Pyrazines ring synthesis

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). 

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. 

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). 

Examination of the pyrazino[2,3-rf]pyrimidine structure of pteridines reveals two principal pathways for the synthesis of this ring system, namely fusion of a pyrazine ring to a pyrimidine derivative, and annelation of a pyrimidine ring to a suitably substituted pyrazine derivative (equation 76). Since pyrimidines are more easily accessible the former pathway is of major importance. Less important methods include degradations of more complex substances and ring transformations of structurally related bicyclic nitrogen heterocycles. 

Partly saturated pyrazino[l,2-r-]pyrimidines were prepared by formation of the pyrazine ring. 2-Substituted-8-hydroxy-3,4-dihydro-177,277-pyrazino[l,2-r-]pyrimidin-l-ones were prepared by a [6+0] synthesis involving cyclization of 6-hydroxy-pyrimidine-4-(fV-hydroxyethyl)carboxamides <2005W02005/087766>. The 2/7-pyra-zino[l,2-c]pyrimidine-3-carboxamide 164 (Y = NH) was formed from [5+1] atom fragments via the uracil derivative 163 (Y = NH) and DMF-dimethyl acetal. Compounds 163 were prepared from 6-chloromethyluracil and glycine methyl ester 162 (Y = NH) (Scheme 20) <2004W02004/014354>. 

The Sonogashira reaction is of considerable value in heterocyclic synthesis. It has been conducted on the pyrazine ring of quinoxaline and the resulting alkynyl- and dialkynyl-quinoxalines were subsequently utilized to synthesize condensed quinoxalines [52-55], Ames et al. prepared unsymmetrical diynes from 2,3-dichloroquinoxalines. Thus, condensation of 2-chloroquinoxaline (93) with an excess of phenylacetylene furnished 2-phenylethynylquinoxaline (94). Displacement of the chloride with the amine also occurred when the condensation was carried out in the presence of diethylamine. Treatment of 94 with a large excess of aqueous dimethylamine led to ketone 95 that exists predominantly in the intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded enol form 96. 

Ring Synthesis of Fused Pyridazines, Pyrimidines, and Pyrazines with Oxygen, Sulfur,... 

The established procedure for the synthesis of the fused pyrazine ring involves condensation of the oxadiazole diamine with 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds <1978JOC341>. The latter procedure was used by Beebe et al. to make a series of [l,2,5]oxadiazolo[3,4-/ ]pyrazines for evaluation as antibacterial agents <2003BML3133>. An example is shown in Scheme 52, which involved heating the diamine with (3-bromophenyl)oxoacetic acid in glacial acetic acid at 110°C to give the [l,2,5]oxadiazolo[3,4- ]pyrazine. 

The substitution of pteridines at positions adjacent to the pyridine-like nitrogen atoms in either the pyrimidine or the pyrazine is a well-established synthetic procedure and remains an important contributor to the synthesis of complex substituted pteridines. Significant extensions of these methods have been described at both the pyrimidine and pyrazine rings. 

A direct and versatile synthesis of the thieno[2,3-6 ]pyrazine ring system was found by Schneller and coworkers and consists of the reaction of 2-chloro-3-cyanopyrazine (361) with ethyl a-mercaptoacetate in the presence of sodium carbonate (Scheme 106) (75JHC513, 76JHC273 cf. 79MI31703). The conversion of (362) to thieno[2,3- >]pyrazine (363) is accomplished by straightforward methods. The compound (363) forms colorless crystals with m.p. 44 °C. 

Interaction of substituted dienediamines with ethylenediamine yields im-idazo[3,2-n]pyridine derivatives (95JHC477). 3-Arylaminoindoles, with distinct enamine properties, are the starting materials for the synthesis of indolo[3,2-b]quinoline derivatives [96KFZ(7)42]. a-Carboline derivatives can be obtained from enamine-based 3-dimethylamino-2-indolinones [96KFZ(9)35, 96KFZ(10)32], The synthesis and transformation of enamines based on the pyrido[l,2-n]pyrazine ring system into imidazo[l,2-n]pyridine and imidazo[l,2-a]pyrimidine derivatives have been reported... 

About 2 years later, a Stanford Research Institute group described the synthesis of the first true pyrimidine analogue of FA (303) which incorporated all of the structural features of FA except the pyrazine ring (see Scheme 3.55) [159], They envisioned that (303) could be assembled from appropriately protected derivatives of isocytosine, glyoxal and p-aminobenzoyl L-glutamic... 

Stepwise pyrazine ring-formation using 5-nitropyrimidine was applied to the synthesis of 4a-hydroxytetrahydrobiopterin (95), which is an interesting intermediate in the metabolism of aromatic amino acids (see Sect. 5.2). As illustrated in Scheme 18, the 5-aminopyrimidine 97 prepared from chloroni-tropyrimidine 96 by nucleophilic substitution followed by catalytic hydrogenation was oxidized under acidic conditions to o-quinone derivative 98. 

PCD deficient patients excrete 7-biopterin (137), called primaterin, in their urine [152-154], which had not been observed in normal mammals. The mechanism of the 7-substituted pterin synthesis from 6-substitute has been proposed [155,156] (Scheme 33). When 95 is rapidly dehydrated to 45 via PCD, the dihydroxypropyl side chain of 95 is retained at its 6-position. However, in the absence of PCD activity, the rate of conversion of unstable 95 is slow. Therefore, its pyrazine ring is opened to give 98, and recyclization of 98 to the 7-substituted pterin derivative proceeds via spiro intermediate 138 [89,156]. 

Drawn from these examples it is apparent that controlling the chemose-lectivity in inter-intermolecular Heck-Diels-Alder reactions of two different alkenes can be tedious if the alkenes show comparable reactivities. Nevertheless, the stepwise approach was realized in several other cases. In a synthesis of a derivative of cephalostatin 1 containing a central benzene instead of the pyrazine ring, Winterfeldt et al. linked two steroidal systems by a Heck coupling and subsequently performed high pressure Diels-Alder reactions of the conjugated diene with electron-deficient alkynes [34], Another example, reported by Hayashi et al., involves a selective Heck reaction of a bromoglu-cal with ethylene or acrylic acid derivatives followed by cycloadditions with maleic anhydride or N-phenylmaleimide [35]. 

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