[α-(Dimethylamino)benzyllithium–Diethyl Ether]2, (S)-α-(Methylpivaloylamino)benzyllithium – (–)-Sparteine, and [3-Iodo-2-lithio-1-methylindole – 2 Tetrahydrofuran]2: Crystal Structure Investigations of α-Lithiated Amines

Catalyzed and uncatalyzed procedures for the syntheses of isomeric covalent multi-indolyl hetero non-metallides: an account

Two or more indole molecules tailored to a single non-metal central atom, through any of their C2–7 positions are not only structurally engaging but also constitute a class of important pharmacophores. Although the body of such multi-indolyl non-metallide molecules are largely shared to the anticancer agent bis(indolyl)methane, other heteroatomic analogs also possess similar medicinal properties. This concise review will discuss various catalytic and uncatalytic synthetic strategies adopted for the synthesis of the non-ionic (non-metallic) versions of these important molecules till date.

Synthesis and kinetic resolution of substituted tetrahydroquinolines by lithiation then electrophilic quench

Treatment of N-Boc-2-aryl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with n-butyllithium in THF at -78 °C resulted in efficient lithiation at the 2-position and the organolithiums were trapped with a variety of electrophiles to give substituted products. Variable temperature NMR spectroscopy gave kinetic data that showed that the rate of tert-butoxycarbonyl (Boc) rotation was fast (ΔG‡ ≈ 45 kJ mol-1 at -78 °C) and in situ ReactIR spectroscopy showed fast lithiation at -78 °C. By carrying out the lithiation in the presence of the chiral ligand sparteine, kinetic resolutions with very high levels of enantioselectivity were achieved. The resulting enantioenriched N-Boc-2-aryltetrahydroquinolines were converted to 2,2-disubstituted products without significant loss in enantiopurity. Most electrophiles add at the 2-position and the chemistry provides a way to access tetrahydroquinolines that are fully substituted alpha to the nitrogen atom. Notably, either enantiomer of the 2,2-disubstituted tetrahydroquinolines can be obtained with high selectivity from the same enantiomer of the chiral ligand. Unusually, when methyl cyanoformate was used as the electrophile, substitution occurred in the ortho position of the aryl ring attached at C-2. This change in regioselectivity on changing the electrophile was probed by deuterium isotope studies and by DFT calculations which suggested that the binding of the cyanoformate altered the structure of the intermediate organolithium. Secondary amine products can be prepared by removing the Boc group with acid or by inducing the Boc group to rearrange to the 2-position in the presence of triethylborane and this carbonyl N-to-C rearrangement occurs with retention of configuration from the intermediate enantiomerically enriched organolithium species.

Generation, structure and reactivity of tertiary organolithium reagents

Tertiary organolithium reagents have great potential in natural product synthesis. Recent progress in organolithium generation has made them accessible. Their utility and stereoselectivity in synthesis is discussed.

On the control of secondary carbanion structure utilising ligand effects during directed metallation

N,N-Diisopropyl-2-propylbenzamide 6-H undergoes lateral deprotonation by t-BuLi in the presence of the Lewis base PMDTA (N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) to give a benzyllithium 6-Li_l·PMDTA that incorporates a trigonal planar secondary carbanion. In the solid state, the amide directing group and the PMDTA additive work together to abstract the metal ion from the deprotonated α-C of the propyl group (4.107(4) Å). A short distance of 1.376(3) Å is observed between the deprotonated carbon centre and a planar aromatic system that shows a pattern of bond lengths which contrasts with that reported for related tertiary carbanion systems. Analogous benzylic deprotonation is seen if 6-H is treated with t-BuLi in the presence of diglyme to give 6-Li_l·DGME. X-ray crystallography now shows that the metal ion more closely approaches the tertiary carbanion (2.418(6) Å) but that the planarity of the deprotonated carbon centre and the bonding pattern in the organic anion seen in the PMDTA complex are retained. DFT analysis corroborates both the short distance between aromatic ring and carbanion centre and the unperturbed nature of aromaticity in 6-Li_l·L (L = Lewis base). The observation of two structure-types for the carbanion in solution is explained theoretically and by NMR spectroscopy in terms of cis and trans isomerism imparted by partial double bond character in the arene–(α-C) bond.

Structurally-defined direct C-magnesiation and C-zincation of N-heterocyclic aromatic compounds using alkali-metal-mediated metallation

Demonstrating direct synergic "low polarity metallation", 1-methylindole is C-magnesiated by (TMEDA)(2).Na(2)MgBu(4) and C-zincated by (TMEDA).Na((t)Bu)(TMP)Zn((t)Bu), and 1-methylpyrrole is C-zincated by the same reagent, with all three metal products successfully crystallographically characterised.

