Pyrazine, chloro-, lithiation

Examples of the 3-lithiation of both 2- and 2,6-disubstituted chloro- and methoxypyrazines, as well as 2-thiomethylpyrazine are known (88S881 90JOC3410 91JHC765, 91JOM(412)301] (Scheme 117). As with pyridazine, LiTMP has so far been the only base employed, and this same base system has also recently been used for the directed metalation of pyrazine... 

Directed ort o-metalations are also applied to quinoxalines possessing 2-chloro, 2-methoxy, and pivaloylamino substituents <1993JHC1491>, but successful syntheses via the lithio intermediates are far fewer compared to pyrazines. In fact, no example of metalation on aromatic carbons can be found in the literature since 1994. However, lithiation on benzene carbons of 6-chloro-2,3-dimethoxyquinoxaline was reported <1999T5389>. 

Dimethoxy-3,6-dihydropyrazine (109), prepared by methylation of 2,5-piperazinedione with trimethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate, is susceptible to lithiation because the protons at C-3 and C-6 are activated by adjacent imine moieties. The lithium salt of this bislactim ether reacts with the 2-chloro-l-phenylsulfonyl alkene (110) to give the 3-substituted pyrazine (111) (Scheme 25) <89JCS(P1)453>. The bislactim ether from piperazinedione cyclo(L-Val—Gly) is lithiated with butyl-lithium and then treated with ketones, alkyl halides, or others to form, nearly stereospecifically, ran5-3-isopropyl-6-substituted piperazinediones due to the steric influence of the isopropyl group <828866, 838673). Similar stereoselective syntheses have been achieved in reactions starting from cyclo(L-Val—D,L-Ala) <828864, 918939). Acid hydrolysis of these products affords chiral a-amino acids. 

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