Rearomatization

If the Lewis base ( Y ) had acted as a nucleophile and bonded to carbon the prod uct would have been a nonaromatic cyclohexadiene derivative Addition and substitution products arise by alternative reaction paths of a cyclohexadienyl cation Substitution occurs preferentially because there is a substantial driving force favoring rearomatization Figure 12 1 is a potential energy diagram describing the general mechanism of electrophilic aromatic substitution For electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions to... 

Manufacture. One commercial process features a three-stage saturation—rearomatization technique using benzene and fluorine gas as raw materials (73). Principal problems with this method are the complex nature of the process, its dependence on fluorine gas which is cosdy to produce, and the poor overall utilization of fluorine, because nearly one-half of the input fluorine is removed during the process. 

Quinone Methides. The reaction between aldehydes and alkylphenols can also be base-cataly2ed. Under mild conditions, 2,6-DTBP reacts with formaldehyde in the presence of a base to produce the methylol derivative (22) which reacts further with base to eliminate a molecule of water and form a reactive intermediate, the quinone methide (23). Quinone methides undergo a broad array of transformations by way of addition reactions. These molecules ate conjugated homologues of vinyl ketones, but are more reactive because of the driving force associated with rearomatization after addition. An example of this type of addition is between the quinone methide and methanol to produce the substituted ben2yl methyl ether (24). 

Benzimidazole 3-oxides, e.g. (189), react with phosphorus oxychloride or sulfuryl chloride to form the corresponding 2-chlorobenzimidazoles. The reaction sequence involves first formation of a nucleophilic complex (190), then attack of chloride ions on the complex, followed by rearomatization involving loss of the fV-oxide oxygen (191 -> 192). 

This type of addition process is particularly likely to be observed when the electrophile attacks a position that is already substituted, since facile rearomatization by deprotonation is then blocked. Reaction at a substituted position is called ipso attack. Addition products have also been isolated, however, when initial electrophilic attack has occurred at an unsubstituted position. The extent of addition in competition with substitution tends to increase on going to naphthalene and the larger polycyclic aromatic ring systems. ... 

The general mechanism for electrophilic substitution suggests that groups other than hydrogen could be displaced, provided the electrophile attacked at the substituted carbon. Substitution at a site already having a substituent is called ipso substitution and has been observed in a number of circumstances. The ease of removal of a substituent depends on its ability to accommodate a positive charge. This fector determines whether the newly attached electrophile or the substituent is eliminated from the [Pg.588]

Under acidic conditions, the first step involves protonation of the imine nitrogen followed by tautomerization to form an ene-hydrazine intermediate (7). After the tautomerization, a [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement occurs, which provides intermediate 8. Rearomatization then occurs via a proton shift to form the imine 9 which cyclizes to form the 5-membered ring 10. Finally, loss of ammonia from 11 generates the indole nucleus in 12. 

It has been proposed that protonation or complex formation at the 2-nitrogen atom of 14 would enhance the polarization of the r,6 -7i system and facilitate the rearrangement leading to new C-C bond formation. The equilibrium between the arylhydrazone and its ene-hydrazine tautomer is continuously promoted to the right by the irreversible rearomatization in stage II of the process. The indolization of arylhydrazones on heating in the presence of (or absence of) solvent under non-catalytic conditions can be rationalized by the formation of the transient intermediate 14 (R = H). Under these thermal conditions, the equilibrium is continuously pushed to the right in favor of indole formation. Some commonly used catalysts in this process are summarized in Table 3.4.1. 

The electrophile 4 adds to the aromatic ring to give a cationic intermediate 5. Loss of a proton from 5 and concomitant rearomatization completes the substitution step. Subsequent hydrolysis of the iminium species 2 yields the formylated aromatic product 3. Instead of the highly toxic hydrogen cyanide, zinc cyanide can be used. The hydrogen cyanide is then generated in situ upon reaction with the hydrogen chloride. The zinc chloride, which is thereby formed, then acts as Lewis acid catalyst. 

The sulfur analogue of the Hauser ortho-substitution rearrangement provides access to an arylacet-ic NSAID. Reaction of the aminobenzophenone 176 with ethyl methylthioacetate and tert-butyl hypochlorite gives the intermediate 178. The reaction probably proceeds by way of formation of the S-chlorinated sulfonium derivative 177 displacement on sulfur will lead to the salt 178. Treatment with triethylamine leads initially to the betaine 179. Electrocyelic rearrangement of that transient intermediate leads, after rearomatization, to the homoanthranilic acid 180. Internal ester-amine interchange leads then to indolone 181 [45]. The thiomethyl group is then removed with Raney niekel. Saponifieation of intermediate 182 affords bromfenac (183) [46J. 

