Pyrrole, acylation arylation

The synthesis will therefore normally produce a 2,4-substituted pyrrole, with in addition an ester group or an acyl group at the 3-position, if a keto ster or a diketone respectively has been employed, and an ester group or an alkyl (aryl) group at the 5-position, according to the nature of the amino-ketone. 

The two-phase alkylation reactions have been extended to the acylation of simple heteroaromatic systems. Generally, the required conditions are milder than those employed for the alkylation reactions, but an excess of the acylating agent is usually required, owing to its facile hydrolysis in the basic media. Thus, benzimidazole and its 2-alkyl and 2-aryl derivatives have been benzoylated [46], and pyrrole and indole have been converted into a range of A-acyl [47, 48] and A-sulphonyl derivatives [48-53] (Table 5.35 and Table 5.36). 

The first class of amine-based nucleophilic catalysts to give acceptable levels of selectivity in the KR of aryl alkyl. yec-alcohols was a series of planar chiral pyrrole derivatives 13 and 14, initially disclosed by Fu in 1996 [25, 26]. Fu and co-workers had set out to develop a class of robust and tuneable catalysts that could be used for the acylative KR of various classes of. yec-alcohols. Planar-chiral azaferrocenes 13 and 14 seemed to meet their criteria. These catalysts feature of a reasonably nucleophilic nitrogen and constitute 18-electron metal complexes which are highly stable [54-58]. Moreover, by modifying the substitution pattern on the heteroaromatic ring, the steric demand and hence potentially the selectivity of these catalysts could be modulated. 

The lithium derivatives of 1-substituted pyrroles and indoles provide another general route of access to 2-acyl pyrroles and indoles. The ketones can be obtained directly by reaction with aryl nitriles or acid halides but, at least for 1-benzenesulfonylindole, a two-step procedure involving reaction with an aldehyde followed by oxidation of the carbinol to the ketone is frequently more convenient (equation 179) (73JOC3324, 75JOC2613). This method is probably the most general route to 2-acylindoles, although many have also been prepared by direct Fischer cyclization (see Section 3.06.3.4.2). 

Heterocycles containing an NH group, such as pyrroles, indoles, imidazoles, triazoles, etc., can be linked to insoluble supports as N-alkyl, N-aryl, or N-acyl derivatives (Table 3.29). The optimal choice depends mainly on the NH acidity of the heterocycle in question. Increasing acidity will facilitate the acidolytic cleavage of N-benzyl groups and the nucleophilic cleavage of /V-acyl groups from these heterocycles. 

Similarly, pyrroles 363 reacted smoothly with a range of alkyl- and aryl-substituted acid chlorides to afford the corresponding 2-acyl pyrrole derivatives 364 (Equation 81). 

A wide variety of substituents are tolerated. The group R can be alkyl, halogen, alkoxy, -amido, azi-domethyl, ester, aryl, aryloxy and aryloyl, and at least one ortho substituent is permissible with no loss in yield. TTie aromatic ring can also be 2-naphthyl, 9,10-dihydro-2-phenanthryl, 3-pyridyl, thiophen-2-yl or pyrrol-3-yl. The group R can be hydrogen, yl, acyl or acetic acid. Beyond Ae antiinflammatory targets, successful reaction substrates include the methyl ketones of a binaphthyl crown ether, a morphinane and a polyaromatic hydrocarbon. The preparation of ibuprofen methyl ester (38) is shown in equation (37) as a typical example. ... 

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