Deuterium-Labeling and NMR Study of the Dearomatization of N-Alkyl-N-benzyldiphenylphosphinamides through Anionic Cyclization: Ortho and Benzylic Lithiation Directed by Complex-Induced Proximity Effects

The mechanism of the anionic cyclization dearomatizing reaction of N-benzyl-N-methyldiphenylphosphinamide (1) upon treatment with s-BuLi in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at -90 degrees C has been analyzed by deuterium-labeling and natural abundance multinuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H, (2)H, (7)Li, (13)C, (31)P) studies. In the absence of coordinating cosolvents such as hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA), eight major anionic species were identified, which allowed us to unravel the pathway of the metalation reaction. In agreement with the complex-induced proximity effect (CIPE) mechanism, the sequence of transformations emerging from this study involves the coordination of the lithium base to the P=O group of 1 to give four dimeric precomplexes whose NMR data are consistent with structures Va/Vb and VIIIa/VIIIb. The diastereomers Va/Vb are the precursors of the monomeric benzylic anion II, whereas the VIIIa/VIIIb diastereomers are assumed to undergo ortho deprotonation leading to anions I. Translocation from the ortho anion to the benzylic one is not observed. Intramolecular conjugate addition of anion II to the P-phenyl rings happens in a reversible way, affording the monomeric dearomatized anions III, IV, VI, and VII. The reaction progresses to yield a mixture containing only the species I, III, and IV. HMPA acts as a catalyst for the ortho-to-benzylic translocation and anionic cyclization reactions. Two-dimensional (2D) (7)Li,(31)P[(1)H] shift correlations and (7)Li[(31)P] NMR spectra proved to be crucial for the structural assignment of the anionic species. These techniques also demonstrated the diastereotopicity of the two achiral ligands involved in a dimer with s-BuLi (Vb) owing to the slow configuration inversion of the carbanion center.

7Li,31P Shift correlation. Application to the structural assignment of benzyllithium complexes of N-methyl-N-benzylphosphinamide

A correlation experiment between (7)Li and (31)P nuclei through scalar coupling is described for the first time. The utility of the method is demonstrated by identifying the species formed in the benzylic lithiation of N-benzyl-N-methyldiphenylphosphinamide in Et(2)O solution.

The Crystal Structures of the Chiral Alkyllithium Bases [n-BuLi·(−)-Sparteine]2 and [Et2O·(i-PrLi)2·(−)-Sparteine]

The crystal structures of the two chiral alkyllithium bases [n-BuLi.(-)-sparteine]2 (1) and [Et2O.(i-PrLi)2.(-)-sparteine] (2) have been determined. For compound 1, a symmetric dimer is observed in the solid state, with two (-)-sparteine ligands coordinating to the lithium centers. Because of steric reasons, compound 2 crystallizes as an unsymmetric dimer with the four methyl groups pointing away from the sterically demanding (-)-sparteine ligand. Compound 2 contains one four-coordinate lithium center [coordinated to (-)-sparteine] and one three-coordinate lithium center (coordinated to Et2O). As a result of this arrangement, significantly different Li-C distances are found in the central four-membered ring of compound 2.

A relative organolithium stability scale derived from tin-lithium exchange equilibria. Substituent effects on the stability of alpha-oxy- and alpha-aminoorganolithium compounds

Quantitative thermodynamic stability scales of organolithium compounds can be derived from measurements of tin-lithium exchange equilibria. A DeltaG(eq) scale of alpha-oxy- and alpha-aminoorganolithium compounds was established, and quantitative stabilization effects of O-alkyl, O-alkoxyalkyl, O-carbamoyl, N-carbamoyl, and O-carbonyl groups of the alpha-carbanion are presented. It has been found that an alpha-oxycarbanion is far better stabilized by a carbonyl group as the O-substituent than by an alkyl or alkoxyalkyl group, while the anion-stabilizing effects of the different O-carbonyl substituents are comparable. An N-carbamoyl group was found to have a somewhat higher stabilizing effect than its O-carbamoyl counterpart. NMR data are presented that show that benzylic N- or O-substituted carbanions have highly planarized structures where the negative charge is highly delocalized. The stability data obtained from the tin-lithium exchanges can be easily converted into "effective pK" data that are useful for predicting the acid-base behavior of this type of organolithium species.

