Pyridinium ions 1-acyl

Acyl chlorides are highly reactive acylating agents and react very rapidly with alcohols and other nucleophiles. Preparative procedures often call for use of pyridine as a catalyst. Pyridine catalysis involves initial formation of an acyl pyridinium ion, which then reacts with the alcohol. Pyridine is a better nucleophile than the neutral alcohol, but the acyl pyridinium ion reacts more rapidly with the alcohol than the acyl chloride.103... 

Use of 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoyl chloride, Et3N, and DMAP, known as the Yamaguchi method,128 is frequently used to effect macrolactonization. The reaction is believed to involve formation of the mixed anhydride with the aroyl chloride, which then forms an acyl pyridinium ion on reaction with DMAP.129... 

Other hardeners contain heterocyclic rings which remain intact, but unlike the s-triazines do not constitute the protein link. For example, the bis-pyridinium ion (7) exerts its hardening action by acylation of pendant amino groups (Scheme 3) (70USP3542558). 

These chiral acyl donors can be used for quite effective kinetic resolution of racemic secondary alcohols. For example, enantiomeric aryl alkyl ketones are es-terified by the acyl pyridinium ion 8 with selectivity factors in the range 12-53 [10], In combination with its pseudo-enantiomer 9, parallel kinetic resolution was performed [11], Under these conditions, methyl l-(l-naphthyl)ethanol was resolved with an effective selectivity factor > 125 [12]. Unfortunately, the acyl donors 8 and 9 must be preformed, and no simple catalytic version was reported. Furthermore, over-stoichiometric quantities of either MgBr2 or ZnCI2 are required to promote acyl transfer. In 2001, Vedejs and Rozners reported a catalytic parallel kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols (Scheme 12.3) [13]. 

An equally serious problem is that the nitrogen lone pair is basic and a reasonably good nucleophile—this is the basis for its role as a nucleophilic catalyst in acylations. The normal reagents for electrophilic substitution reactions, such as nitration, are acidic. Treatment of pyridine with the usual mixture of HN03 and H2SO4 merely protonates the nitrogen atom. Pyridine itself is not very reactive towards electrophiles the pyridinium ion is totally unreactive. 

Scheme 24.2 Route for the conversion of (+)-(R)-balfourodine into (+)-(R)-isobalfourodine and (+)-(R)-isoplatydesmine into (—)-(S)-ribalinine with acetic anhydride in pyridine and ulterior hydrolyze. Mechanism as proposed by Fersht and coworker [141], in which pyridine catalysis involves initial formation of an acyl pyridinium ion, which then reacts with the alcohol...

The basic properties of pyridines make themselves evident in nucleophilic as well as in electrophilic processes an example is the formation of acyl-pyridinium ions which can react with enolate anions (p. 205). Again the orientation of attack revealed in the isolated product has no bearing on the relative reactivities of C(2) and C(4). 

Reductions of aldehydes and ketones to alcohols proceed at slower rates with AERs in BH4 form than with NaBH4 in ethanol.a,j8-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds are reduced by BH4 in a gel AER to the allylic alcohols. Cyanoborohydride ion in a macroporous AER effects reductive aminations of ketones and ammonia to primary amines, reductive methylations of primary amines to the N,iV-dimethyl tertiary amines with aqueous formaldehyde, reductions of N-alkyl- and AT-acyl-pyridinium ions to tetrahydropyridines, and reductions of primary alkyl halides to alkanes. Nitroarenes are reduced to amines, the bromide of a-bromocarbonyl compounds is replaced by hydride, and 1,2-dibromoalkanes give alkenes by treatment with HFe(CO)4 in a macroporous AER. 

Primary amine-catalyzed polymerization of NCAs in various solvents revealed that certain polar solvents themselves act as catalysts [3]. Characteristic for the catalytically active solvents is a relatively high nucleophihcity [4] (see left column in Table 15.1). This observation and the formation of cyclic polypeptides from the N-substituted sarcosine-NCA evidenced that a zwitterionic polymerization mechanism was catalyzed, which involves ROP and condensation steps (see Formula 15.2). Pyridine is known for many decades to activate carboxylic anhy-drdies by charge separation, i. e., formation of carboxylate anions plus N-acyl pyridinium ions Therefore, it is obvious that pyridine catalyzes the same zwitterionic mechanism as the nucleophilic polar solvents [5]. In the case of N-un-substitued NCAs the initiation step will be again a charge separation, but instead of... 

Fuji and co-workers have demonstrated the use of a PPY derivative that utilizes remote stereochemistry and an interesting induced fit process to control selectivity [21]. Upon acylation of catalyst 20, a conformational change occurs, stabilizing the intermediate N-acyliminium ion 21 (Fig. 2a,b). Chemical shifts in the XH NMR and nOes observed support a Jt-Jt interaction between the electron-rich naphthyl ring and the electron-deficient pyridinium ring. This blocks the top face of the catalyst and directs attack of the alcohol from the bottom face. Catalyst 20 effects resolutions of diol-monoesters and amino alcohol derivatives such as 22 and 23 with moderate to good selectivity factors (fcrei=4.7-21, see Fig. 2c) [22]. 

---