Pyrazines dihydropyrazines

In a series of detailed studies, Armand and coworkers have examined the electrochemical reduction of pyrazines (72CR(C)(275)279). The first step results in the formation of 1,4-dihydropyrazines (85), but the reaction is not electrochemically reproducible. The 1,4-dihydropyrazine is pH sensitive and isomerizes at a pH dependent rate to the 1,2-dihydro compound (83). The 1,2-dihydropyrazine then appears to undergo further reduction to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrazine (88) which is again not electrochemically reproducible. Compound (88) then appears to undergo isomerization to another tetrahydro derivative, presumably (8, prior to complete reduction to piperazine (89). These results have been confirmed (72JA7295). 

Dihydropyrazines are relatively stable, although they are easily oxidized. They are usually formed via the addition of organometallic reagents to the pyrazine ring. Similarly, 2,3-dihydropyrazines are usually easily oxidized to pyrazines and are formed during type A synthesis (see Section 2.14.3.2). 

Dihydropyrazines are formed by the self-condensation of a-aminocarbonyl compounds and they are relatively stable, although again they are easily oxidized to the corresponding pyrazines. Tetrahydropyrazines are less well documented and structures such as (87) appear to be more stable than the enediamine (88). 

The fusion of a benzene ring to pyrazine results in a considerable increase in the resistance to reduction and it is usually difficult to reduce quinoxalines beyond the tetrahydroquinoxa-line state (91). Two possible dihydroquinoxalines, viz. the 1,2- (92) and the 1,4- (93), are known, and 1,4-dihydroquinoxaline appears to be appreciably more stable than 1,4-dihydropyrazine (63JOC2488). Electrochemical reduction appears to follow a course anzdogous to the reduction of pyrazine, giving the 1,4-dihydro derivative which isomerizes to the 1,2- or 3,4-dihydroquinoxaline before subsequent reduction to 1,2,3,4-tetra-hydroquinoxaline (91). Quinoxaline itself is reduced directly to (91) with LiAlH4 and direct synthesis of (91) is also possible. Tetrahydroquinoxalines in which the benzenoid ring is reduced are well known but these are usually prepared from cyclohexane derivatives (Scheme 30). 

In many instances the primary reaction product is a dihydropyrazine and aromatization may be required as a final step. In addition, many pyrazines are prepared by the structural modification of a preformed pyrazine ring and hence would be classified as a reaction of the ring rather than a ring synthesis such processes are discussed more fully in Section 2.14.2. 

Classically, type B pyrazine syntheses involve self-condensation of an a-aminoacyl compound to yield a 3,6-dihydropyrazine which is subsequently oxidized to the pyrazine (Scheme 54) (70CC25). The aromatization usually proceeds under very mild conditions. 

Treatment of a-hydroxy-ketones or -aldehydes with ammonium acetate (65BSF3476, 68BSF4970) results in the formation of dihydropyrazines, presumably by direct amination of the hydroxyketone followed by self-condensation (79AJC1281). Low yields of pyrazines have been noted in the electrolysis of ketones in admixture with KI and ammonia, and again it appears probable that the a-aminoketone derived by way of the a-iodoketone is the intermediate (69CI(L)237>. 

A number of reductive procedures have found general applicability. a-Azidoketones may be reduced catalytically to the dihydropyrazines (80OPP265) and a direct conversion of a-azidoketones to pyrazines by treatment with triphenylphosphine in benzene (Scheme 55) has been reported to proceed in moderate to good yields (69LA(727)23l). Similarly, a-nitroketones may be reduced to the a-aminoketones which dimerize spontaneously (69USP3453279). The products from this reaction are pyrazines and piperazines and an intermolecular redox reaction between the initially formed dihydropyrazines may explain their formation. Normally, if the reaction is carried out in aqueous acetic acid the pyrazine predominates, but in less polar solvents over-reduction results in extensive piperazine formation. 

Other methods of generating a-aminoketones in situ are common, if somewhat less general than the methods already described. 2-Nitrovinylpyrrolidine, which is readily available, yields 2,3-bis(3-aminopropyl)pyrazine on reduction and this almost certainly involves ring opening of the intermediate enamine to an a-aminoketone which then dimerizes under the reaction conditions (Scheme 59) (78TL2217). Nitroethylene derivatives have also served as a-aminoketone precursors via ammonolysis of the derived epoxides at elevated temperatures (Scheme 60) (76S53). Condensation of 1,1-disubstituted hydrazine derivatives with a-nitro-/3-ethoxyethylene derivatives has been used in the synthesis of l,4-dialkylamino-l,4-dihydropyrazines (Scheme 61) (77S136). 

