Pyrrole, Furan and Thiophene

The second simplest heterocycle, or should we say set of heterocycles, are the six-7t electron pyrrole (V), furan (VI), and thiophene (VII). While all tetrahydrogenated derivatives are known to the thermochemist, only the dihydrofuran and dihydrothiophene also are. Both the 2- and 3-methylthiophenes have been studied, and not surprisingly their enthalpies of formation are very close. However, no such 

However, measured data is missing for numerous cases of putative aromatic species with multiple heteroatoms, a situation only worse for the aforementioned approaches to thermochemical understanding of the aromaticity of these more general heterocycles. We are not ready to relinquish this study to computational theorists and so we will present yet other models in this chapter. While these models are not universal, i.e., not all comparisons can be made for all heterocycles, they interleave in that we may use more than one comparison for some heterocycles and derive inequalities and bounds for their varying degrees of aromaticity. 

---

Cyclic compounds that contain at least one atom other than carbon within their ring are called heterocyclic compounds, and those that possess aromatic stability are called het erocyclic aromatic compounds Some representative heterocyclic aromatic compounds are pyridine pyrrole furan and thiophene The structures and the lUPAC numbering system used m naming their derivatives are shown In their stability and chemical behav lor all these compounds resemble benzene more than they resemble alkenes... 

Section 12 18 Heterocyclic aromatic compounds may be more reactive or less reactive than benzene Pyridine is much less reactive than benzene but pyrrole furan and thiophene are more reactive... 

The classical structures of pyrrole, furan and thiophene (31) suggest that these compounds might show chemical reactions similar to those of amines, ethers and thioethers (32) respectively. On this basis, the initial attack of the electrophile would be expected to take place at the heteroatom and lead to products such as quaternary ammonium and oxonium salts, sulfoxides and sulfones. Products of this type from the heteroaromatic compounds under consideration are relatively rare. 

A comparison of the relative basicities of pyrrole, furan and thiophene may be made by comparing the pK values of their 2,5-di-t-butyl derivatives, which were found to be -1.01, —10.01 and —10.16, respectively. In each case protonation was shown by NMR to occur at position 2. The base-strengthening effect of alkyl substitution is clearly apparent by comparison of pyrrole and its alkyl derivatives, e.g. A-methylpyrrole has a pKa. for a-protonation of -2.9 and 2,3,4,5-tetramethylpyrrole has a pK of 4-3.7. In general, protonation of a-alkylpyrroles occurs at the a -position whereas /3-alkylpyrroles are protonated at the adjacent a-position. As expected, electron-withdrawing groups are base-weakening thus A-phenylpyrrole is reported to have a p/sTa of -5.8. The IR spectrum of the hydrochloride of 2-formylpyrrole indicates that protonation occurs mainly at the carbonyl oxygen atom and only to a limited extent at C-5. 

Pyrroles, furans and thiophenes undergo photoinduced alkylation with diarylalkenes provided that the alkene and the heteroaromatic compound have similar oxidation potentials, indicating that alkylation can occur by a non-ionic mechanism (Scheme 20) (81JA5570). 

Mercury(II) acetate tends to mercurate all the free nuclear positions in pyrrole, furan and thiophene to give derivatives of type (74). The acetoxymercuration of thiophene has been estimated to proceed ca. 10 times faster than that of benzene. Mercuration of rings with deactivating substituents such as ethoxycarbonyl and nitro is still possible with this reagent, as shown by the formation of compounds (75) and (76). Mercury(II) chloride is a milder mercurating agent, as illustrated by the chloromercuration of thiophene to give either the 2- or 2,5-disubstituted product (Scheme 25). 

Acyl-pyrroles, -furans and -thiophenes in general have a similar pattern of reactivity to benzenoid ketones. Acyl groups in 2,5-disubstituted derivatives are sometimes displaced during the course of electrophilic substitution reactions. iV-Alkyl-2-acylpyrroles are converted by strong anhydrous acid to A-alkyl-3-acylpyrroles. Similar treatment of N-unsubstituted 2- or 3-acyIpyrroles yields an equilibrium mixture of 2- and 3-acylpyrroles pyrrolecarbaldehydes also afford isomeric mixtures 81JOC839). The probable mechanism of these rearrangements is shown in Scheme 65. A similar mechanism has been proposed for the isomerization of acetylindoles. 

The replacement of two CH groups in benzene by a neutral NR, O or S introduces into the new ring an electron-donating heteroatom. This electron-donor character is accentuated in the pyrrole anion where N is introduced. Thus the five-membered rings with one heteroatom are electron rich (rr-excessive), and the chemistry of pyrrole, furan and thiophene is dominated by this effect and is again considered together as a whole in Part 3. 

Pyrrole, furan, and thiophene, on the other hand, have electron-rich aromatic rings and are extremely reactive toward electrophilic aromatic substitution— rnore like phenol and aniline than benzene. Like benzene they have six tt electrons, but these tt electrons are delocalized over five atoms, not six, and ar e not held as strongly as those of benzene. Even when the ring atom is as electronegative as oxygen, substitution takes place readily. 

The second chapter concerns the tautomerism of five-membered ring systems with a single heteroatom concentrating mainly on pyrroles, furans, and thiophenes. It is authored by Professor W. Friedrichsen and Dr. T. Traulsen (University of Kiel, Germany) together with Drs. J. Elguero and A. R. Katritzky. 

The first group consists of monocyclic heteroaromatic compounds with one heteroatom and without strongly electron-donating substitutents (OH, NH2). Pyrrole, furan, and thiophene are better electron donors than benzene. The order of their reactivities in azo coupling is thiophene > pyrrole > furan > benzene. 

One may consider phospholes to belong to the family of five-membered P-heterocycles pyrrole, furan, and thiophene. A significant difference, however, is that the phospholes described in the literature display only a slight extent of aromaticity. This is well demonstrated by the comparison of the Bird-indexes [32] of benzylphosphole [33], furan, pyrrole, and thiophene (Fig. 1). The Bird-index is an indicator of aromaticity based on the bond-equalizaton. It is the maximum (100) for benzene. 

We have looked at the five-membered aromatic heterocycles pyrrole, furan and thiophene in Section 11.5. Introduction of a second heteroatom creates azoles. This name immediately suggests that nitrogen is one of the heteroatoms. As soon as we consider valencies, we discover that in order to draw a five-membered aromatic heterocycle with two heteroatoms, it must contain nitrogen A neutral oxygen or sulfm atom can have only two bonds, and we cannot, therefore, have more than one of these atoms in any aromatic heterocycle. On the other hand, there is potential for having as many nitrogens as we like in an aromatic ring. 

We can visualize these heterocycles as similar to the simpler aromatic systems pyrrole, furan and thiophene. For example, in imidazole, each carbon and nitrogen will be sp hybridized, with p orbitals contributing to the aromatic rt system. The carbon atoms will each donate one electron to the rt system. Then, as in pyrrole, the NH nitrogen supplies two electrons, and, as in pyridine, the =N- supplies one electron and retains a lone pair. Oxygen or sulfur would also supply two electrons, as we saw in furan and thiophene. 

Benzoheteropines with Fused Pyrrole, Furan and Thiophene Rings... 

---