Pictet-Spengler cyclization synthesis

The Pictet-Spengler reaction has been carried out on various solid support materials " and with microwave irradiation activation.Diverse structural analogues of (-)-Saframycin A have been prepared by carrying out the Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis on substrates attached to a polystyrene support. Amine 20 was condensed with aldehyde 21 followed by cyclization to give predominantly the cis isomer tetrahydroisoquinoline 22 which was further elaborated to (-)-Saframycin A analogues. 

Model studies directed toward the synthesis of Ecteinascidin 743 employed an elegant Pictet-Spengler cyclization of phenethylamine 54 and the 1,2-dicarbonyl compound 55 to assemble the spiro tetrahydroisoquinoline 56 in a stereospecific fashion. " The silica-catalyzed condensation reaction provided 56 in excellent yield. 

A recent formal synthesis of the alkaloid (—)-mitralactonine relied on a reaction that allowed the simultaneous creation of three new bonds, two of them a and one ft with respect to the quinolizine nitrogen. As shown in Scheme 112, treatment of triptamine with chiral aldehyde 480 in the presence of acid directly gave a mixture of diastereo-meric indoloquinolizidines 481 and 482 through a mechanism involving a Pictet-Spengler cyclization and a N-alkylation reaction <2007SL79>. 

An interesting example of asymmetric induction has been used for the synthesis of (—)-l from L-tryptophan. Pictet-Spengler cyclization of the corresponding amide (127) with 5-chloropentanal afforded (—)-128 as the sole product. Removal of the unwanted carboxamide function was achieved in good yield by sodium borohydride reduction of die corresponding a-amino nitrile (—)-129, resulting in (—)-l (98). 

The total synthesis of ( )-geissoschizine (30) was reported by Yamada et al. (156) in 1974. The geometrically pure p-nitrophenyl ester 272 was condensed with tryptamine, and then the resulting amide 273 was transformed to lactam aldehyde 274 by hydroxylation with osmium tetroxide, metaperiodate oxidation, and Pictet-Spengler cyclization. 

Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis. The final steps in a synthesis of (—)-antirhine (2), a Corynanthe-type indole alkaloid, involved partial reduction of the lactam 1 to a hemiamina), which cyclizes to 2 in the presence of dilute HC1,2... 

An alternative synthesis of ( )-a- and ( )--y-lycoranes (57 and 93) commenced with the 2-oxocyclohexyl acetic acid derivative 114 obtained by the alkylation of the enamine derived from 113 (Scheme 10) (116). Refluxing the oxime of 114 with zinc dust in glacial acetic acid afforded a mixture of the lactams 115, 116, and 117 in an approximate ratio of 4 6 3. The structure of 115 was verified by catalytic hydrogenation to give the lactam 118, which had previously been converted to ( )-a-lycorane (57). When the lactam 116 was subjected to sequential catalytic hydrogenation, hydride reduction, and Pictet-Spengler cyclization, ( )-y-lycorane (93) was obtained. A more efficient route to ( )-a-lycorane (57) involved refluxing the ketone 114 first with benzylamine in xylene and then with 87% formic acid to furnish the unsaturated lactam 119. 

An intramolecular [3 + 2] dipolar cycloaddition reaction has also been exploited in the design of a concise, stereospecific synthesis of ( )-a-lycorane (57) (119). Thus, cyclization of the azomethine ylide 145, which was produced in situ by the reaction of 144 with IV-benzylglycine, in refluxing toluene furnished the cw-hydroindole 146 as the exclusive product (Scheme 14). The transformation of 146 to racemic a-lycorane (57) was then achieved by N-debenzylation via catalytic, transfer hydrogenation and subsequent Pictet-Spengler cyclization. 

Silveira, C. C. Bemardi, C. R. Braga, A. L. Kaufman, T. S. Elaboration of 1-benzoyltetra-hydroisoquinoline derivatives employing a Pictet-Spengler cyclization with a-chloro a-phenylthio ketones. Synthesis of O-methyl-velucryptine. Tetrahedron Lett. 2001, 42, 8947-8950. 

We used this method as the key sequence in the synthesis of ( )-lycopodine (78). The intramolecular isomiinchnone cycloadduct 81 was envisaged as the precursor of the key Stork intermediate 79 (via 80) [42]. The heart of our synthetic plan was the formation of the latter intermediate by a Pictet-Spengler cyclization of the N-acyliminium ion derived from 81. Central to this strategy was the expectation that the bicyclic iminium ion originating from 81 would exist in a chair-like conformation [42,43]. Cyclization of the aromatic ring onto the iminium ion center should take place readily from the axial position. The readily available heptenoic acid 82 would serve as the precursor for the a-dia-zoimide, the direct progenitor of the isomiinchnone dipole. This extension of the tandem cycloaddition-cationic 1-cyclization protocol to the formal synthesis of ( )-lycopodine (78) is outlined below. 

The mammalian alkaloids are formed from aromatic amino acids and their metabolically derived amines by reaction with carbonyl substrates at physiological pH. The reaction is catalyzed by acid and is commonly referred to as the Pictet-Spengler cyclization (I0a,b,II). Winterstein and Trier in 1910 proposed that the Pictet-Spengler reaction might be of significance in the biosynthesis of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids in plants (5a). The carbonyl compounds participating in the Pictet-Spengler synthesis of mammalian alkaloids are aldehydes and a-keto acids, which are produced... 

