Spirooxindole

Recently, Curran described a procedure using triethylborane for the synthesis of spirooxindoles and spirodihydroquinolones through intramolecular addition of aryl radicals at the ipso position 4-alkoxy-substituted aromatic rings [15]. The key step for a formal synthesis of the vasopressin inhibitor SR121463A is described in Scheme 5. The initiation was performed with Et3B in an open to air reaction vessel. 

Scheme 36 Three-component synthesis of spirooxindole-containing tetrahydrochromene derivatives...

Interestingly enough, a closely related protocol was successfully proposed for the synthesis of spirooxindoles-containing tetrahydrochromene skeletons when aromatic aldehydes were switched for isatin derivatives. This high-yielded reaction was performed with dimedone, 4-hydroxycoumarin, or barbituric acids in water using triethylbenzylammonium chloride (TEBA) as catalyst (Scheme 36) [125]. A Knoevenagel condensation occurred first between isatin and malonitrile derivative, followed by Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl substrates and cyclization to the cyano moiety. 

Zhu SL, Ji SJ, Zhang Y (2007) A simple and clean procedure for three-component synthesis of spirooxindoles in aqueous medium. Tetrahedron 63 9365-9372... 

Spirocyclic oxindole 60 was synthesized by [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the Af-phenyl-O-acylhydroxamic acid 58 (equation 19). The potassium enolate formed by treatment of 58 with potassium hexamethyldisilazide at low temperature rearranged to 59, which easily cyclized to the spirocyclic oxindole 60. Spirooxindoles were previously synthesized by Wolff and Taddei. The spirooxindole 60 was formed in 51% yield from cyclohexanecarboxylic acid after heating the preformed lithium salts of phenyl hydrazide 61 to 205-210 °C. 

Nair et al. (87,88) achieved a synthesis of spirooxindole-containing molecules by adding isatins to various carbonyl ylides (Scheme 4.46). There has been relatively little research regarding the efficiency of C=0 of 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds as dipolarophiles relative to their olefinic counterparts. As anticipated, Nair found that the more electrophilic carbonyl of the isatin 187 (non-amide carbonyl) reacted smoothly with the carbonyl ylide formed from diazoketone 186 to give the spirocyclic adduct 188. Nair s yields were moderate to good (44—83%), but were based on recovered isatin. 

The retrosynthetic approach to welwitindolinone A isonitrile (6) used by the Wood group is shown in Scheme 33. After recognition of the possibility of deriving the vinyl isonitrile fragment from a ketone, the disconnection of 6 to 140 was proposed. A literature report of a samarium (II) iodide-mediated reductive coupling of acrylates with isocyanates to give amides, which could be expected to lead to a new spirooxindole synthesis, prompted the disconnection of 140 to 141. This compound was to be obtained from the readily available cyclohexadiene derivative 143, by way of bicyclic ketone 142. 

Addition of DBU to a solution of 149 in THF induced an elimination reaction accompanied by loss of a molecule of CO2 and provided the unstable amine 150, which was converted in situ into isocyanate 151 by reaction with phosgene and triethylamine. After filtration to remove hydrochloride salts, the solution of 151 was treated with samarium (II) iodide in the presence of lithium chloride. These conditions, which had been previously determined to be optimal for spirooxindole generation on a model system, provided compound 152 as an inseparable 7 1 mixture of diastereoisomers [43]. The major component of this mixture was determined by NOE analysis to have the required configuration, which is consistent with bond formation from the less hindered, convex face of 151 (Scheme 35). 

Scheme 35 Samarium iodide-promoted synthesis of spirooxindoles related to welwitin-dolinone A...

Spirooxindoles, such as, for example ( )-coerulescine (101) have been prepared employing a sequence starting from 2-fluoronitrobenzene, which was initially subjected to treatment with the anion of dimethyl malonate, followed by decarboxylation and concomitant installation of the methylene group using formaldehyde in the presence of potassium carbonate to produce the intermediate 102 in good yield. This material readily underwent dipolar cycloaddition with the azomethine ylide generated from sarcosine and formaldehyde, followed by a reductive cyclization of adduct 103 to furnish the natural product 101 <02TL9175>. 

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