The Diels-Alder reaction of 1-azadienes. The effect of an α-cyano substituent

Electron-deficient 1- and 2-azabuta-1,3-dienes: a comprehensive survey of their synthesis and reactivity

Electron-deficient 1- and 2-azabuta-1,3-dienes are reagents intrinsically able to provide a wide range of cyclic and acyclic N-containing building blocks. Depending on their substitution, they behave as dienes for Diels-Alder reactions, as partners for [4+1], [3+2], [2+2]-cycloadditions, for aziridinations and as electrophiles for 1,2 and 1,4-additions. Nowadays, they are a very versatile family of compounds, despite their usual instability and complex reactivity. Four decades of research in this challenging area are reviewed in this critical review: their synthetic aspects and their reactivity towards a wide range of dienophiles, dipoles and nucleophiles are described as well. The introduction focuses on their electronic properties in order to get a clear picture of their reactivity (190 references).

Highly enantioselective azadiene Diels-Alder reactions catalyzed by chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes

Highly enantioselective, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed aza-Diels-Alder reactions are described. A novel chiral triazolium salt based on the cis-1,2-aminoindanol platform serves as an efficient precatalyst for the NHC-catalyzed redox generation of enolate dienophiles that undergo LUMOdiene-controlled Diels-Alder reactions with N-sulfonyl-alpha,beta-unsaturated imines in good yields and with exceptional diastereo- and enantioselectivities (>99% ee). In contrast to uncatalyzed variants, this organocatalytic process proceeds at room temperature without stoichiometric reagents, producing synthetically valuable, enantiomerically pure cis-3,4-disubstituted dihydropyridinone products.

The Chemistry of Pericyclic Reactions and Their Application to Syntheses of Heterocyclic Compounds

Diels-Alder reactions of benzylidenecyanomethyl-1,3-benzothiazoles 17 and -1,3-benzoxazoles 18 as 1-aza-1,3-butadienes are described. The dienes 17 and 18 featuring stabilized imine moieties in the form of heteroaromatic rings react with both electron-deficient and electron-rich dienophiles to give corresponding cycloadducts regioselectively. The cycloadditions of the intramolecular systems 34c,d and 35c,d proceeded smoothly via the exo-transition state, stereoselectively affording polycyclic compounds 36c,d and 37c,d in good to excellent yields. The diene systems of 17 and 18 were extended to dienes 19a-c with ester groups at diene-4-positions. Dienes 19a-c exhibited high Diels-Alder reactivities with electron-rich alkenes. Dienes 19a-c also reacted with allyl alcohols 55-58 in the presence of stanoxane catalyst 53 to give cycloadducts 59-62 via transesterification and intramolecular cycloaddition. Although alpha-alkoxycarbonylnitrones 64 have been very attractive nitrones for the syntheses of amino acids, the nitrones 64 exist as equilibrating mixtures of (E)-64 and (Z)-64. To solve this problem, three methods were explored: 1) sequential transesterification and intermolecular cycloaddition of nitrones 64 with allyl alcohols; 2) use of chiral and geometry-fixed nitrone 84; and 3) selective activation of (Z)-64 by Eu(fod)3. These methods were applied to syntheses of nikkomycins, clavalanine, and beta-substituted alpha-amino acids. The reactions of photoinduced carbonyl ylides from alpha,beta-unsaturated gamma,delta-epoxy nitriles were studied. Direct irradiation (lambda = 254 nm) of (E)-129 led selectively to products arising from the carbonyl ylide XXV or the carbene intermediate XXVI. The carbonyl ylides generated from (E)-129, (E)-139, and (Z)-143 were trapped with MeOH in the presence of amine, affording the corresponding acetals in moderate yields (Schemes 42 and 43). Photocyclization reactions of delta-hydroxyalkyl epoxy nitriles 148a-e led to spiro acetals arising from the carbonyl ylides (Scheme 45). The photoinduced carbonyl ylides from the epoxy dinitriles 158 and 160-163 underwent 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition with enol ethers, leading to a tetrahydrofuran system (Schemes 49 and 50, Table 14). Electrocyclization of 3-butadienylindoles 184 to intermediary dihydrocarbazoles XXXII followed by elimination of MeOH gave 3-oxyganated carbazoles 185, which were transformed to carbazole alkaloids hyellazole 168, 4-demethoxycarbazomycin B 170 and carazostatin 171, respectively. Claisen rearrangement of 3-(1-amino-1-vinyloxy) indolines derived from 3-hydroxyindolines 192 and amide acetal 193 gave indol-4-ylacetamides 194, which was reduced to afford 4-(2-aminoethyl) indoles 198, which has a framework of biologically active 4-substituted indole compounds. Claisen rearrangement of 3-allyloxyindoles produced in situ by condensation of indolin-3-ones 202 with allyl alcohols 203 and 206-211 gave 2-allylindolin-3-ones 204, 205 and 212-220. The domino reactions, Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination of 2-allyloxyindole 233, isomerization, and Claisen rearrangement produced 3-allylindolin-2-one 234, which was derivatized to 3a-allylpyrrolo [2,3-b] indole alkaloid, flustramine C 221. Reverse aromatic Cope rearrangement of 2-allyl-3-indolidene acetonitriles 241-243, formed by Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction of 2-allylindolin-3-ones 238-240, afforded indoles 244-246.

