Reactions with azirines

Carbon-centered radicals have been shown to undergo addition reactions with azirine-3-carboxylates. Methyl 2-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)azirine-2-carboxylate thus reacts with alkyl and aryl iodides in the presence of triethylborane to give aziridines in good yields. The radical approaches from the opposite face to the aryl substituent, giving the cis products as single diastereoisomers (Scheme 4.43) [63],... 

The reaction of the (3-lactam-based oxazolidinone with /V-sulfonylimines has been reported to provide the exo and endo azapenams (III, Fig. 10), whereas the reaction with azirines provided cycloadducts (IV, Fig. 10) that are precursors of azacephams [268]. 

Catalyt c hydrogenation (palladium or Raney nickel catalyst) surprisingly results in reduction of the carbon-nitrogen single bond rather than the double bond.4,12,40 The imines, or possibly enamines, are usually not isolated and their existence has only been inferred in most instances. Harvey and Ratts have shown that this reaction with azirine (165) does not proceed first to the aziridine which is then reduced to 166, since aziridine (167) is inert to hydrogen and palladium on carbon.40... 

Furan is an excellent diene in a wide variety of Diels-Alder reactions, providing oxabicyclic compounds with useful synthetic applications. However, Diels-Alder reactions with furans are often reversible and require a highly reactive dienophile in order to provide useful yields of the cycloadduct. As shown in Scheme 17, furans have now been shown to undergo synthetically useful Diels-Alder reactions with azirines. The reaction of furan with azirine 91 provides cycloadduct 92 in 100% yield <1998J(P1)299>. Aziridine 92, while crystalline, is moisture sensitive, decomposing to aziridine 93. An X-ray structure of 92 was obtained which confirmed the exo-natute of the cycloaddition reaction in contrast to the r/o-cycloadditions seen in the formation of 88 <2001J(P1)2969>. 

The mesoionic compound 354, which is in equilibrium with the ketene 355, undergoes a [3-1-2] cycloaddition reaction with azirines to give the cycloadduct 356 in good yield . ... 

The exploration of the chemistry of azirines has led to the discovery of several pyrrole syntheses. From a mechanistic viewpoint the simplest is based upon their ability to behave as a-amino ketone equivalents in reactions analogous to the Knorr pyrrole synthesis cf. Section 3.03.3.2.2), as illustrated in Schemes 91a and 91b for reactions with carbanions. Parallel reactions with enamines or a-keto phosphorus ylides can be effected with electron-deficient 2//-azirines (Scheme 91c). Conversely, electron-rich azirines react with electron deficient alkynes (Scheme 91d). 

A particularly interesting system where nitrogen is lost cheletropically after formation of the initial [4 + 2] cycloadduct involves the thermal reaction of azirines with tetrazines (82) (74CC45, 74TL2303, 74CC782, 75JHC183). A variety of heterocyclic products are produced depending on the structure of the azirine and tetrazine used and the reaction conditions. 

The protonated azirine system has also been utilized for the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds (67JA44S6). Thus, treatment of (199) with anhydrous perchloric acid and acetone or acetonitrile gave the oxazolinium perchlorate (207) and the imidazolinium perchlorate (209), respectively. The mechanism of these reactions involves 1,3-bond cleavage of the protonated azirine and reaction with the carbonyl group (or nitrile) to produce a resonance-stabilized carbonium-oxonium ion (or carbonium-nitrilium ion), followed by attack of the nitrogen unshared pair jf electrons to complete the cyclization. 

NMR, 3, 542 oxidation, 3, 546 phosphorescence, 3, 543 photoelectron spectra, 3, 542 photolysis, 3, 549 reactions, 3, 543-555 with alkenes, 3, 50 with alkynes, 3, 50 with IH-azepines, 3, 552 with azirines, 3, 554 with cyclobutadiene, 3, 551 with cyclopropenes, 3, 550 with dimethylbicyclopropenyl, 3, 551 with heterocyclic transition metal complexes, 7, 28 29... 