Armand and coworkers have shown that, while 1,4-dihydropyrazines are the initial products of the electrochemical reduction of pyrazines, they could not be isolated and readily isomerize in solution into 1,2- or 1,6-dihydropyrazines depending on the substitution pattern in the heterocyclic ring (74CJC3971 84MI1). The rate of the isomerization depends on the type of pyrazine as well as the pH and the nature and amount of the cosolvent. 

The titaniated (25)-2,5-dihydro-2-isopropyl-3,6-dimethoxypyrazines derived from cyclo(L-Val, Gly) or cyclo(L-Val, Ala) (1, R1 = H, CH3) react with a,/I-unsaturatcd aldehydes exclusively by 1.2-addition (cf. nearly exclusive 1,4-addition of ,//-unsaturated ketones with cuprate complexes of 2,5-dialkoxy-3,6-dihydropyrazines, see Section D. 1.5.2.3.1.4.) in a highly diastereoselective mode to give virtually only the (l S,2R)-diastereoniers 2 ". In reactions with the corresponding lithiated pyrazines both regioselectivity and diastereofacial differentiation at C-2 are also remarkably high (dc 95 %), but the diastereomeric excess at C-l is substantially smaller (30 50%) ... 

A more complicated type of reaction leading to 2-styrylindoles is observed when 2-arylazirines are treated with the rhodium complexes,70 [(Ph3P)2 Rh(CO)Cl] or [Rh(CO)2Cl]2, or with dicobalt octacarbonyl71 (Scheme 42). In contrast, 2-arylazirines with molybdenum hexacarbonyl give pyrazines and dihydropyrazines, and with diiron enneacarbonyl give pyrroles (see Sections V,C,2 and IV,A,1, respectively). The use of relatively low molar ratios of 2-arylazirine to rhodium catalyst (2 1) causes the formation of 2,5-diarylpyrroles. 

The ring cleavage of 3-aryl-2-substituted-2//-azirines by molybdenum hexacarbonyl has been described earlier in regard to the synthesis of pyrroles, pyrazoles and isoxazoles. In contrast to this behavior, analogous reactions of 2-unsubstituted derivatives lead to the formation of mixtures of 2,5-diarylpyrazines (139) and isomeric 3,6- and 1,6-dihydropyrazine derivatives (140,141) (Scheme 163).47,53 It is possible that the pyrazine products are formed by an intermolecular nitrene mechanism akin to the intramolecular processes described earlier (see Scheme 22 in Section IV,A,1). 

One of the most common approaches to pyrazine ring construction is the condensation of diaminoethane and 1,2-dicarbonyI compounds such as 206 to provide pyrazines 207 after aromatization. Aromatization was accomplished by treating the dihydropyrazines with manganese dioxide in the presence of potassium hydroxide <00JCS(P1)381>. The N-protected 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds 206 were prepared from L-amino acids by initial conversion into diazoketones followed by oxidation to the glyoxal. 

Condensation of 1,2-bishydroxylamines (84) with 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds leads to derivatives of 2,3-dihydropyrazine-l,4-dioxides (85) (255), whereas the reaction with ninhydrin gives [1,2-b] pyrazine N,N -dioxides (86) (Scheme 2.32)... 

An alternative method of synthesizing the pyrazine compounds was described by Ghosh et al, and the synthesis is shown is Scheme 32 [78]. Reaction of a 1,2-dione (124) with a 1,2-diamine (125) to form an imine intermediate followed by spontaneous oxidation of the dihydropyrazine intermediate, formed the protected pyrazine compound 126. The free phenol 127 was obtained by removal of the methyl-protecting groups with a boron trifluoride-dimethyl sulfide complex. Similar compounds were prepared via the same method by Simoni et al. [79]. 

It should be noted that, as all carbon positions in pyrazine are identical, the locant 2- in a monosubstituted derivative is unnecessary. All possible reduced derivatives of pyrazine 1, and several of those of its benzo analogues quinoxaline 2 and phenazine 3, are known. There are four dihydropyrazines, the 1,2-, 2,3-, 1,4-, and 2,5-isomers, two tetrahydropyrazines, the 1,2,3,4- and 1,2,3,6-, and hexahydropyrazine or piperazine, the last of which is omitted in this chapter. The reduced quinoxalines are the 1,2- and 1,4-dihydro compounds and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline. The only known reduced phenazine is 1,4-dihydrophenazine. Hydroxypyrazine 4 and hydroxyquinoxaline 6 have been shown to exist in the tautomeric amide form by spectral studies, and therefore they are formulated as 2(1//)-pyrazinone 5 and 2(l//)-quinoxalinone, respectively. In contrast, aminopyrazine and aminoquinoxaline exist as described in the amino rather than the imino forms (Figure 1). 

