Thiazole, positional reactivities

Thiazole Position Reactivity (x 103) Thiazole Position Reactivity (xlO3)... 

Charge diagrams suggest that the 2-amino-5-halothiazoles are less sensitive to nucleophilic attack on 5-position than their thiazole counterpart. Recent kinetic data on this reactivity however, show, that this expectation is not fulfilled (67) the ratio fc.. bron.c.-2-am.noih.azoie/ -biomoth.azoie O"" (reaction with sodium methoxide) emphasizes the very unusual amino activation to nucleophilic substitution. The reason of this activation could lie in the protomeric equilibrium, the reactive species being either under protomeric form 2 or 3 (General Introduction to Protomeric Thiazoles). The reactivity of halothiazoles should, however, be reinvestigated under the point of view of the mechanism (1690). 

It has also been stated that the 5-position of selenazoles is more reactive toward electrophilic substitution than that of thiazoles. Such reactivity is still further increased by substituents in the 2-position of the selenazole ring, which can have an —E-effect. Simultaneously, however, an increasing tendency toward ring fission was observed by Haginiwa. Reactions of the selenazole ring are thus limited mainly to the 5-position which, specially in the 2-amino-and the 2-hydrazino-selenazoles, is easily substituted by electrophilic reagents. However, all attempts to synthesize selenazole derivatives by the Gattermann and by the Friedel-Crafts methods... 

Oxazoles are mercurated in acetic acid the ring positions react 5 > 4 > 2 (74AHC( 17)99). Thiazoles react under the same conditions and show the same order of ring position reactivities. Isoxazoles can be easily mercurated in the 4-position with mercury (II) acetate (63AHC(2)365). 3-Arylsydnones are mercurated at the 4-position. 

From the ease of mercuriation of mono,- di-, and trimethylthiazoles, the positional reactivity order is indicated to be 5 > 4 > 2 (60CA24661c). Surprisingly, 2-acetamido-4-methylthiazole is said not to mercuriate (59JIC434), though the 5-position should be strongly activated it may be sterically hindered. Steric hindrance must be partly responsible for the reactivity order for substituted thiazoles 2-Ph- > 4-Me-2-Ph- > 2-Me-thiazole in this work the 4,5-dimethyl compound was unreactive [72CA(76)72617]. 

The positional reactivity order in thiazole is again the expected one. However, the magnitudes of the different from those in Scheme 7.12. The most probable cause for this is that the azoles are very susceptible to demands for resonance stabilization of the transition state for a particular reaction. This is not unexpected, because the reactivity of the azoles is the product of two opposing electronic effects from the heteroatoms, which are each large. A small alteration in the demand for resonance in a particular reaction may dramatically upset this balance. 

The positional reactivity order in thiazole has been calculated to be 5... 

Acetamidothiazole is nitrated in the same way (58, 378, 379). 2-Acetamido-4-phenylthiazole is reported to be nitrated on C-5 (380) as opposed to 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole, where nitration occurs on the phenyl ring (381). This latter result is not consistent with the other data on electrophilic reactivity in most cases 2-amino-4-arylthiazole derivatives react with electrophilic reagents at the C-5 position (see Sections rV.l.B and D). Furthermore, N-pyridy]-(2)-thiazolyl-2-amine (178) is exclusively nitrated on the thiazole ring (Scheme 113) (132, 382). 

Nucleophilic reactivity of the sulfur atom has received most attention. When neutral or very acidic medium is used, the nucleophilic reactivity occurs through the exocyclic sulfur atom. Kinetic studies (110) measure this nucleophilicity- towards methyl iodide for various 3-methyl-A-4-thiazoline-2-thiones. Rate constants are 200 times greater for these compounds than for the isomeric 2-(methylthio)thiazole. Thus 3-(2-pyridyl)-A-4-thiazoline-2-thione reacts at sulfur with methyl iodide (111). Methyl substitution on the ring doubles the rate constant. This high reactivity at sulfur means that, even when an amino (112, 113) or imino group (114) occupies the 5-position of the ring, alkylation takes place on sulfiu. For the same reason, 2-acetonyi derivatives are sometimes observed as by-products in the heterocyclization reaction of dithiocarba-mates with a-haloketones (115, 116). 

The reaction of MeO /MeOH with 2-Cl-5(4)-X-thiazoles (122) follows a second-order kinetic law, first order with respect to each reactant (Scheme 62) (297, 301). A remark can be made about the reactivity of the dichloro derivatives it has been pointed out that for reactions with sodium methoxide, the sequence 5>2>4 was observed for monochlorothiazole compounds (302), For 2.5-dichlorothiazole, on the contrary, the experimental data show that the 2-methoxy dehalogenation is always favored. This fact has been related to the different activation due to a substituent effect, less important from position 2 to 5 than from... 

The greater reactivity of the 5-position of selenazoles, compared to thiazoles, toward electrophilic substitution has also been demonstrated (19). Substituents in the 2-position possessing a mesomeric donor effect increase the reactivity, but, as Haginiwa (19) observed, also increase the tendancy to ring Opening,... 

In conclusion, in terms of electrophilic reactivity a methyl group in the 2-position is equally reactive in the two categories of heterocycles (selenazole and thiazole). Of the two positions ortho to nitrogen, only the 2-position is activated. The 5-position is sensitive to electrophilic reagents and resembles more closely the para position of a benzene ring. 

