Pyrrole, reactivity compared

In many cases, substituents linked to a pyrrole, furan or thiophene ring show similar reactivity to those linked to a benzenoid nucleus. This generalization is not true for amino or hydroxyl groups. Hydroxy compounds exist largely, or entirely, in an alternative nonaromatic tautomeric form. Derivatives of this type show little resemblance in their reactions to anilines or phenols. Thienyl- and especially pyrryl- and furyl-methyl halides show enhanced reactivity compared with benzyl halides because the halogen is made more labile by electron release of the type shown below. Hydroxymethyl and aminomethyl groups on heteroaromatic nuclei are activated to nucleophilic attack by a similar effect. 

Nevertheless, we can interpret the reactions of furan and thiophene by logical consideration as we did for pyrrole. In electrophilic substitutions, there is again a preference for 2- rather than 3-substitution, and typical electrophilic reactions carried out under acidic conditions are difficult to control. However, because of lower reactivity compared with pyrrole, it is possible to exploit Friedel-Crafts acylations, though using less-reactive anhydrides rather than... 

Ni(II)-meso-tetramethylporphine ( 3a) was converted by two ways into polymeric porphyrins Firstly, bromation of 83a) in CCI4 in the presence of AIBN gave the expected monobrommethylporphyrin 83 b). This reactive intermediate (detected as methoxymethyiderivate 83 c) is reacting easily with a /8-pyrrol position of another porphyrin (Eq. 38). Beside dimer and trimer formation the polymer 84) was obtained (yield 21%). 83 c) is also converted into 84) with HCl (51% yield). In the electronic spectra the broader Soret band at 425 nm of 84) is shifted to the bathochrome side due to connection in /8-position of the pyrrole ring compared with starting compound 83 a). 

Pyrrole is highly reactive, compared with benzene, because of contribution from the relatively stable structure 111. In 111 every atom has an octet of electrons nitrogen accommodates the positive charge simply by sharing four pairs of electrons. It is no accident that pyrrole resembles aniline in reactivity both owe their high reactivity to the ability of nitrogen to share four pairs of electrons. 

In connection with the elucidation of the structures of the products obtained upon reaction of the tropone (496) with perchloric acid, the 6-methoxy-substituted derivatives have been prepared by reaction of (496) with methyl iodide and silver fluoroborate. -Comparison of u.v. spectra indicated that the salts between the tropones (496) and perchloric acid were 6-hydroxy-derivatives of the perchlorate of (497). U.v. and n.m.r. spectra of the systems (496)—(499) are discussed and their properties and reactivities compared with the corresponding JV-phenyl-pyrrole analogue. A preliminary report of the polarographic, i.r., and u.v. spectroscopic properties, as well as the dipole moments, of both the C-annelated systems (496) and (497) without methyl groups in the thiophen ring and also the ion (500) with alkyl, hydroxy, and methoxy-groups in the seven-membered ring has been published. Values of piirR+ between 6 and 7 have been obtained for this system. The spectroscopic properties of metallocene derivatives such as (501)—(503) have also... 

Thiophenes with electron-deficient groups were more reactive compared with electron-donating substituents. ortfar-Substitution had no detrimental effect on reactivity and sterically demanding substrates could be accessed in excellent yields (80-91%). Heteroaryl bromides, such as pyridine, pyrimidine, quinoline, thiophene, and furan, were viable substrates. Notably, benzoth-iophene, benzofuran, furan, and pyrrole derivatives could also be directly arylated. 

This reaction sequence is much less prone to difficulties with isomerizations since the pyridine-like carbons of dipyrromethenes do not add protons. Yields are often low, however, since the intermediates do not survive the high temperatures. The more reactive, faster but less reliable system is certainly provided by the dipyrromethanes, in which the reactivity of the pyrrole units is comparable to activated benzene derivatives such as phenol or aniline. The situation is comparable with that found in peptide synthesis where the slow azide method gives cleaner products than the fast DCC-promoted condensations (see p. 234). 

The reactivity sequence furan > tellurophene > selenophene > thiophene is thus the same for all three reactions and is in the reverse order of the aromaticities of the ring systems assessed by a number of different criteria. The relative rate for the trifluoroacetylation of pyrrole is 5.3 x lo . It is interesting to note that AT-methylpyrrole is approximately twice as reactive to trifluoroacetylation as pyrrole itself. The enhanced reactivity of pyrrole compared with the other monocyclic systems is also demonstrated by the relative rates of bromination of the 2-methoxycarbonyl derivatives, which gave the reactivity sequence pyrrole>furan > selenophene > thiophene, and by the rate data on the reaction of the iron tricarbonyl-complexed carbocation [C6H7Fe(CO)3] (35) with a further selection of heteroaromatic substrates (Scheme 5). The comparative rates of reaction from this substitution were 2-methylindole == AT-methylindole>indole > pyrrole > furan > thiophene (73CC540). 

Furan has the greater reactivity in cycloaddition reactions compared with pyrrole and thiophene the latter is the least reactive diene. However, A -substituted pyrroles show enhanced dienic character compared with the parent heterocycle. 

