Ring Metalated Aziridines

5 Reactions with Radicals and Electron-deficient Species, Heterogeneous Surface Reactions, and Reductions 

6 Bimolecular Reactions Involving a Cyclic Transition State 

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Florio et al. have employed heteroaromatic rings as organyl-stabilizing groups for metalated aziridines as well as for metalated epoxides. Regioselective deprotonation of aziridine 246 with n-BuLi, followed by addition of Mel, gave aziridine 247 (Scheme 5.62) [88]. 

Transition metals have also been inserted into the aziridine ring affording derivatives (295). Stereochemical studies suggest that transfer of a proton is followed by bimolecular attack on the ring with subsequent closure on the carbonyl group (76AG(E)495). 

When the reaction is conducted in the presence of added fumarate, the yield of pyrrolidine (130) increases at the expense of the aziridine. Jacobsen suggests that the aziridines and pyrrolidines arise from a common intermediate, azo-methine ylide (132), Scheme 6, which may also be partly responsible for the poor levels of asymmetric induction in this reaction. Electrocyclic ring closure of the azo-methine while still within the coordination sphere of the metal (131) may provide aziridine with some induction, while decomplexation (132) will lead to the formation of racemic aziridine and pyrrolidine. 

The functionalization of the ring nitrogen atom in aziridines is traditionally achieved in classical substitution reactions. A recent article, however describes the transition metal catalyzed introduction of different aryl groups onto the aziridine core (8.37.), According to the reported results both the palladium catalyzed coupling of aryl halides and the copper... 

Reactions with Transition-Metal Compounds. The numerous published products of reactions of transition-metal compounds with aziridines can be divided into complexes in which the aziridine ring is intact, compounds formed by reaction of aziridine with the ligands of a complex, and complexes in which the aziridine molecule is fragmented (imido complexes). 

Aziridines (X = H) can be alkylated on the nitrogen, with retention of the three-membered ring, by reaction with aliphatic and aromatic halides in the presence of base (2,154). The reaction can also be carried out, in some cases with very good yields, under phase-transfer conditions using 30% NaOH and optionally an organic solvent (155). If the halides do not react readily, the alkali metal salts (X = Na) of the corresponding aziridine can be used (156—158) to form, for example, triethyleneiminemethane [23974-29-0].. 

Aziridines can add to carbon—carbon multiple bonds. Elevated temperature and alkali metal catalysis are required in the case of nonpolarized double bonds (193—195). On the other hand, the addition of aziridines onto the conjugated polarized double or triple bonds of a,p-unsaturated nitriles (196—199), ketones (197,200), esters (201—205), amides (197), sulfones (206—209), or quinones (210—212) in a Michael addition-type reaction frequendy proceeds even at room temperature without a catalyst. The adducts obtained from the reaction of aziridines with a,p-unsaturated ketones, eg, 4-aziridinyl-2-butanone [503-12-8] from 3-buten-2-one, can be converted to 1,3-substituted pyrrolidines by subsequent ring opening with acyl chlorides and alkaline cyclization (213). 

A nitrene generated from the reaction of A-aminophthalimide (101) and PhI(OAc)2 was key to the metal-free ring expansion of alkylidenecyclopropanes (102) and an alkylidenecyclobutane.85 The authors propose two plausible mechanisms for these ring-expansion reactions either an aziridine is formed which undergoes facile rearrangement to form the final 2,2-disubstituted cyclobutylidene hydrazine product (103), or reaction of the alkylidenecyclopropane with the nitrene generates an ionic or diradical species which rearranges. 

Extensive optimization studies identified highly electron-deficient 2,4-dinitrobenzyl-substituted aziridines as the most reactive substrates, chromium as the metal of choice, and indanol-derived Schiff bases as the most effective ligands. In this ring-opening process, catalyst 61 provided the highest selectivities. Using these optimized conditions, a variety of aziridines were selectively opened in a very efficient manner (Scheme 17.21).51 This reaction can provide an easy access to C2-symmetric 1,2-diamines, a valuable class of chiral auxiliaries, and even to less accessible non-C2-symmetric 1,2-diamines because of the differentially protected amines of the ring-opened products. 

The aziridination of olefins, which forms a three-membered nitrogen heterocycle, is one important nitrene transfer reaction. Aziridination shows an advantage over the more classic olefin hydroamination reaction in some syntheses because the three-membered ring that is formed can be further modified. More recently, intramolecular amidation and intermolecular amination of C-H bonds into new C-N bonds has been developed with various metal catalysts. When compared with conventional substitution or nucleophilic addition routes, the direct formation of C-N bonds from C-H bonds reduces the number of synthetic steps and improves overall efficiency.2 After early work on iron, manganese, and copper,6 Muller, Dauban, Dodd, Du Bois, and others developed different dirhodium carboxylate catalyst systems that catalyze C-N bond formation starting from nitrene precursors,7 while Che studied a ruthenium porphyrin catalyst system extensively.8 The rhodium and ruthenium systems are... 

The following references contain additional examples of this method and corresponding reaction types Synthesis of 3-fluoroethyl-2-cyclopenten-l-ones [35], preparation of functionalized bicyclo[5.3.0]decane systems and conversion of 1,2-divinylcyclopropanes to functionalized cycloheptanes [36] e.g. karaha-naenone [37], ( )-/Thimachalene [38][39]. Metal-catalyzed ring expansions in which cyclopropane (e.g. [40] [41] [42] [43] [44]) or aziridines (e.g. [45] [46]) and diaziridines (e.g. [45]) function as essential moieties are well known reactions. 

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