Silylation of indoles

Falck has recently reported dehydrogenative silylation of heteroarenes with triethylsilane (18) [97]. Coupling with the Si-H bond of triethylsilane, rather than the disilane Si-Si bond, in conjunction with the use of norbomene that presumably acts as a hydrogen acceptor, gives good yields with indoles, thiophenes, and furans, under relatively mild condition (80°C). Unlike the reaction shown in Scheme 7, silylation of indole did not require protection of the N-H group. 

The iron-catalysed reaction of heteroarenes, including indoles, pyrroles, thiophene, and furan, with 3-methyl-2-quinonyl boronic acids allows the formation of alkylated products, such as (68), rather than the more usual alkenylated products. The unusual alkylation, at the 5-position, of oxindoles to give products such as (69) has been reported using the acid-catalysed reaction with benzylic alcohols in nitromethane. Silylation of indole, at the 3-position, to give (70) has been achieved using a cationic ruthenium(II) sulfide complex as a catalyst. A sulfur-stabilized silicon electrophile is formed resulting in a Wheland intermediate which is deprotonated by sulfur atom. ... 

A(-Silylation. TBDMS is often used as a protecting group for nitrogen, which can, depending on the functional group, be carried through multiple transformations before being removed with a source of fluoride. The combination of TBDMS triflate and a base has been used for the iV-silylation of indoles," oxazolidin-2-0008, and 8-lactams (eqs 41 3). 

Direct 3-silylation of A -substituted indoles has been ellected by reaction of the indoles with trimethylsilyl triflate in the presence of triethylamine[12]. The trimethylsilyl group has also been introduced via 3-lithio-l-(phenylsulfonyl)-indole[13]. 

The combination of silyl enol ethers and fluoride ion provides more reactive anions to give alkylated nitre compounds in good yields after oxidation v/ith DDQ, as shovm in Eq. 9.22. This process provides a new method for synthesis of indoles and oxyindoles fsee Chapter 10, Symhesis of Hatarocydic Compoioids). 

Hepatite Virus NS3/4A having the pyrrolidine-5,5-trans-lactam skeleton [83], starting from (R)- and (S)-methionine, respectively. The key step is the addition of the proper silyl ketene acetal to an iminium ion, e.g., that generated by treatment of the intermediate 177 with boron trifluoride, which provided the adduct 178 with better diastereoselectivity than other Lewis acids. Inhibitors of hepatitis C virus NS3/4A were efficiently prepared by a similar route from (S)-methionine [83]. The addition of indole to a chiral (z-amino iminium ion was a completely diastereoselective step in a reported synthesis of tilivalline, a natural molecule which displays strong cytotoxicity towards mouse leukemia L 1210 [84]. 

As discussed in Chapter 9, various nucleophiles can be introduced at the ortho position of nitroarenes via the VNS process. This provides a useful strategy for the synthesis of indoles. One of the most attractive and general methods of indoles and indolinones would be the reductive cyclization of a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds (Eq. 10.54). The VNS and related reactions afford a-nitroaryl carbonyl compounds by a simple procedure. For example, alkylation of 4-fluoronitrobenzene with a lactone silyl enol ether followed by reductive cyclization leads to tryptophols (Eq. 10.55).73... 

The silylation of heteroarenes was also reported [96]. Silylation of thiophene or furan with 11 occurs selectively at the ot-position in the presence of [Ir(COD) (OMe)]2/2-ferf-butyl-l,10-phenanthroline (tbphen, 17). Silylation of pyrrole or indole under the same conditions was unsuccessful presumably due to the presence of the acidic N-H bond. Accordingly, N-substituted pyrrole and indole undergo silylation with 11, to selectively give 3-substituted products (Scheme 7). 

Wang et al. investigated the catalytic behavior of cation exchange resin supported lanthanide(III) salts of the general structure (31) (Scheme 4.15), prepared from Dowex, Amberlite, Amberlyst and other resins [99]. It turned out that Am-berlyst XN-1010 and Amberlyst 15 complexed best with lanthanides(III). Thus, among others, electrophilic substitution of indole with hexanal and Mukayiama-type aldol reaction of benzaldehyde with ketene silyl acetal proceeded in excellent yields under catalytic conditions (Scheme 4.16). 

