Pyrroles from isonitriles

In the presence of Bu OK, (benzotriazole-l-yl)methyl isocyanide (BetMIC) 697 undergoes alkylation on the methylene group to give isocyanide 698. The anion derived from 698, upon its treatment with Bu OK, adds to the electron-deficient double bonds of ajl-unsaturated ketones, esters or nitriles to produce pyrroles 699. A similar reaction of isocyanide 698 with Schiff bases provides imidazoles 700. In both cases, use of unsubstituted isonitriles 697 in the reactions leads to heterocycles 699 and 700 with R1 = H (Scheme 108) <1997H(44)67>. 

A synthesis of a set of 2-pyridylpyrroles has been described, involving annulation of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with 2-(aminomethyl)pyridine under acidic conditions, as illustrated by the construction of compound 437 (Equation 121) <20020L435>. Likewise, pyrroles have also been obtained from reactions between 1,3-diaryl-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds and imines or oximes promoted by the TiCU/Zn-system <2004SL2239>. Yet another approach involves rhodium-catalyzed reactions of isonitriles with 1,3-dicarbonyl synthons, which enables for instance preparation of fluorinated pyrroles <20010L421>. 

The reactions of alkenyl carbene complexes with isonitriles can produce a variety of products whose distribution is sensitive to the nature of the isonitrile. Reacting 3 equiv. of aryl isonitrile with the alkenyl complex (383) produces the dihydro- y-carbolinone (385). 74 The ketenimine in (384) is liberated with a second equivalent of the isonitrile, and the the third equivalent undergoes a formal [4 -i- 2] cycloaddition with the free ketenimine. With sterically encumbered isonitriles, the ketenimine is more rapidly liberated from the metal by a second isonitrile and 2 equiv. are required to drive the reaction to completion. Free ketenimines that are generated in this manner can be trapped via their [4 + 2] cycloadditions with maleic anhydride. 7 Primary and secondary alkyl isonitriles will react with alkenyl carbene complexes to give cycloadducts that can be converted to pyrroles or products that contain five-member ring carbo-cycles. 7 ... 

In tMs approach, conjugate addition of the anion from an isocyano-acetate to an a,p-unsaturated nitrocompound with evenmal loss of nitrous acid, produces 5-unsubstituted pyrrole-2-esters. The example below shows a mechanistic sequence that can be seen to parallel that in the van Leusen synthesis. The most useful route to the a,P-unsaturated nitro-compound involves the base-catalysed condensation of an aldehyde with a nitroalkane giving an a-hydroxy-nitroalkane it can alternatively be generated in situ, in the presence of the isonitrile, using diazabicycloundecane (DBU) as base on the 0-acetate of the a-hydroxy-nitroalkane (for an example see 16.16.2.1). The process works even when the unsaturated nitro unit is a component of a polycyclic aromatic compound. ... 

BusSnH-mediated intramolecular arylations of various heteroarenes such as substituted pyrroles, indoles, pyridones and imidazoles have also been reported [51]. In addition, aryl bromides, chlorides and iodides have been used as substrates in electrochemically induced radical biaryl synthesis [52]. Curran introduced [4-1-1] annulations incorporating aromatic substitution reactions with vinyl radicals for the synthesis of the core structure of various camptothecin derivatives [53]. The vinyl radicals have been generated from alkynes by radical addition reactions [53, 54]. For example, aryl radical 27, generated from the corresponding iodide or bromide, was allowed to react with phenyl isonitrile to afford imidoyl radical 28, which further reacts in a 5-exo-dig process to vinyl radical 29 (Scheme 8) [53a,b]. The vinyl radical 29 then reacts in a 1,6-cyclization followed by oxidation to the tetracycle 30. There is some evidence [55] that the homolytic aromatic substitution can also occur via initial ipso attack to afford spiro radical 31, followed by opening of this cyclo-... 

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