Among the four isomers of dihydropyrazines, the 2,3-dihydro isomers are most explored because these reduced pyrazines have been easily prepared by condensation of 1,2-diamines and 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds. This class of compounds is unexpectedly unstable resulting in dimerization at room temperature. Thus, 2,3-dihydropyrazine 97 (R = = Me) gradually dimerizes to form tricyclic system 98, fused with two tetrahydropyrazine units... 

Azirines are dimerized under various conditions to dihydropyrazines or their dehydrogenated products, namely pyrazines (Section 8.03.9.5). Quinoxalines are oxidized with potassium permanganate to afford 2,3-pyrazinedicarboxylic acids, and pteridines are hydrolyzed to give 3-amino-2-pyrazinecarboxylic acid derivatives. Condensation of 3,4-diamino-l,2,5-thiadiazole 176 with a-diketones produces l,2,5-thiadiazolo[3,4- Jpyrazines 177, which are reduced to provide 2,3-diaminopyrazines 178 (Scheme 51) <1997JCM250>. 

There are very few reactions of real synthetic significance which proceed via condensation of two 1,3-electrophile-nucleophile species. Probably the most important of this latter type of reaction is the synthesis of pyrazines by self-condensation of an a-acylamino compound to the dihydropyrazine followed by aromatization (equation 132). The a-acylamino compounds, which dimerize spontaneously, are normally generated in situ, for example by treatment of a- hydroxy carbonyl compounds with ammonium acetate or by reduction of a-azido, -nitro or -oximino carbonyl compounds. Cyclodimerization of a-amino acids gives 2,5-dioxopiperazines (equation 133), many derivatives of which occur as natural products. Two further reactions which illustrate the 1,3-electrophile-nucleophile approach are outlined in equations (134) and (135), but su i processes are of little general utility. 

With chiral racemic oxiranes one enantiomer reacts faster than the other the degree of kinetic resolution is very high for L-valine/alanine-based dialkoxydihydropyrazines. For example, in the reaction of one equivalent of (2.S )-2,5-dihydro-2-isopropyl-3,6-dimethoxy-5-methyl-pyrazine (1, R1 = CH3) with two equivalents of fW-(//,/ )-2,3-dimethyloxirane (R2,R4 = CH3 R = H) virtually only the (2//,3/ )-oxirane enantiomer reacts with the lithiated dihydropyrazine to give exclusively the (l /, 2/, 2 / )-configuratcd adduct i.e., (2/ ,5S)-2,5-dihydro-5-isopropyl-3,6-dimethoxy-2-[(l/ ,2/ )-2-(2-methoxyethoxymethoxy)-l-methylpropyl]-2-methylpyrazine, entry 7. Likewise, kinetic resolution (intramolecular) occurs upon reaction with rac-7-oxabicy-clo[4.1.0]heptane (entry 8). 

Several mechanisms have been proposed for the formation of pyrazines in food flavours [18, 23, 25], but the major route is from a-aminoketones, which are products of the condensation of a dicarbonyl with an amino compound via Strecker degradation (Scheme 12.3). Self-condensation of the aminoketones, or condensation with other aminoketones, affords a dihydropyrazine that is oxidised to the pyrazine. 

Pyrazine 192 is reduced in acidic solution in two one-electron steps through the protonated radical to 1,4-dihydropyrazine (193) 192 and 193 can react with formation of two PH- radicals.306,307 The 1,4-dihydro- (or... 

Dihydropyrazines are readily reoxidized to pyrazines and are difficult to isolate309 reduction of 192 in aprotic medium in the presence of acetic anhydride gives l,4-diacetyl-l,4-dihydropyrazine,297,310 which is the first stable 1,4-dihydropyrazine isolated. Reductive carboxylation of 192 in DMF, followed by alkylation, is also expected to produce a stable 1,4-dihydropyrazine. 

An important preparation of pyrazines (303) is from a-amino ketones RCOCH2NH2 or their monooximes which spontaneously condense to give 2,5-dihydropyrazines (302). The a-amino ketones are often prepared in situ by reduction of isonitroso ketones, and the dihydropyrazines are usually oxidized to pyrazines before isolation icf Section 3.2.2.3.3). Catalytic reduction of a-azido ketones also leads to 2,5-dihydropyrazines (80OPP265). Similarly, a-nitro ketones may be reduced to the a-amino ketones which dimerize spontaneously (69USP3453278). 

The condensation of an a-diketone or its synthetic equivalent (e.g. aroyl cyanide (87S914)) with a 1,2-diaminoalkane gives 2,3-dihydropyrazines (Scheme 41), which like their 2,5-analogues can be oxidized by air, or better by Mn02 in ethanolic KOH, to pyrazines (78MI21400). 

Aziridine is converted into piperazine on NH3 treatment 1-substituted aziridines give 1,4-disubstituted piperazines when reacted with Grignard reagents. Azirines (326) with Group VI metal carbonyls give pyrazines (327) and dihydropyrazines (328). 

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