In the photochemical isomerization of isoxazoles, we have evidence for the presence of the azirine as the intermediate of this reaction. The azirine is stable and it is the actual first photoproduct of the reaction, as in the reaction of r-butylfuran derivatives. The fact that it is able to interconvert both photochemically and thermally into the oxazole could be an accident. In the case of 3,5-diphenylisoxazole, the cleavage of the O—N bond should be nearly concerted with N—C4 bond formation (8IBCJ1293) nevertheless, the formation of the biradical intermediate cannot be excluded. The results of calculations are in agreement with the formation of the azirine [9911(50)1115]. The excited singlet state can convert into a Dewar isomer or into the triplet state. The conversion into the triplet state is favored, allowing the formation of the biradical intermediate. The same results [99H(50)1115] were obtained using as substrate 3-phenyl-5-methylisoxazole (68ACR353) and... 

Reduction of azirine-2-phosphonates 99 (Scheme 3.32) with NaBH4 in ethanol exclusively gave ris-aziridine-2-phosphonates 100 in 81-82 % yield [86, 87]. A Diels-Alder reaction between azirine-2-phosphonate 101 and trans-piperylene 102... 

A narrow range of 2-phenyl-1-azirines underwent photodriven reactions with alkoxycarbenes to give AT-vinylimidates, in a process probably related to the above reactions (Table 24) [126]. 

The highly strained and reactive 2iT-azirines have been extensively studied for various synthetic purposes, such as ring expansion reactions, cycloaddition reactions, preparation of functionalized amines and substituted aziridines. The older literature on azirines in synthesis has extensively been reviewed [69]. Concerning azirines with defined chirality only scarce information is available. Practically all reactions of azirines take place at the activated imine bond. Reduction with sodium borohydride leads to cz5-substituted aziridines as is shown in Scheme 48 [26,28]. 

Reaction of azirine ester 66 with acyl halides led essentially to two types of products, viz., the addition products 67 and halovinylamino esters 68 as depicted in Scheme 50. 

The presence of a 2-substitutent in 3-phenylazirines (17, R —H in Scheme 21) modifies the mode of reaction with molybdenum carbonyl.47 In contrast to pyrazine formation for (17, R =H see Section V,C,2), the alkenyl azirine (18, Scheme 22) is transformed in excellent yield into 2-phenyl-5-carboxy-methylpyrrole. This product probably arises by intramolecular cyclization within an intermediate dienylnitrene intermediate, and related reactions have been devised to synthesize isoxazoles (see Section IV,E,2) and pyrazoles (see Section IV,D,1).47 The molybdenum carbonyl-promoted formation of 2,5-disubstituted pyrroles47 has analogy in uncatalyzed thermal, but not photochemical decomposition of 3-phenyl-2//-azirine 2-acrylate.49... 

The palladium-catalyzed trimethylenemethane reaction with tropanones was reported in 1987 by Trost and Seoane and is the first example of a [6 + 3]-cycloaddition.130 Chromium-mediated [6 + 3]-cycloadditions of two types have been described-one in which the chromium complex activates the six-carbon component and one in which the chromium complex activates the three-atom component. An example of the first type involves the reaction of a cycloheptatriene-Cr(CO)3 complex with azirines to give cyclic imines in moderate yields (Scheme 40).131... 

Intramolecular addition of trialkylboranes to imines and related compounds have been reported and the main results are part of review articles [94, 95]. Addition of ethyl radicals generated from Et3B to aldimines affords the desired addition product in fair to good yield but low diaster control (Scheme 40, Eq. 40a) [96]. Similar reactions with aldoxime ethers [97], aldehyde hydrazones [97], and N-sulfonylaldimines [98] are reported. Radical addition to ketimines has been recently reported (Eq. 40b) [99]. Addition of triethylborane to 2H-azirine-3-carboxylate derivatives is reported [100]. Very recently, Somfai has extended this reaction to the addition of different alkyl radicals generated from trialkylboranes to a chiral ester of 2ff-azirine-3-carboxylate under Lewis acid activation with CuCl (Eq. 40c) [101]. 

