Pyrylium nucleophilic addition

A convenient method leading to pyrans (38) consists in the nucleophilic addition of R anions to 2,6-disubstituted pyrjdium salts, in which the y-position (secondary carbonium ion) is more reactive than the a-positions (tertiary carbonium ions), in opposition to the reactivity of 2,4,6-trisubstituted pyrylium salts.Krohnke and Dickore as well as Dimroth and WolH showed that 2,6-diphenyl-pyrylium salts add the anions R of nitromethane, 1,3-diketones, malonodinitrile, ethyl cyanoacetate, and benzoylacetonitrile. Similar reactions are known in the flavylium series. -Nonactivated R ... 

In principle, pyrylium salts can be transformed to pyrans by the addiiion of an appropriate reagent to the 2-, 4-, or 6-position of the heterocycle. Although most transformations seem to be nucleophilic additions (because of the electrophilic character of the pyrylium substrates) some reactions, such as hydrogenation or one-electron reductions, are of a radical nature. Many nucleophilic additions to pyrylium salts proceeding via unstable pyran intermediates seem to be of general synthetic interest, especially in the fields of aromatic and other conjugated systems, l97 200 but are of little interest in pyran chemistry. 

Nucleophilic addition at the 2-position of pyrylium salts (223) occurs readily under mild conditions and when ammonia or primary amines are used the subsequent ring-opening/ring-closure sequences give pyridines (224) and pyridinium salts (222), respectively (Section 3.2.1.6.4.iii). The process is most useful for the synthesis of 2,4,6-trisubstituted pyridine derivatives. Thiinium salts (226) are conveniently prepared from pyrylium salts (225) by treatment with sodium sulfide (Section 3.2.1.6.5), Thiinium salts (226) react with ammonia and amines similarly to their pyrylium analogues. 

Interestingly, a-carboxy-substituted monocyclic pyrylium salts 195, probably because of a lower tendency towards nucleophilic addition in comparison with 2-benzopyrylium salts (Section III,C,1), react via two pathways. One is similar to reactions of 2-benzopyrylium salts (a), and the other resembles the behavior of isoquinolinium salts (b) (Section III, C,4,a,ii). In this case, monocyclic five-membered acyloins 198 were obtained in 15-40% yield. Obviously, their formation occurs by initial addition of amine (pathway a). The difficultly obtainable a-unsubstituted py-... 

NMA+) and 2,4,6-triphenyl-pyrylium tetrafluoroborate (TPP+) in the presence of biphenyl as cosensitizer were suitable for this reaction [174], The assumed mechanism of formation of do by this cosensitization is shown in Scheme 7. Reaction of do with H-donors such as te/t-butylmethylether, propionaldehyde and alcohols results in the formation of 1 1 adducts, the 1-substituted 1,2-dihydro-[60]fullerenes. Product structure support a H-abstraction process [212,213] rather than nucleophilic addition. In Scheme 8, the general formation of 1-substituted l,2-dihydro-[60]fullerenes is shown. Selected examples of the products obtained by this method are summarized in Table 10. 

Comparison of nucleophilic addition to pyrylium systems with that to O-protonated aldehydes/ketones... 

This widely used approach to pyrans has been applied frequently in the last decade. In addition to the preceding article [83AHC(34)145], other reviews involving the conversions of pyrylium salts are available [82AHC(3)140 92MOCH755]. Although most of those transformations are nucleophilic additions, some may be of a radical nature. 

Among the reactions of pyrylium salts, addition of nucleophiles to the ring positions 2/6 and 4, and subsequent reactions, dominate [1]. The point of attack and the nature of the product depend on the steric and electronic properties of the nucleophile, and on those of the ring substituent. 

I g I Among the reactions of pyrylium ions addition of nucleophiles to the ring positions 2,... 

This is manifest in the reactivity of 180/180-Z1 which was generated from 3-bromo-41-f-pyran (283) by /3-elimination of hydrogen bromide with KOtBu (Scheme 6.61). Whether or not this reaction was conducted in the presence of styrene or furan, the only product identified was tert-butyl 4H-pyran-4-yl ether (284). This is in line with the relationship of the intermediate to a pyrylium ion. Thus, the addition of the tert-butoxide ion to 180/180-Zj has to be expected at the 4-position with formation of the vinyl anion 285, which is then protonated to give 284. Likewise, the attack of the nucleophile is predicted at C2and C6 leading to the vinyl anions 286, which... 

Nucleophiles react particularly easily with quaternized azines and with pyrylium and thiopyrylium slats (cf. equation 23) typical examples, including the well-known reaction of pyridinium salts with hydroxide in the presence of potassium ferricyanide to give 2-pyridones, are summarized in equations (34)-(36) (note the rather unusual orientation of addition in the last case reaction normally occurs essentially exclusively a to the heteroatom if the position is free or occupied by a leaving group). 

The amount of a given isomer in reaction mixtures is affected by substitution patterns of the starting pyrylium ions and by the structure of a reagent, in accordance with quantum chemical interpretations using various LCAO-MO methods.201-2028 Almost all additions to 2,6-disubstituted pyrylium ions occur at position 4 to give 4//-pyrans. Unsubstituted or 2,4,6-trisubstituted substrates may be attacked, on the other hand, at a or y positions providing 2H- and/or 4//-pyrans. Limited information on tetrasubstituted and penta-substituted pyrylium ions leads to the conclusion that the former afford AH-pyrans, whereas the latter tend to be attacked by nucleophiles only at positions 2 or 6. 

The recyclization of monocyclic pyrylium salts % occurs in accordance with the addition of nucleophile-ring opening-ring closure (ANRORC) mechanism (78ACR462) which starts with the a-addition of the nucleophile2 (Scheme 4). 

Usually, the a-pyranic addition products (3) cannot be isolated because they isomerize immediately in a thermally allowed electrocyclic process affording acyclic dienones (4), which in many cases react further. Therefore, pyrylium salts 2A react with most nucleophiles as if they had the electronic structure 2B, and thus the pyrylium cation behaves as a useful synthon, namely the last vinylog in the series of acyl halides (Cj synthon) - p-halovinyl ketones (C3 synthon) - pyrylium (C5 synthon) [50, 51],... 

Addition of carbon nucleophiles to the C=C bond of a compound la,b includes reactions of enolizable carbonyl compounds, enol ethers, and ena-mines, as well as lithium alkyls and zinc alkyls. Condensation of the enolizable ketone 68 with la,b (M = Cr, W)26 is induced, for example, by catalytic amounts of triethylamine in pentane and under these conditions affords a 90% yield of crystalline pyranylidene complex 57 directly from the reaction mixture.102 This reaction proceeds via the 2-ethoxy-l-metallatriene L, which, because of the presence of triethylamine, rapidly undergoes ring closure to the pyranylidene (pyrylium ylide) complex 69 by 1,6-elimination of ethanol (Scheme 22). Chromanylidene complexes 71 are obtained from condensation of a /3-tetraIone 70 (R = H, OMe) with compound 1a,b. 

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