Preparation of Diazo Compounds

Diazocarbonyl compounds can be prepared on insoluble supports by diazo group transfer with sulfonyl azides or by diazotization of primary amines. Diazo group transfer from sulfonyl azides to 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds proceeds on cross-linked polystyrene as smoothly as in solution (Table 10.19). When 3-keto esters or amides are 

Diazocarbonyl compounds can also be prepared by C-acylation of diazoalkanes with polystyrene-bound acyl halides (Entry 6, Table 10.19). As an alternative to diazomethane, the more stable a-(trimethylsilyl)diazomethane may be used, which is sufficiently nucleophilic to react with acyl halides. On heating, the resulting a-(trimethyl-silyl)diazo ketones undergo Wolff rearrangement to yield ketenes, and have also been used as starting materials for the preparation of oxazoles [368]. 

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The diazo transfer reaction with sulfonyl azides has been extensively used for the preparation of diazo compounds with two electron-withdrawing groups (equation 1 ).28 Toluenesulfonyl azide (13a)29 is the standard reagent used, but due to problems of safety and ease of product separation, several alternative reagents have been developed recently. n-DodecylbenzenesuIfonyl azide (13b)30 is very effective for the preparation of crystalline diazo compounds, while p-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide (13c)31 or naph-thalenesulfonyl azide (13d)30 are particularly useful with fairly nonpolar compounds. Other useful reagents are methanesulfonyl azide (13e)32 and p-carboxybenzenesulfonyl azide (13f).33... 

The report stresses the advantages of p-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl azide, N3S02C6H4NHC0CH3-p,6 for preparation of diazo compounds by diazo-transfer. It is safe, inexpensive, and the sulfonamide by-product is removed by simple trituration with H20. 

It should be remembered that many diazo compounds, especially those having electron-witiidrawing groups, are quite stable. Ethyl diazoacetate, for instance, can be stored for years. As methods for the preparation of diazo compounds improve, they will become increasingly important in organic synthesis. 

To several known methods for the conversion of aldehydes into nitriles two convenient new ones have been added Cyanic acid esters, believed to be inaccessible, have been prepared in more than one way and excellent yields Their reactions have now been investigated extensively Simple methods for the preparation of diazo compounds by pyrolysis of salts of tosylhydra-zones have been found. The tosylhydrazones as well as the diazo... 

CAUTION Because several explosions have been reported in the preparation of such materials as diazomethane, great care must be taken during the preparation of all diazo compounds, and the isolation of the pure compounds should normally be avoided. The scale of reaction should be kept small and extreme precautions against explosion hazards must be taken. Furthermore, diazomethane and presumably many other diazo compounds as well as many of the intermediates used in the preparation of diazo compounds are toxic. Some of the compounds used as intermediates may initially cause sensitization so that upon further contact severe physiological reactions may take place. Intermediates may also be carcinogenic. For example, nitrosomethylurea is considered a potent carcinogen [23]. 

The early directions for the preparation of diazo compounds used to call for shaking the intermediates with alkalies by hand. In view of the explosion hazards involved, Moore and Reed [24] recommend that Teflon-coated magnetic stirrers be used instead. 

The majority of preparative methods which have been used for obtaining cyclopropane derivatives involve carbene addition to an olefmic bond, if acetylenes are used in the reaction, cyclopropenes are obtained. Heteroatom-substituted or vinyl cydopropanes come from alkenyl bromides or enol acetates (A. de Meijere, 1979 E. J. Corey, 1975 B E. Wenkert, 1970 A). The carbenes needed for cyclopropane syntheses can be obtained in situ by a-elimination of hydrogen halides with strong bases (R. Kdstcr, 1971 E.J. Corey, 1975 B), by copper catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds (E. Wenkert, 1970 A S.D. Burke, 1979 N.J. Turro, 1966), or by reductive elimination of iodine from gem-diiodides (J. Nishimura, 1969 D. Wen-disch, 1971 J.M. Denis, 1972 H.E. Simmons, 1973 C. Girard, 1974),... 

Oxidative Couplings of Heterocyclic Hydrazones. This method has opened the way to the preparation of azo derivatives of diazo compounds unobtainable by other means, ie, heterocycHc compounds ia which the diazotizable amino group is conjugated with the heterocycHc nitrogen atom as ia 2- and 4-amiQopyridine, compounds which do not normally yield stable diazonium salts (38). The reaction occurs as illustrated by equation 7 for the iateraction of (A/-methylcarbostyryl)hydrazone [28219-37-6] and dimethyl aniline the overall process is oxidation. 

The proof of the three-membered structure of the diazirines concludes the discussion on the three-membered ring structure of the aliphatic diazo compounds. The knowm linear aliphatic diazo compounds and the newly prepared cyclic diazo compounds (diazirines) are two independent classes of compounds completely different in their physical and chemical properties. An interconversion of the linear and cyclic diazo compounds has not so far been possible. 

