Pyridines Neber rearrangement

A ketoxime tosylate 1 can be converted into an a-amino ketone 2 via the Neber rearrangement by treatment with a base—e.g. using an ethoxide or pyridine. Substituent R is usually aryl, but may as well be alkyl or H substituent R can be alkyl or aryl, but not H. 

The chemoenzymatic synthesis of a Ps adrenergic receptor agonist was developed by J.Y.L. Chung and co-workers. The key chiral 3-pyridylethanolamine intermediate was prepared via the Neber rearrangement of the ketoxime tosylate derived from 3-acetylpyridine. The oxime formation and the tosylation were carried out in a one-pot process using pyridine as the solvent. The solution of the ketoxime tosylate in ethanol was then cooled to 10 °C and potassium ethoxide was added. After the TsOK salt was removed from the reaction mixture, HCI gas was bubbled through the solution until the pH reached 2 and the 3-pyridylaminomethyl ketal was isolated as its di-HCI salt. 

One of the major problems encountered in this synthesis is the difficulty of obtaining the starting materials (either the a-aminocarbonyl compounds or their acylated derivatives). The former may be prepared by Neber rearrangement of ketoxime tosylates with a base such as ethoxide or pyridine.46 a-Acylamino carbonyl compounds can be prepared directly by the reductive acetylation of oximino ketones.28 38 Balaban and his collaborators47-60 have developed an excellent method for the synthesis of a-acylamino ketones (5). They are obtained in yields of 50-90% by the reaction of azlactones (2-aryl-5-oxazolone, 4) with aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of aluminum chloride under Friedel-Crafts conditions the reaction may proceed either intermolecularly or intramolecularly. 

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