5-substituted oxazole

The Cornforth rearrangement involves the thermal interconversion of 4-carbonyl substituted oxazoles, with exchange between the C-C-O side-chain and the C-C-O fragment of the oxazole ring. These reactions generally involve compounds where a heteroatom (-OR, -SR, -Cl) is attached to the 5-position (R2) of the starting oxazole. 

In 1909, Robinson demonstrated the utility of acylamidoketones as intermediates to aryl-and benzyl-substituted 1,3-oxazoles through cyclization with sulfuric acid. Extension of sulfuric acid cyclization conditions to alkyl-substituted oxazoles can give low yields, for example 10-15% for 2,5-dimethyl-l,3-oxazole. Wiegand and Rathbum found that polyphosphoric acid can provide alkyl-substituted oxazoles 4 in yields equal to or greater than those obtained with sulfuric acid. Significantly better yields are seen in the preparation of aryl- and heteroaryl-substituted oxazoles. For example, reaction of ketoamides 5 with 98% phosphoric acid in acetic anhydride gives oxazoles 6 in 90-95% yield. ... 

Wipf and Miller have reported side-chain oxidation of 3-hydroxy amides with the Dess-Martin periodinane, followed by immediate cyclodehydration with triphenylphosphine-iodine, which provides a versatile extension of the Robinson-Gabriel method to substituted oxazoles. Application of this method was used to prepare the oxazole fragment 10 in 55% overall yield from 3-hydroxy amide 8. 

Pulici and coworkers have reported a solid-phase variation of the Robinson-Gabriel for the production of parallel libraries of ox azole-containing molecules." The preparation is based on a solid supported 2-acylamino ketone 16 that can be cleaved by means of a volatile anhydride and cyclized in solution to obtain a substituted oxazole ring (17) that does not contain traces of the linker moiety. 

The van Leusen reaction forms 5-substituted oxazoles through the reaction of p-tolylsulfonylmethyl isocyanide (1, TosMIC) with aldehydes in protic solvents at refluxing temperatures. Thus 5-phenyloxazole (2) is prepared in 91% yield by reacting equimolar quantities of TosMIC and benzaldehyde with potassium carbonate in refluxing methanol for 2 hrs. ... 

Van Leusen and Possel described the use of mono-substituted tosylmethyl isocyanides (TosCHRN=C R = alkyl, benzyl, allyl) in the synthesis of 4,5-substituted oxazoles. For example, 4-ethyl-5-phenyloxazole (8) was prepared in 82% yield by refluxing a-tosylpropyl isocyanide (7) and benzaldehyde for 1 hr with 1.5 equivalent of K2CO3 in MeOH. 

Thus attack of the TosMlC anion 9 on a carbonyl carbon is followed (or accompanied) by ring closure of the carbonyl oxygen to the electrophilic isocyano carbon to form an oxazoline (12). Loss of p-tolylsulfinic acid provides the 5-substituted oxazole 13. ... 

Workers at SmithKline Beecham extended the synthetic access to interesting mono- and di-substituted oxazoles through an improved procedure for aryl-substituted... 

The similarity of the ultraviolet spectrum of 4,5-diphenyloxazol-2-one (91) with those of both alternative methyl derivatives preclude application of the spectral comparison method to the elucidation of their structures, but the fluorescence spectra of these compounds indicate that 91 exists in the oxo form. ° Infrared data for a number of substituted oxazol-2-ones support this conclusion. ... 

The cyclizations of conjugated nitrile ylides forming substituted oxazoles and thiazoles were computed up to the MP4/6-31H-G level [OOJOC47]. Relative to 23, oxazole-4-carboxylic acid24 is stabilized by about -38.1 kcal/mol (Scheme 18). 

Extreme differences between 5% palladium-on-carbon and platinum oxide were found on reduction of the 5-aryl substituted oxazole 14. Over palladium, 15 was formed in quantitative yield by hydrogenolysis of the benzyl hydroxyl, whereas over Pt, scission of the oxazole occurred to give 13 quantitatively (48). Hydrogenation of 15 over platinum oxide gave the phenethylamide 16. 

Oxazoles have attracted considerable interest due their presence as subunits of several biologically active compoimds or as rigid mimetics of a peptidic ring. A first synthesis of 2-phenyl-4,5-substituted oxazoles 54 [47] was described by microwave-assisted reaction of enolizable ketones with benzoni-trile in the presence of mercury(II) p-toluenesulfonate (Scheme 17). 

More recently, Williams has described the one pot synthesis of 2-substituted oxazoles 11 by the thermolysis of triazole amides 9 the reaction does not proceed photo-chemically.<92TL1033> Although the reaction does not involve addition to a nitrile, it is an interesting application of a diazo compound since the proposed zwitterionic intermediate 10 is a resonance form of a diazo imine, so formally the reaction may be thought of as a thermal decomposition of a diazo imine (Scheme 6). 