Facile, regioselective [4 + 2] cycloaddition involving 1-aryl-4-phenyl-1-azadienes and allenic esters: an efficient route to novel substituted 1-aryl-4-phenyl-1,4-dihydropyridines

[reaction: see text]1-Aryl-4-phenyl-1-azadienes undergo facile, regioselective [4 + 2] cycloaddition to the C2,C3 pi-bond of allenic esters in refluxing benzene, and the formed adducts undergo a 1,3-H shift to afford novel 2-alkyl-1-aryl-3-ethoxycarbonyl-4-phenyl-1,4-dihydropyridines (78-97%). However, when the reaction is carried at room temperature, besides the [4 + 2] addition, the [2 + 2] mode of addition involving C=N of azadiene and C3,C4 pi-bond of allenic esters also intervenes. The resulting N-aryl-2-ethoxy-carbonyl-methylidene-4-styrylazetidines (17-28%) undergo reorganization on silica gel to afford 2-cyclohexen-1-ones.

Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reaction of N-Alkyl-2-cyano-1-azadienes: A Study of the Eschenmoser Cycloreversion of Dihydrooxazines as a Route to N-Alkyl-2-cyano-1-azadienes

In connection with the development of the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction (IMDA) of 1-azadienes, the 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,2-oxazine 12has been evaluated as a synthon equivalent of the 2-cyano-1-azadiene system. It was found that the dihydrooxazonium salt 27, generated in situ from the cyclic hydroxamic acid derivative 26, is converted directly to azadiene 4a via tautomerization to the corresponding enamine and a particularly facile Eschenmoser type cycloreversion process. Conditions were subsequently found for the preparation of synthon 12. N-Alkylation of this intermediate with alkyl bromides in the presence of Ag(+) ion also resulted in direct formation of the 2-cyano-1-azadiene products 38a-dand 4a. Microwave irradiation of a benzene solution of azadiene 4a proved to be a convenient means to effect its IMDA conversion to indolizidine 5a. To avoid decomposition of azadiene 38c, its intramolecular cycloaddition giving 40 (60%) was achieved by flash vacuum thermolysis.

Reactivity of N-Phenyl-1-Aza-2-Cyano-1,3-Butadienes in the Diels-Alder Reaction

It is found that N-phenyl-2-cyano-1-azadiene 4, prepared via a two-step, one-pot, sequence from acrylanilide, undergoes efficient [4 + 2] cycloaddition with a complete range of electron rich, electron poor, and neutral dienophiles under remarkably mild thermal conditions (90-120 degrees C for 20-48 h). Regiospecific formation of the alpha-cycloadduct wherein the dienophile substituent is alpha to nitrogen is observed for vinyl ethers and styrene, whereas the Diels-Alder reactions with methyl acrylate and methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) produce alpha/beta mixtures in which the alpha-cycloadduct is the major regioisomer (approximately 4-5:1). An essentially identical reaction pattern was observed in the Diels-Alder reaction of N-(p-methoxyphenyl)-2-cyano-1-azadiene 18 and the 4-methyl-substituted azadiene 27. For compound 19 derived from cycloaddition of 18 with ethyl vinyl ether, facile conversion to the dihydropyridine 21 through loss of EtOH on brief acid treatment was also noted. The 2,4-cis-disubstitution pattern confirmed by X-ray diffraction for the major cycloadduct 29 isolated from the reaction of 27 with styrene provides evidence for the endo mode of cycloaddition in the Diels-Alder reaction of N-phenyl(aryl)-2-cyano-1-azadienes. Calculation of the frontier orbital energies and coefficients, as well as the transition state geometries for the [4 + 2] cycloaddition of N-phenyl-2-cyano-1-azadiene 4 with methyl vinyl ether, styrene, and MVK were carried out at the RHF AM1 level (MOPAC, Version 5.0). The FMO treatment indicates that the reaction of 4 with methyl vinyl ether occurs under LUMO(diene) control, whereas in contrast, the corresponding cycloaddition with MVK occurs preferably under HOMO(diene) control. A high degree of asynchronicity is observed in the calculated transition states for reaction of 4 with the three representative dienophiles. In all cases the transition states leading to the alpha-cycloadducts are lower in energy than those giving the beta-products. However, at the AM1 level the exo cycloaddition mode is found to be the preferred, this result contrasting with experimental results for azadiene 27.