Pteridine, oxidized

The cleavage of fused pyrazines represents an important method of synthesis of substituted pyrazines, particularly pyrazinecarboxylic acids. Pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid is usually prepared by the permanganate oxidation of either quinoxalines or phenazines. The pyrazine ring resembles the pyridine ring in its stability rather than the other diazines, pyridazine and pyrimidine. Fused systems such as pteridines may easily be converted under either acidic or basic conditions into pyrazine derivatives (Scheme 75). 

AT-Oxidation is very sensitive to steric effects, since 1-substituted lumazines and pterins give only 5-oxides and the presence of bulky substituents at position 7 also directs oxidation to N-5. The pteridine 5-oxide (52) and 8-oxide (53) and the 5,8-dioxide (55) contain the AT-oxide groups as such, even when the possibility of AT-hydroxy tautomers exists, as in (53) i(54). 

No simple pteridine 1- or 3-oxides are yet known. If the AT-atom of an amide function is formally oxidized, tautomerism favours the cyclic hydroxamic acid structure, as found for 3-hydroxypteridin-4-one (55JA3927), 1-hydroxylumazine (64JOC408) and 2,4-diamino-8-hydroxypteridin-7-ones (75JOC2332). 

The purely chemical analogy involving nucleophilic attack and subsequent oxidation can be achieved by hydrogen peroxide, which converts pteridin-6-one into pteridine-6,7-dione (52JCS1620), and xanthopterin (4) into leucopterin (6) (39LA(539)179). Isoxanthopterin (5) reacts with nitrous acid to give pteridine-2,4,6,7-tetrone (44LA(555)146). 

The action of sulfur nucleophiles like sodium bisulfite and thiophenols causes even pteridines that are unreactive towards water or alcohols to undergo covalent addition reactions. Thus, pteridin-7-one smoothly adds the named S-nucleophiles in a 1 1 ratio to C-6 (65JCS6930). Similarly, pteridin-4-one (73) yields adducts (74) in a 2 1 ratio at C-6 and C-7 exclusively (equation 14), as do 4-aminopteridine and lumazine with sodium bisulfite. Xanthopterin forms a 7,8-adduct and 7,8-dihydropterin can easily be converted to sodium 5,6,7,8-tetrahydropterin-6-sulfonate (66JCS(C)285), which leads to pterin-6-sulfonic acid on oxidation (59HCA1854). 

Various 6- and 7-methyl- and 6,7-dimethyl-pteridines bearing either oxo or amino groups in the 2- and 4-positions can be oxidized to the corresponding carboxylic acids by alkaline potassium permanganate on heating. Various lumazine and pterin mono- and di-carboxylic acids have been prepared in this way (48JA3026, 78CB3790). 

Oxidations in the pteridine series comprise (i) replacement of hydrogen by hydroxyl, (ii) glycol formation at the central C=C bond (iii) the removal of hydrogen atoms from dihydro and tetrahydro derivatives. 

Another approach uses the reaction of 6-chloro-5-nitropyrimidines with a-phenyl-substituted amidines followed by base-catalyzed cyclization to pteridine 5-oxides, which can be reduced further by sodium dithionite to the heteroaromatic analogues (equation 97) (79JOC1700). Acylation of 6-amino-5-nitropyrimidines with cyanoacetyl chloride yields 6-(2-cyanoacetamino)-5-nitropyrimidines (276), which can be cyclized by base to 5-hydroxypteridine-6,7-diones (27S) or 6-cyano-7-oxo-7,8-dihydropteridine 5-oxides (277), precursors of pteridine-6,7-diones (278 equation 98) (75CC819). 

The degradation of more complex substances can be regarded as another route to pteridine derivatives. Already in 1895 tolualloxazine was oxidized by alkaline permanganate to lumazine-6,7-dicarboxylic acid, and further heating led in a stepwise decarboxylation to lumazine (3) (1895CB1970). 

Isopterin — see Pteridin-2-one, 4-atnino-Isopyrazole, 4-hydroxy-rearrangement, 5, 250 Isopyrazole, tetramethyl-thermal isomerization, 5, 249 Isopyrazole, 3,4,4,5-tetramethyl-mass spectrometry, 5, 204 Isopyr azoles H NMR, 5, 185, 188 Af-oxide... 

Pteridine, 6-aIkyIthio-2,4-diamino-reactivity, 3, 299 Pteridine, 2-amino-acylation, 3, 295 hydrolysis, 3, 293, 294 Michael addition reactions, 3, 279, 288 structure, 3, 267 Pteridine, 4-amino-acylation, 3, 295 hydrolysis, 3, 293, 294 3-oxide... 

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