Intramolecular carbolithiation reactions of chiral alpha-amino-organolithium species

Enantiomerically enriched alpha-amino-organolithium species, in which the lithium atom is attached to a stereogenic carbon centre, have been found to be chemically stable at room temperature in a solvent of very low polarity and undergo intramolecular carbolithiation onto an unactivated alkene. The configurational stability of the chiral organolithium species, bearing a variety of N-alkenyl substituents, was probed by studying the enantiomeric purity of the cyclization products. With N-but-3-enyl-2-lithiopyrrolidine, cyclization to the five-membered ring is more rapid than racemization and a high yield of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid (+)-pseudoheliotridane was obtained with no loss of optical purity. In contrast, with N-pent-4-enyl-2-lithiopyrrolidine, cyclization to the six-membered ring was found to occur with significant loss of optical purity. The cyclization to the six-membered ring was determined to occur with a half-life, t(1/2) approximately 90 min at 23 degrees C. The epimerization of this organolithium species in hexane/Et2O 4:1 was calculated to have a half-life, t(1/2) approximately 30 min at 23 degrees C. Enhanced levels of enantioselectivity for the formation of the indolizidine ring system were obtained using an alkene bearing a terminal phenylthio substituent. With N-[(3-phenylthio)-prop-2-enyl]-2-lithiopyrrolidine, cyclization to the four-membered ring occurs with poor enantioselectivity at low temperature in THF but is highly enantioselective at room temperature in a solvent of very low polarity.

Computational, ReactIR-, and NMR-spectroscopic investigations on the chiral formyl anion equivalent N-(alpha-lithiomethylthiomethyl)-4-isopropyl-5,5-diphenyloxazolidin-2-one and related compounds

The 4-isopropyl-3-methylthiomethyl-5,5-diphenyloxazolidin-2-one is readily lithiated in THF on the exocyclic CH2 group (1 --> 2) to give a synthetically useful chiral nucleophilic formylating reagent. We have now studied the lithiation reaction by ReactIR spectroscopy and the structure of the organolithium reagent by computational methods and by NMR-spectroscopic measurements. The lithiation is complete at -78 degrees C within 90 seconds, and it is accompanied by a decrease of the C=O wavenumber by 50 cm(-1). The NMR data (collected in [D8]THF) give no evidence for 13C,6Li coupling or for aggregation; from DPFGSE-ROE spectra the single diastereoisomer of the lithium compound 2 seen in the NMR spectra (NMR-spectroscopic measurements from -105 to -20 degrees C) is assigned like configuration; the 13C=O signal of the oxazolidinone undergoes a 7 ppm downfield shift upon lithiation (1 --> 2); line-shape analyses of the signals from the diastereotopic CH2 and CMe2 protons in lithiated 4,4-dimethyl-3-methylthiomethyloxazolidin-2-one (model compound 7) reveal a deltaH(double dagger) of 8.9 +/- 0.2 kcal mol(-1) for enantiomerization. The theoretical calculations provide an energy-minimum structure for the lithium compound 2 with coordination of the carbonyl oxygen to lithium, with an antiperiplanar arrangement of the C,Li and S,CH3 bonds, and with relative like configuration of the two stereocenters--in perfect agreement with the conclusions from the IR- and NMR-spectroscopic measurements!

Synthesis and reactivity of dipole-stabilized but unchelated alpha-aminoorganolithiums

Two N-methyl-5-lithio-2-pyrrolidinones have been prepared by tin-lithium exchange. These two alpha-aminoorganolithium compounds that are stabilized by an amide dipole, but not by chelation to the amide carbonyl. Both constitute test cases for comparing the stability and reactivity of "dipole-stabilized" and "unstabilized" alpha-aminoorganolithiums. We find that active methylene protons interfere with the reaction, so geminal disubstitution alpha to the amide carbonyl was necessary to suppress side reactions. These species do not react as efficiently as unstabilized alpha-aminoorganolithiums, or even as well as chelated dipole-stabilized alpha-aminoorganolithiums, toward typical electrophiles. The tin-lithium exchange to form these species was also not as facile as with other alpha-aminoorganostannanes.

Intramolecular carbolithiation reactions for the preparation of Azabicyclo

Tin-lithium exchange and intramolecular carbolithiation (anionic cyclization) have been used to construct the three nitrogen-positional isomers of the azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring system. The 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring system is accessed from either diastereomer of a 2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidine, via a chiral organolithium intermediate. The 2-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring system is formed stereoselectively in low yield by a tandem cyclization, together with the product from monocyclization. Better yields of the 2-aza ring system can be obtained using an alternative approach from a 2-tributylstannyl-4-allylpyrrolidine, despite the trans arrangement of the tin (and, hence, lithium) atom and the allyl unit. The 1-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane ring system is accessed in just three steps from 4-piperidone.