The synthesis of thiepins 14 was unsuccessful in the case of R1 = i-Pr,79 but if the substituents in the ortho positions to sulfur arc /erf-butyl, then thiepin 14 (R1 = t-Bu R2 = Me) can be isolated in 99% yield.80 Rearrangement of diazo compound 13 (R1 = t-Bu R2 = H), which does not contain the methyl group in position 4, catalyzed by dimeric ( y3-allyl)chloropalladium gives, however, the corresponding e.w-methylene compound. The thiepin 14 (R1 = t-Bu, R2 = H) can be obtained in low yield (13 %) by treatment of the diazo compound with anhydrous hydrogen chloride in diethyl ether at — 20 C.13 In contrast, the ethyl thiepin-3,5-or -4,5-dicarboxylates can be prepared by the palladium catalysis method in satisfying yields.81... 

Pyrimido[5, 4 4,5]pyrazolo[3,2-c][l,2,4]triazine derivatives 1049and 1050 were prepared by treatment of diazo compound 1048, prepared from 1047, with pentane-2,4-dione and ethyl acetoacetate, respectively [92JCS(Pl)239]. 

Carbenes from Diazo Compounds. Decomposition of diazo compounds to form carbenes is a quite general reaction that is applicable to diazomethane and other diazoalkanes, diazoalkenes, and diazo compounds with aryl and acyl substituents. The main restrictions on this method are the limitations on synthesis and limited stability of the diazo compounds. The smaller diazoalkanes are toxic and potentially explosive, and they are usually prepared immediately before use. The most general synthetic routes involve base-catalyzed decomposition of V-nitroso derivatives of amides, ureas, or sulfonamides, as illustrated by several reactions used for the preparation of diazomethane. 

The high reactivity of diazonium salts enables them to enter into a great many reactions other than the azo coupling reaction, but these fall outside the scope of the present chapter. Various other methods can be used for the preparation of azo compounds, although these are of minor importance compared with the diazo coupling reaction and they will only be touched on briefly where appropriate. 

In 2007, Maruoka et al. introduced chiral dicarboxylic acids consisting of two carboxylic acid functionalities and an axially chiral binaphthyl moiety. They applied this new class of chiral Brpnsted acid catalyst to the asymmetric alkylation of diazo compounds withA-Boc imines [91]. The preparation of the dicarboxylic acid catalysts bearing aryl groups at the 3,3 -positions of the binaphthyl scaffold follows a synthetic route, which has been developed earlier in the Maruoka laboratory [92]. 

The [3 + 2] cycloaddition of diazo compounds to imines or nitriles is an alternative approach to the preparation of 1,2,3-triazoles and 1,2,3-triazolines. For reviews, see CHEC-I <84CHEC-I(5)7I7>. 

The carbonyl oxides, i.e. the carbon analogs of water oxide, are well-established intermediates in the ozonolysis of olefins and may be independently prepared by treatment of diazo compounds with singlet oxygen. ... 

Catalyst-mediated decomposition of diazo compounds in the presence of C=S compounds has found application for the preparation of thiiranes in homogeneous systems (68,110,111). Recently, a convenient procedure for the preparation of geminal dichlorothiiranes from nonenolizable thioketones and chloroform under Makosza conditions was reported (112). Another approach to 2,2-dihalogenated thiiranes (e.g., 2,2-difluoro derivatives) involves the thermolysis of Seyferth reagents in the presence of thioketones (113,114a). Nucleophilic dimethoxycarbene was shown to add smoothly to adamantanethione to provide a unique approach to a thiiranone (5, 5 )-dimethylacetal (114b). 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of diazo compounds with alkynes represents a standard method for the preparation of pyrazoles. The initially formed... 

The first carbene ever isolated was la, which was prepared using the most classical route to transient carbenes, namely, the decomposition of diazo compounds. The [bis(diisopropylamino)phosphino](trimethylsilyl)diazomethane precursor (la) was obtained by treatment of the lithium salt of trimethylsilyldiazomethane with 1 equiv of bis(diisopropylamino)chlorophosphine. Dinitrogen elimination occurs by photolysis (300 nm) or thermolysis (250 °C under vacuum) affording carbene la as a red oily material in 80% yield (Scheme 8.1). Carbene la is stable for weeks at room temperature and can even be purified by flash distillation under vacuum (10-2 Torr) at 75-80 °C. 

Some nitramines may be prepared without treating amines with nitric acid. The classical example is the so-called E-method of cyclonite preparation in which a nitramine is formed by dehydration of a mixture of paraformaldehyde and ammonium nitrate, i.e. without using either amine or nitric acid (this will be discussed more fully on p. 109). When a nitramine is required with a non-nitrated aromatic ring which readily undergoes nitration with nitric acid, Bamberger s method [45], involving the oxidation of diazo compounds (13), may be applied. 

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