Facile and practical synthesis of a cannabinoid-1 antagonist via regio- and stereoselective ring-opening of an aziridinium ion

Sustainable Triazine-Based Dehydro-Condensation Agents for Amide Synthesis

Conventional methods employed today for the synthesis of amides often lack of economic and environmental sustainability. Triazine-derived quaternary ammonium salts, e.g., 4-(4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)-4-methylmorpholinium chloride (DMTMM(Cl)), emerged as promising dehydro-condensation agents for amide synthesis, although suffering of limited stability and high costs. In the present work, a simple protocol for the synthesis of amides mediated by 2-chloro-4,6-dimethoxy-1,3,5-triazine (CDMT) and a tert-amine has been described and data are compared to DMTMM(Cl) and other CDMT-derived quaternary ammonium salts (DMT-Ams(X), X: Cl- or ClO4-). Different tert-amines (Ams) were tested for the synthesis of various DMT-Ams(Cl), but only DMTMM(Cl) could be isolated and employed for dehydro-condensation reactions, while all CDMT/tert-amine systems tested were efficient as dehydro-condensation agents. Interestingly, in best reaction conditions, CDMT and 1,4-dimethylpiperazine gave N-phenethyl benzamide in 93% yield in 15 min, with up to half the amount of tert-amine consumption. The efficiency of CDMT/tert-amine was further compared to more stable triazine quaternary ammonium salts having a perchlorate counter anion (DMT-Ams(ClO4)). Overall CDMT/tert-amine systems appear to be a viable and more economical alternative to most dehydro-condensation agents employed today.

Electronic and chelation effects on the unusual C2-methylation of N-(para-substituted)phenylaziridines with lithium organocuprates

Density functional theory calculations with the B3LYP functional were performed for the title ring-opening reaction to understand the intrinsic activating and directing effects of the N-substituents, as well as the electron donating effect of the para-substituted (Y = Cl, H, Me) phenyl group at the more hindered benzylic C2 atom. The N-tosyl group (i.e., N-Tos) or the N-(2-pyridyl)sulfonyl group (i.e., N-Py) was introduced to activate the ring nitrogen atom (N1) and the para-substituted (Y = Cl, H, Me) phenyl group for the activation of the C2 atom. Conformational searches and geometry optimizations were performed for the N-(para-substituted)phenylaziridines (1∼6). Calculations indicate that the aziridine 6 (i.e., Py/Me) has the most elongated C2-N1 bond intrinsically due to the electronic activating effects, implying the aziridine 6 to be the most potent candidate for the more-hindered C2 opening. Transition states (TSs) were investigated for the prospective ring-opening paths (I∼IV), considering the types of intermolecular push-pull interactions between the N-activated phenylaziridines and the cuprate. The N-Py group provides an unique C2-favored TS along the path IV, which the N-Tos group cannot afford, due to the less charge transfer from the nucleophilic CH 3δ- of the cuprate into the electrophilic C2 atom. Furthermore, the e-donating effect of the para-substituents (Y = Cl, H, Me) enhances the C2 opening for the path IV. This study enables us to understand the unusual ring-opening phenomena in terms of electronic and directing effects and hence may serve as a tool to design substrates for highly regioselective ring openings.