Confirmation was provided by the observation that the species produced by the photolysis of two different carbene sources (88 and 89) in acetonitrile and by photolysis of the azirine 92 all had the same strong absorption band at 390 nm and all reacted with acrylonitrile at the same rate (fc=4.6 x 10 Af s" ). Rate constants were also measured for its reaction with a range of substituted alkenes, methanol and ferf-butanol. Laser flash photolysis work on the photolysis of 9-diazothioxan-threne in acetonitrile also produced a new band attributed the nitrile ylide 87 (47). The first alkyl-substituted example, acetonitrilio methylide (95), was produced in a similar way by the photolysis of diazomethane or diazirine in acetonitrile (20,21). This species showed a strong absorption at 280 nm and was trapped with a variety of electron-deficient olefinic and acetylenic dipolarophiles to give the expected cycloadducts (e.g., 96 and 97) in high yields. When diazomethane was used as the precursor, the reaction was carried out at —40 °C to minimize the rate of its cycloaddition to the dipolarophile. In the reactions with unsymmetrical dipolarophiles such as acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, or methyl propiolate, the ratio of regioisomers was found to be 1 1. 

Pulsed-laser photolysis of the azirines 158a-c in the presence of electron-dehcient alkenes (44,66) allowed the determination of the bimolecular quenching rate constants (feq) for reactions with acrylonitrile (1.0-5.4 x 10 and... 

Extensive work has been done to determine and understand the factors controlling diastereoselectivity in the cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to alkenes but very little is known about nitrile ylides in this regard. Work on their reactions with alkenes that are geminally disubstituted with electron-withdrawing groups (e.g., 187) has illustrated some of the difficulties in such studies. When the imidoyl chloride-base route was used to generate the nitrile ylides it was found that the products 188 epimerized under the reaction conditions. When the azirine route was used, the reaction was complicated by the photochemical isomerization of the dipolarophiles (96,97). Thus, in both cases, it proved impossible to determine the kinetic product ratio. 

Reaction of l-azirine-3-methylaciylates (155) with imidazoles and pyrazoles under mild conditions results in the formation of 2-aza-1,3-dienes (156), which are useful as dienes in hetero Diels-Alder reactions with electron-deficient dienophiles <99JOC49>. When the related methyl 2-aryl-2ff-azirine-3-carboxylate (157) was used as fee substrate, reaction with an amine induced a ting opening by addition of the amino group onto fee C=N bond followed by cleavage to provide enediamine 158 <99JCS(P1)1305>. 

Reactions related to cyclopropanation can also be carried out with (phosphino) (silyl)carbenes (I). For example, benzaldehyde reacts with la at 0 °C leading to the corresponding epoxide, again as only one diastereomer. Even more striking are the reactions with benzonitrile and tert-butylphosphaalkyne that lead initially to azirine and phosphirene. Both three-membered heterocycles subsequently undergo ring expansion reactions affording azaphosphete and diphosphete, respectively (Scheme 8.18). This reaction is a new route for the synthesis of heterocyclobutadienes, and this demontrates the usefulness of (phosphino)(silyl)carbenes (I) for the synthesis of novel species. 

Experimental observations support these views. Photolysis of 1-naphthylazide in the presence of diethylamine and tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) yields azirine, but no ketenimine-derived adducts at ambient temperature. " In the presence of diethylamine but in the absence of TMEDA, good yields of 1-amino-naphthalene and 1,1 -azo-naphthalene, products attributable to the triplet nitrene are observed. Good yields of 46 are also achieved when the photolysis of 1-naphthylazide and diethylamine is performed at —60 °C in the absence of TMEDA. Presumably, lowering the temperature extends the hfetime of azirine 43 by reducing its rate of reversion to singlet 1-naphthylnitrene more than it retards the rate of its reaction with diethylamine. 

Methyl I-azirine-3-acrylates 318 (R1 = H) have recently been reported to yield five-membered heterocycles, e.g., triazoles 320 (35% yield) or imidazoles 322 (62% yield), by reaction with hydrazine and formamidine (91JOC7) (Scheme 70). The mechanism postulated by the authors to account for the formation of 320 and 322 implies initial addition of the... 

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