In addition to electrophilic attack on the pyrrole ring in indole, there is the possibility for additions to the fused benzene ring. First examine the highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of indole. Which atoms contribute the most What should be the favored position for electrophilic attack Next, compare the energies of the various protonated forms of indole (C protonated only). These serve as models for adducts formed upon electrophilic addition. Which carbon on the pyrrole ring (C2 or C3) is favored for protonation Is this the same as the preference in pyrrole itself (see Chapter 15, Problem 2)1 If not, try to explain why not. Which of the carbons on the benzene ring is most susceptible to protonation Rationalize your result based on what you know about the reactivity of substituted benzenes toward electrophiles. Are any of the benzene carbons as reactive as the most reactive pyrrole carbon Explain. 

The heteroaromatic compounds like furans, pyrroles or thiophenes cannot be generally used as dienes in Diels-Alder syntheses, because at the higher temperature required for the addition of less reactive dienophiles, the equilibrium is on the side of the starting materials due to the unfavorable T AS term comparable to the benzenoid aromatic compounds as mentioned. High pressure again shows the two effects already discussed the shift of the equilibrium toward the products and the enhancement of the rate of reaction which allows the temperature of reaction to be lowered. One... 

Tritylimidazole (entry 4) lithiates readily in THE at room temperature, and it is interesting to compare this reactivity with that of the pyrrole... 

The reaction of 3,6-di-/ftt-butyl-l,4-dihydropyrrolo[3,2-. ]pyrrole 58 with chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (CSI) giving 59 was investigated (Scheme 1) <1996H(43)2361>. The higher reactivity for electrophilic reaction demonstrated the remarkably electron excessive nature of the system when compared with indole and pyrrole derivatives. 

The condensation of furo[3,2- ]pyrrole-type aldehydes 8g and 265-267 with hippuric acid was carried out in dry acetic anhydride catalyzed by potassium acetate as is shown in Scheme 26. The product methyl and ethyl 2-[( )-(5-oxo-2-phenyl-l,3-oxazol-5(4//)-ylidene)methyl]furo[3,2- ]pyrrol-5-carboxylates 268a-d were obtained. The course of the reaction was compared with the reaction of 5-arylated furan-2-carbaldehydes with hippuric acid. It was found that the carbonyl group attached at G-2 of the fused system 8 is less reactive than the carbonyl group in 5-arylated furan-2-carbaldehydes in this reaction <2004MOL11>. The configuration of the carbon-carbon double bond was determined using two-dimensional (2-D) NMR spectroscopic measurements and confirmed the (E) configuration of the products. 

When N-substituted pyrrole 37 and trithiazyl trichloride (NSCfis are heated at reflux in carbon tetrachloride, IH-pyrrolo[2,3-r 4,5-. V-Substituted pyrrolo[2,3-f]-l,2,5-thiadi-azole 38 is believed to be an intermediate in this reaction (Equation 2). The enamine character of the carbon-carbon double bond of 38 is presumed to be enhanced compared to pyrrole 37, rendering 38 more reactive toward (NSCfis. 

Problem 20.22 Compare, and explain the difference between, pyridine and pyrrole with respect to reactivity toward electrophilic substitution. 

Thiophene is far more reactive than benzene in electrophilic substitution reactions. Reaction with bromine in acetic acid has been calculated to be 1.76 x 109 times faster than with benzene (72IJS(C)(7)6l). This comparison should, of course, be treated with circumspection in view of the fact that the experimental conditions are not really comparable. Benzene in the absence of catalysts is scarcely attacked by bromine in acetic acid. More pertinent is the reactivity sequence for this bromination among five-membered aromatic heterocycles, the relative rates being in the order 1 (thiophene) and 120 (furan) or, for trifluoroacetylation, 1 (thiophene), 140 (furan), 5.3 xlO7 (pyrrole) (B-72MI31300, 72IJS(C)(7)6l). Among the five-membered heteroaromatics, thiophene is definitely the least reactive. 

In this section the known or reported reactions of A,B-diheteropentaIenes will be presented. In general, the compounds for which fully classical structures (la)-(lc) can be written behave like the simple five-membered ring systems which they are composed of. Not surprisingly the fully conjugated furanofurans (la-lc X = Y = 0) are unknown only reduced furanofurans are reported. This is probably a consequence of the high reactivity of the furan system compared to pyrrole, thiophene and selenophene. 

As mentioned earlier (Section 3.18.4) thienopyrroles have been studied much more than other azaheteropentalenes. Thieno[2,3-f ]pyrrole (32) undergoes Vilsmeier formylation to yield a mixture of two products (43) and (44) in 90% and 10% yields, respectively. The major product is the C-5 substituted isomer (43) which is not surprising in view of the higher reactivity of pyrrole compared to thiophene. Upon deactivation of the pyrrole ring by the introduction of an ester function at C-5 as in (45) formylation occurs exclusively at C-2 to give aldehyde (46) in 95% yield (Scheme 8) (78AHC(22)183>. 

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