The steric and dipole-dipole effects of the CF3 group on valence isomerization in the Dewar pyridine-azaprismane-pyridine system have been studied. These reveal themselves in the high stability, compared to the pyridine, of the valence isomer arising out of the large activation energy for rearomatization. The transformation of a 1-Dewar to 2-Dewar pyridine was observed (89T3115). 

Both cis- and rrans-l-arylsulfonyl-2-arylsulfenyl propenes (56) underwent a Smiles rearrangement under electron impact at 20 and 70 eV and formed a diarylsulfide ion [M — 104]+ (equation 27a)39 through a process where a bond between the R C H group and the sulfide sulfur is formed and a rearomatization occurs by a loss of the neutral thiirene dioxide or a simultaneous expulsion of SOz and propyne. The ion m/z 148 was also obtained from all of the sulfonyl-sulfides, 56 (equation 27b) and here the loss of R2 seemed to be related to the bond strength39. In addition to the above compounds 56 exhibited some simple cleavages before and after sulfone-sulfinate rearrangements. 

The number of reported reactions in which the radical derived from the decomposition of AIBN plays a role in the termination process has increased considerably. Often these reactions are not radical chain reactions, since the initiator is used in stoichiometric amounts. A few examples of rearomatization of cyclohexadienyl radicals by disproportionation have been reported herein. Below are some other examples, where the phenyl selenide 61 reacts with (TMSfsSiH (3 equiv), AIBN (1.2 equiv) in refluxing benzene for 24 h to give the coupling product of radicals 63 and 64 in good yields (Scheme 9).i24,i25 these cases,... 

Homolytic aromatic substitution often requires high temperatures, high concentrations of initiator, long reaction times and typically occurs in moderate yields.Such reactions are often conducted under reducing conditions with (TMSlsSiH, even though the reactions are not reductions and often finish with oxidative rearomatization. Reaction (68) shows an example where a solution containing silane (2 equiv) and AIBN (2 equiv) is slowly added (8h) in heated pyridine containing 2-bromopyridine (1 equiv) The synthesis of 2,3 -bipyridine 75 presumably occurs via the formation of cyclohexadienyl radicals 74 and its rearomatization by disproportionation with the alkyl radical from AIBN. ... 

More recently, Curran and Keller found that the (TMSlsSiH-mediated addition of aryl iodides to arenes are facilitated by oxidative rearomatization with oxygen (Reaction 69). Here, AIBN is not necessary for good performance of the reaction. The reaction proceeds well in both inter- and intra-molecular (see above) versions. 

Metabolic pathways containing dioxygenases in wild-type strains are usually related to detoxification processes upon conversion of aromatic xenobiotics to phenols and catechols, which are more readily excreted. Within such pathways, the intermediate chiral cis-diol is rearomatized by a dihydrodiol-dehydrogenase. While this mild route to catechols is also exploited synthetically [221], the chirality is lost. In the context of asymmetric synthesis, such further biotransformations have to be prevented, which was initially realized by using mutant strains deficient in enzymes responsible for the rearomatization. Today, several dioxygenases with complementary substrate profiles are available, as outlined in Table 9.6. Considering the delicate architecture of these enzyme complexes, recombinant whole-cell-mediated biotransformations are the only option for such conversions. E. coli is preferably used as host and fermentation protocols have been optimized [222,223]. 

Analogously, when the above sequence was followed with pyrrole, ring closure of 141 did occur (when n = 2 or 3) but the cycloadduct 142 underwent rearomatization to an oxime which added to phenylisocyanate providing carbamate 143 in moderate yield [40]. 

Interestingly, reaction of the QM complex 1 with strong electrophiles, such as HOTf or Me3SiOTf, did not lead to the expected rearomatization. Rather, the first stable methylene arenium complexes 4 were formed (Scheme 3.4).10... 

Formation of the ethano-dimer of a-tocopherol (12) by reduction of spiro dimer (9) proceeds readily almost independently of the reductant used. This reduction step can also be performed by tocopheroxyl radicals as occurring upon treatment of tocopherol with high concentrations of radical initiators (see Fig. 6.10). The ready reduction can be explained by the energy gain upon rearomatization of the cyclohexadienone system. Since the reverse process, oxidation from 12 to 9 by various oxidants, proceeds also quantitatively, spiro dimer 9 and ethano-dimer 12 can be regarded as a reversible redox system (Fig. 6.22). 

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