In NRPs and hybrid NRP-PK natural products, the heterocycles oxazole and thiazole are derived from serine and cysteine amino acids respectively. For their creation, a cyclization (or Cy) domain is responsible for nucleophilic attack of the side-chain heteroatom within a dipeptide upon the amide carbonyl joining the amino acids [61]. Once the cyclic moiety is formed, the ring may be further oxidized, to form the oxazoline/thiazoline, or reduced, to form oxazolidine/thiazolidine (Figure 13.20). For substituted oxazoles and thiazoles, such as those... 

The regiochemistry for trapping lithiooxazole depends upon the oxazole substituents as well as the nature of the electrophile. Hodges, Patt and Connolly observed that the major product of reaction between lithiated oxazole (5 + 6) and benzaldehyde was the C(4)-substituted oxazole 7, resulting from reaction of the dominant acyclic valence bond tautomer 5 via the initial aldol adduct 6 followed by proton transfer and recyclization [3]. 

Substituted oxazoles through the reaction of p-tolylsulfonylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) with aldehydes in protic solvents at refluxing temperatures. 

Reaction of Ser-OMe with benzimino ethyl ester resulted in the formation of an oxazoline without racemization (Scheme 27) (85T2379). After forming an amide with 2-amino-l-phenylethanol, Af-phthalimido AAs were oxidized with CrOs and dehydrated by POCI3 to give substituted oxazoles (91JHC1241). 

Rearrangements of oxazoles 392 and 393 (Scheme 62). which assume nucleophilic attack of the side-chain at the C(5) position and consequent fission of the ring O—C(5) bond, have been considered [76JCS(PI)315]. Nevertheless, the phenylhydrazide 394 does not rearrange into the expected 395 and remains unchanged under various conditions. In this context, unsuccessful attempts are reported for some structurally related 4-substituted oxazoles, whereas specific examples concerning oxazolium substrates 393 are not mentioned [76JCS(P1)3I5]. 

Because of the presence of the extra phenyl substituent in the present case, further enolization is prevented, and therefore ring closure to an oxazole cannot occur. Thus, prevented from further reaction, the adduct undergoes a slow breakdown to reproduce the original enolate, and the 2-oxazole anion, which is then able to react irreversibly with the benzaldehyde to produce the observed 2-substituted oxazole product. 

As in the synthesis of other bipyridines, several routes to 4,4 -bipyridine have been devised where one of the pyridine rings is built up from simpler components. For example, a dimer of acrolein reacts with ammonia and methanol in the presence of boron phosphate catalyst at 350°C to give a mixture of products including 4,4 -bipyridine (3.4% yield), and in a reaction akin to ones referred to with other bipyridines, 4-vinylpyridine reacts with substituted oxazoles in the presence of acid to give substituted 4,4 -bipyridines. ° ° Condensation of isonicotinaldehyde with acetaldehyde and ammonia at high temperatures in the presence of a catalyst also affords some 4,4 -bipyridine, and related processes give similar results,whereas pyran derivatives can be converted to 4,4 -bipyridine (56% conversion), for example, by reaction with ammonia and air at 350°C with a nickel-alumina catalyst. Likewise, 2,6-diphenyl-4-(4-pyridyl)pyrylium salts afford 2,6-... 

Hydrolysis of a suitably 4-substituted oxazole has been reported to produce the corresponding oxazolone but the yields are not very high and the isolations can be difficult. For example, alkaline hydrolysis of 5 affords a low yield of mandehc acid presumably via the intermediacy of 6 (Scheme 6.3).As part of a study... 

Simple triazoles are thermally stable to ca. 300°C. However, triazole carboxamides, when heated to 150°C in sulfolane, rearrange with the elimination of nitrogen to give 2-substituted oxazoles. The reaction is general and it is useful for the synthesis of oxazoles with diverse 2-substitutents in excellent yields even for bulky substituents (Scheme 1). This reaction does not occur photochemically... 

Diels-Alder reactions of oxazoles afford useful syntheses of pyridines (Scheme 53) (74AHC( 17)99). A study of the effect of substituents on the Diels-Alder reactivity of oxazoles has indicated that rates decrease with the following substituents alkoxy > alkyl > acyl >> phenyl. The failure of 2- and 5-phenyl-substituted oxazoles to react with heterodienophiles is probably due to steric crowding. In certain cases, bicyclic adducts of type (359) have been isolated and even studied by an X-ray method (87BCJ432) they can also decompose to yield furans (Scheme 54). With benzyne, generated at 0°C from 1-aminobenzotriazole and lead tetraacetate under dilute conditions, oxazoles form cycloadducts (e.g. 360) in essentially quantitative yield (90JOC929). They can be handled at room temperature and are decomposed at elevated temperatures to isobenzofuran. 

A synthesis of the antitumor agent elliptidne has utilized the indolyl-substituted oxazole (351) as a key intermediate (77JOC2039). Diels-Alder reaction of (351) with acrylonitrile in acetic acid afforded a pyridinecarbonitrile (352) which was reacted with methyllithium, and the ketimine salt was hydrolyzed and cyclized to ellipticine (353 Scheme 76). Other Diels-Alder reactions of this type, particularly intramolecular cycloadditions of oxazoles with alkenic dienophiles should provide rapid access to a variety of alkaloid systems. 

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