The aromatic silylation of five-membered heteroarenes under the same conditions (catalyst, temperature, solvent) also proceeded in regioselective fashion. Both, thiophene and furane derivatives are exclusively silylated at the a-position, but 1-triisopropylsily 1-pyrrole and -indole each produce selectively ]3-silyl products (Equations 14.9 and 14.10). 

The l-(benzotriazol-l-yl)methyl derivatives of indole and carbazole were also used to effect < -silylation/alkylation. <950M734>... 

Lithiation at C-3 of the silyl protected indole 113, followed by addition to various N-tosylated arylaldimines has been shown to lead to the aminomethylindoles 114, which could be further selectively deprotected at either of the two nitrogen atoms <02JOC5850>. 

Both the silyl derivative (59) and the alcohol (60) may be used as sources of the iminium salt (61) in reactions with a wide variety of nucleophiles. In practice, it was found feasible to use Grignard reagents for reaction with the silyl derivative, while TiC was effective in promoting attack on the carbinol amine by weaker nucleophiles. The process is shown in Scheme 24 using the addition of indole as an example. 

Recently, two entities (80 and 81) for the construction of silyl-based traceless hnkers have been synthesized, which represent analogues of 79 (Fig. 8). They were reported to be useful for the traceless synthesis of indoles, phenothiazines, and benzodiazepines [95],... 

A process that has proved valnable in synthesis is the addition of singlet oxygen to A-alkyl- and especially A-acyl-pyrroles ° prodncing 2,3-dioxa-7-aza-bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes, which react with nncleophiles, such as silyl enol ethers, mediated by tin(II) chloride, generating 2-substitnted-pyrroles that can be nsed, as the example shows, for the synthesis of indoles via intramolecular electrophilic attack by the carbonyl group at the pyrrole P-position. 

Addition and cyclization reactions. Chiral propargylic amines are obtained from aUcynylation of imines by catalysis of the silver salt of IB. The enantiomer of phosphate ID also finds use in the addition of indole to a-acetaminostyrenes. One more catalyst for intramolecular hydroamination to form pyrrolidine derivatives is the silylated 3. The... 

In the addition of indole toiV-benzoyl aldimines, 3 also can be put to use. The catalyst IF is for promoting reaction between ketene silyl acetals and A-(o-hydroxyphenyl)aldimines, ° and the 3,3 -dimesityl analogue for vinylogous Mannich reaction. The imines are suitably activated as shown below. 

Isolated in the for of the ketone after hydrolysis of the silyl enol ether Scheme 7.2. Diels-Alder reaction of indole 7 with various dienes 8. 

The reaction can be regioselective with unsymmetrical alkynes, and this is particularly tme with sUylated alkynes wherein the silyl group always resides at the C-2 indole position in the product. This is noteworthy because silyl-substituted indoles are valuable substrates for other chemistry (halogenation, Heck coupling). Gronowitz used the appropriate silylated alkynes with o-iodoanilines to fashion substituted tryptophans following desilylation with AICI3 [26]. Similarly, a series of 5-, 6-, and 7-azaindoles was prepared by UjjainwaUa and Warner from o-aminoiodopyridines... 

While most [3+2] cycloaddition reactions with indoles employ the indole moiety as the dipolarophile comptment, several reports have also highlighted the utility of indoles as the source of dipoles in 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. Padwa and coworkers produced early examples in which the indole pyrrole ring acted as an azomethine ylide dipole [94, 95]. Treatment of a silylated indole 235a with silver fluoride in the presence of a variety of dipolarophiles 236 and 238 afforded the corresponding cycloadducts 237 and 239 in 53% and 83% yield, respectively (Scheme 63). 

There is one more way for conversion of ort/to-nitroarylacetonitriles into indoles. Alkylation of such nitriles with allyl or benzyl halides followed by treatment of the compounds obtained with basic agents results in a multistep transformation, which is likely to proceed via intermediate nitrosoarenes, to produce 1-hydroxyindoles. For instance, alkylation of ort/io-nitroarylacetonitriles with 3-phenylallyl bromide gives the compounds that in the presence of chlorotri-methylsilane and triethylamine undergo cyclization into 3-cyano-l-hydroxy-2-vinylindoles (Scheme 70) [188]. Presumably, this reaction proceeds via 0-silylation of the nitronate anion and 1,5-elimination of trimethylsilanol from the intermediate trimethylsilyl nitronate, followed by cyclization and a hydrogen shift. 

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