Pyrrole-2-carboxylic ester bromination

Unsymmetrically substituted dipyrromethanes are obtained from n-unsubstitued pyrroles and fl(-(bromomethyl)pyiToIes in hot acetic acid within a few minutes. These reaction conditions are relatively mild and the o-unsubstituted pyrrole may even bear an electron withdrawing carboxylic ester function. It is still sufficiently nucleophilic to substitute bromine or acetoxy groups on an a-pyrrolic methyl group. Hetero atoms in this position are extremely reactive leaving groups since the a-pyrrolylmethenium( = azafulvenium ) cation formed as an intermediate is highly resonance-stabilized. 

Bromination of ketone 3.17 gives 3.18 which can be converted to azide 3.19. Hydrogenation of 3.19 in the presence of hydrochloric acid affords aminoketone hydrochloride salt 3.20. Such aminoketones are often isolated as the corresponding salts because the free aminoketones are prone to dimerisation, having both nucleophilic and electrophilic centres. (For a common alternative preparation of aminoketones, see the Knorr pyrrole synthesis, Chapter 2.) Liberation of the free base of 3.20 in the presence of the acid chloride affords amide 3.21 which is cyclised to oxazole 3.22. Ester hydrolysis then affords the biologically-active carboxylic acid 3.23. 

To 5d] Attempts to replace nuclear bromine atoms from ethyl bromo-pyrrole-2-carboxylate by nucleophilic substitutions generally failed, but with cuprous cyanide low yields of cyano esters resulted . 

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