With respect to thiazole, the selenazole system displays a lesser nucleophilic reactivity in the 2-position and a greater electrophilic reactivity of the 5-position, but undergoes fission of the cycle more easily. 

From these results it appears that the 5-position of thiazole is two to three more reactive than the 4-position, that methylation in the 2-position enhances the rate of nitration by a factor of 15 in the 5-position and of 8 in the 4-position, that this last factor is 10 and 14 for 2-Et and 2-t-Bu groups, respectively. Asato (374) and Dou (375) arrived at the same figure for the orientation of the nitration of 2-methyl and 2-propylthiazole Asato used nitronium fluoroborate and the dinitrogen tetroxide-boron trifluoride complex at room temperature, and Dou used sulfonitric acid at 70°C (Table T54). About the same proportion of 4-and 5-isomers was obtained in the nitration of 2-methoxythiazole by Friedmann (376). Recently, Katritzky et al. (377) presented the first kinetic studies of electrophilic substitution in thiazoles the nitration of thiazoles and thiazolones (Table 1-55). The reaction was followed spec-trophotometrically and performed at different acidities by varying the... 

Mills and Smith (504) were the first, in 1922, to develop a systematic study of the reactivity of methyl groups fixed on nitrogen-containing heterocycles. While in alkylpyridines the 2- (or 6) and 4-positions are activated, only the 2-position in thiazole corresponds to an enhanced reactivity of the methyl groups in condensation with aldehydes 4- and 5-methylthiazoles bear inert methyl groups. Quatemization of the thiazole nitrogen enhances still further the reactivity of the methyl in the 2-position (cf. Chapter IX), but it does not increase the reactivity of a methyl group in the 4-position (504). The authors invoke the possibility for 2- (and 6) methylpyridine and 2-methylthiazole to pass, to some extent, into the reactive enamine form (245), while 4-methylthiazole could adopt such a structure only with the participation of an unusual formula such as 247 (Scheme 112). 

In the case of substituted aryl radicals, the results may be slightly different, depending on the polarity of the radicals. With electrophilic radicals the overall reactivity of the thiazole nucleus will decrease and the percentage of 5-substituted isomer (electron-rich position) will increase, in comparison with phenyl radicals. The results are indicated in Table III-28. 

The protonation of the nitrogen atom of thiazole induces a large increase in reactivity of the 2-position (193, 194). This is in contrast to the pyridine series, where the reactivity of both positions adjacent to the nitrogen atom are enhanced (194). The phenylation of conjugate acid of 5-alkylthiazoles may then be considered as a preparative route to alkyl-thiazoles. The results (isomer percent and overall reactivity) are indicated in Tables III-31 (196) and 01-32 (196). 

Free-radical reactivity of thiazole has been calculated by semiempirical methods, and results free valence and localization energy) have been compared with experimental data. For mono- and dimethylthiazoles the radical localization energy of the unsubstituted position may be correlated with the logarithm of experimental reactivity (180, 200). The value of the slope shows that a Wheland-type complex is involved in the transition state. 

Halogenation (e.g., bromination) takes place in chloroform for the 2,4-dialkylthiazoles, and the majority of studies have been of 2,4-dimethylthiazole (227, 228). In other cases and in acetic or stronger acids, substitution occurs at the 5-position and is promoted by electronreleasing groups in the 2-position. When the releasing group is in the 4-(or 5-)-position, steric hindrance may decrease the yield of substitution at the 5- (or 4-) position. Nevertheless, the thiazole nucleus is not very reactive since 4-methylthiazole and 2.5-dimethylthiazole are inert in dilute sulfuric acid with bromine (229-231). 

The overall reactivity of the 4- and 5-positions compared to benzene has been determined by competitive methods, and the results agreed with kinetic constants established by nitration of the same thiazoles in sulfuric acid at very low concentrations (242). In fact, nitration of alkylthiazoles in a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid at 100°C for 4 hr gives nitro compounds in preparative yield, though some alkylthiazoles are oxidized. Results of competitive nitrations are summarized in Table III-43 (241, 243). For 2-alkylthiazoles, reactivities were too low to be measured accurately. 

The effect of alkyl groups in the 5-position on the reactivity of the thiazole nitrogen is analogous to that found for 3-alkylpyridines, in other words, a simple inductive effect. In passing from the unsubstituted heterocycle to the methyl derivative, the rate constant doubles a further increase in substitution produces a much less pronounced variation. 

It is well known that in nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds the reactivity of alkyl groups is enhanced. In the thiazole series, alkyl groups in the 2-position are reactive towards carbonyl compounds and condensations may be realized. 

Robba and Le Guen (91) have shown that 4,5-dicyanothiazole and various Grignard reagents react partially to give 4-acetyl-5-cyano-thiazoles. As previously mentioned, the cyano group in the 5-position is the least reactive. 

A more unusual fact observed in thiazole chemistiy is that also the other positions (4 and 5) are activated toward the nucleophilic substitution, as found independently by Metzger and coworkers (46) and by Todesco and coworkers (30, 47). Some kinetic data are reported in Table V-2. As the data in Table V-2 indicate, no simple relationship between nucleophilic reactivity and charge density, or other parameters available from more or less sophisticated calculation methods, can be applied. As a... 

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