Pyridine—continued nitration

Dewar and Maitlis143 discussed quite successfully the course of nitration in series of pyridine-like heterocycles in terms of the Dewar reactivity numbers. There is a continuing interest in the electronic structure of pyridine65, 144-140 a model of this compound has been studied by the ASP MO LCAO SCF (antisymmetrized products) method in the 77-electron approxition.146 The semi-empirical parameters146 were obtained from the most recent values of ionization potentials and electron affinities, and bicentric repulsion integrals were computed theoretically. 

The analgesic Flupirtine 23 is a simple pyridine with three substituents at the 2, 3, and 6 positions. Removal of the amide shows the core 24. The 4-fluorobenzylamine 25 could be added by nucleophilic substitution (easier in pyridines than in benzenes) and we shall delay the choice of the leaving group (X in 26) for the moment. The only amino group we could conceivably add by nitration is the one in the 3-position so we might continue by FGI (reduction) and C—N disconnection 27. 

Introduction of heteroatoms, e. g. N, S, or O, into hydrocarbon molecules adds substantial value, and new routes for such reactions are of continuous interest to the chemical industry. The two main classes of aromatic N-containing hydrocarbons are the arylamines and the aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds. The aryl-amines, which are required industrially, are manufactured by nitration of aromatics to nitroaromatics, followed by hydrogenation to arylamines [1,2]. Because of the lower demand for aromatic heterocycles than for arylamines, coal tar is still an important source of pyridine and methylpyridines (picolines). Increasing demand for aromatic heterocyclic compounds has led to processes in which aldehydes and ketones are condensed with NH3 to furnish pyridine and alkylated pyridines [3,4]. 

A packed column GC method for nitrosated pyridine alkaloids in tobacco (Spiegelhalder et al. 1989) allows simultaneous determinations of nitrate and nitrite by continuous flow spectrophotometry. The procedure includes aqueous alkaline extraction of tobacco in the presence of an antibacterial agent. Nitrosamines are cleaned up by liquid-liquid extraction and removal of nicotine. Temperature-programmed GC separations on 10%-OV 17 on chromosorb WHP (80/100 mesh) are carried out. The analysis utilizes N -nitrosopentylpicolylamine or N-nitrosodibenzylamine as internal standards and TEA detection. 

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