenazine and 1,9-dinitrophenazine (24). As with pyrazines and quinoxalines, activating substituents in the benzenoid rings confer reactivity which is in accord with valence bond predictions thus, nitration of 2-methoxy- or 2-hydroxy-phenazine results in substitution at the 1-position. 

Phenazine reacts with benzenesulphinic acid in alcoholic hydrogen chloride to give 2-phenazinyl phenyl sulfone (26 Scheme 4), presumably by an intermediate 5,10-dihy-drophenazine this reaction is evidently a useful method of preparing 2-substituted phenazines, since the sulfone is readily displaced in substitution reactions. 

The ease of oxidation varies considerably with the nature and number of ring substituents thus, although simple alkyl derivatives of pyrazine, quinoxaline and phenazine are easily oxidized by peracetic acid generated in situ from hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid, some difficulties are encountered. With unsymmetrical substrates there is inevitably the selectivity problem. Thus, methylpyrazine on oxidation with peracetic acid yields mixtures of the 1-and 4-oxides (42) and (43) (59YZ1275). In favourable circumstances, such product mixtures may be separated by fractional crystallization. Simple alkyl derivatives of quinoxalines are... 

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