It can be speculated that protonation of 50 will afford the carbinolamine 51 besides L-tryptophan. Carbinolamine 51 is a masked acetaldehyde, and it will transfer this moiety to the more basic amino group on L-tryptophan to afford the protonated Schiff base 52, already encountered as an intermediate in the Pictet-Spengler cyclization to TBCs (Fig. 4). Spiroannelation of 52 will ultimately lead to TBCs 21a and 21b which both were found to be present in the products obtained in the acid hydrolysis of 50 (127). It is questionable whether TBCs 21a and/or 21b could account for the eosinophilia syndrome, since both compounds prepared by total synthesis were well tolerated in mice at doses up to 100 mg/kg (23). 

Another useful variation is the Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis, also known as the Pictet-Spengler reaction. The reactive intermediate is an iminium ion 49 rather than an oxygen-stabilized cation, but attack at the electrophilic carbon of the C=N unit (see 16-31) leads to an isoquinoline derivative. When a p-aryla-mine reacts with an aldehyde, the product is an iminium salt, which cyclizes with an aromatic ring to complete the reaction and generate a tetrahydroisoquinoline." ° A variety of aldehydes can be used, and substitution on the aromatic ring leads to many derivatives. When the reaction is done in the presence of a chiral thiourea catalyst, good enantioselectivity was observed." ... 

Cutter, P. S., Miller, R. B., Schore, N. E. Synthesis of protoberberines using a silyl-directed Pictet-Spengler cyclization. Tetrahedron 2002, 58,1471-1478. 

Lebrun and coworkers reported a convenient synthesis to a range of phenanthroindo- and quinolizidine natural products [62]. In this approach, the alkaloids (+)-antofine [( )-3] (n-1) and (+)-cryptopleurine [(+)-5] (n=2), were synthesized by Pictet-Spengler cyclization of 72 [2-arylmethyl-piperidine (n=2) and -pyrrolindine (n=l)], Scheme (7). The intermediate compounds were obtained by sequential iV-deprotection-reduction of the parent enecarbamates 71, which were obtained from Homer reaction of phosphorylated carbamates 70 with the appropriate aldehyde (69). 

Tseng and colleagues [58] reported a three-step synthesis of fused tetrahydro-P-carbolinequinoxalinones, solely based on the use of ionic liquids as solvents. Tetrahydro-P-carboline is a central core for many biologically important indole alkaloids, and the moiety of quinoxalinone often exhibits a wide spectrum of biological activities such as being anti-HIV, antihypertensive, and a ligand for a number of protein receptors. As a first step, tryptophan methyl ester was reacted with an aldehyde to form tetrahydro-p-carboline by Pictet-Spengler cyclization that further reacted with l-fluoro-2-nitrobenzene to form iV-aryl-tetrahydro-P-carboline. Intramolecular cyclization upon a reduction reaction in step three provided the desired tetrahydro-P-carbolinequinoxalinones. The entire process was based on the use of 1-n-butyl-... 

In 1987, Hill and co-workers (75) reported a clever synthesis of the pentacyclic cephalotaxine analog 246 starting from the nitrostyrene derivative 98 (Scheme 42). The Diels-Alder adduct 244, obtained by the reaction of butadiene sulfone with 98, was treated with methyl acrylate to give a single stereoisomer of the nitro ester, which was reduced with zinc in etha-nolic HCl to yield the lactam 245 and further reduced by Red-AI to the corresponding pyrrolidine. Pictet-Spengler cyclization with formaldehyde gave the pentacyclic amine 246. Alternatively, the reduced pyrrolidine obtained from 245 could be formylated, cyclized to the iminium salt by a Bischler-Napieralski protocol, and finally reduced with sodium borohy-dride to 246. Nearly identical sequences have also been reported by Bryce... 

This methodology was expanded to the synthesis of (-)-amabiline (145)(/42c). Namely, 2-aza-allylstannane 189 (derived from 25,35-0-isopropylidene-y-butyrolactone) was exposed to butyllithium in THF at -78"C to provide 3a-(3,4-methylenedioxy)phenylhexahydroindoline (190) along with a diastereomer in 74% yield (a 5 1 mixture of two diastereo-mers). The Pictet-Spengler cyclization of 190, followed by acid treatment, afforded (-)-amabiline (145), confirming the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product (Scheme 17). 

Another classical approach is the Pictet-Spengler isoquinoline synthesis. 66c x is variation generates an iminium salt from an amine and an aldehyde (a Schiff base), which cyclizes with an aromatic ring to complete the reaction. A synthetic example is taken from Liang s synthesis of chrysotricine.1 2 xhg reaction of amine 279 with aldehyde 280, in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid, initially gave an iminium salt (281). Subsequent Friedel-Crafts cyclization of the iminium salt gave the isoquinoline product (282 in 70% yield). The amino groups of amino acid derivatives also serve as excellent partners in this reaction.1 3... 

Another route to chiral lactones 130-a and 130-b was employed by Schultz and Pettus in the synthesis of (—)-ebumamonine and (—)-aspidospermidine [340], In the case of (—)-ebumamonine the cyclization was carried out on the aldehyde 130-A, and yielded the product with 18 1 selectivity for the desired a-stereoisomer. For (—)-aspidospermidine, the cyclization of 130-C was done in refluxing acetic acid, yielding a 1 1 mixture of stereoisomers. The product was taken on to ( )-aspido-spermine by an acid-catalyzed rearrangement (40% H2SO4, 100-110°C). The reason for the considerable difference in stereoselectivity of the two Pictet-Spengler cyclizations is not clear. 

BINOL-phosphoric acids have been used successfully with N-substimted tryp-tamines [345], The chiral acid catalysis of the Pictet-Spengler cyclization has been applied to alkaloid synthesis, as in the case of ( )-arboricine [346]. 

Synthesis of isochromanes and related pyran-type heterocycles using oxa-Pictet-Spengler cyclization 06S187. 

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