Sulfonyl Group Dance: A Tool for the Synthesis of 6-Azido-2-sulfonylpurine Derivatives

Regioselective quinazoline C2 modifications through the azide-tetrazole tautomeric equilibrium

2-Chloro-4-sulfonylquinazolines undergo functional group swap when treated with an azide nucleophile: 1) the azide replaces the sulfonyl group at the C4 position; 2) the intrinsic azide-tetrazole tautomeric equilibrium directs the nucleofugal sulfinate from the first step to replace chloride at the C2 position. This transformation is effective with quinazolines bearing electron-rich substituents. Therefore, the title transformations are demonstrated on the 6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline core, which is present in pharmaceutically active substances. The methodology application is showcased by transforming the obtained 4-azido-6,7-dimethoxy-2-sulfonylquinazolines into the α1-adrenoceptor blockers terazosin and prazosin by further C2-selective SNAr reaction and azide reduction.

15N Chemical Shifts and JNN-Couplings as Diagnostic Tools for Determination of the Azide-Tetrazole Equilibrium in Tetrazoloazines

Selectively ¹⁵N-labeled tetrazolo[1,5-b][1,2,4]triazines and tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines bearing one, two, or three ¹⁵N labels were synthesized. The synthesized compounds were studied by ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy in DMSO and TFA solutions, where the azide-tetrazole equilibrium can lead to the formation of two tetrazole (T, T') isomers and one azide (A) isomer for each compound. Incorporation of the ¹⁵N-label(s) leads to the appearance of ¹⁵N-¹⁵N coupling constants (J_NN), which can be easily measured via simple 1D ¹⁵N NMR spectra, even at natural abundance between labeled and unlabeled ¹⁵N atoms. The chemical shifts for the ¹⁵N nuclei in the azole moiety are very sensitive to the ring opening and azide formation, thus providing information about the azido-tetrazole equilibrium. At the same time, the ^1-2J_NN couplings between ¹⁵N-labeled atoms in the azole and azine fragments unambiguously determine the fusion type between tetrazole and azine rings in the cyclic isomers T and T'. Thus, combined analysis of ¹⁵N chemical shifts and J_NN values in selectively isotope-enriched compounds provides an effective diagnostic tool for direct structural determination of tetrazole isomers and azide form in solution. This method was found to be the most simple and efficient way to study the azido-tetrazole equilibrium.

Nucleophile-nucleofuge duality of azide and arylthiolate groups in the synthesis of quinazoline and tetrazoloquinazoline derivatives

5-Arylthio-tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazolines (tautomers of 2-arylthio-4-azido-quinazolines) undergo facile nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions with amines, alcohols and alkylthiols. This, combined with the recently reported arylsulfanyl group dance, provides straightforward access to 4-azido-2-N-, O-, S-substituted quinazolines and/or their tetrazolo tautomers from commercially available 2,4-dichloroquinazoline. The azidoazomethine-tetrazole tautomeric equilibrium and the electron-withdrawing character of the fused tetrazolo system plays a central role in the developed transformations. 5-Amino-substituted tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazolines undergo media-controlled tautomeric equilibrium, which permits them to demonstrate the reactivity traditionally associated with the azido substituent. Furthermore, a method for 5-O-substitited tetrazolo[1,5-a]quinazolines from 2,4-diazidoquinazoline was developed during the structural elucidation of the substitution products. The developed methodology will facilitate medicinal chemistry investigations into quinazoline derivatives and the discovered fluorescent properties of some of the products (e.g., 4-(4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)quinazoline: λ_em. = 461 nm, Φ_DCM = 0.89) could serve as a starting point for their further applications in analytical and materials science.

Application of Azide-Tetrazole Tautomerism and Arylsulfanyl Group Dance in the Synthesis of Thiosubstituted Tetrazoloquinazolines

Nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction between 4-aryl­thio-2-chloroquinazolines and NaN3 takes place with an unusual sulfanyl group dance and leads to the formation of 5-(arylthio)tetrazolo[1,5-c]-quinazolines, which do not form the azide tautomer and do not undergo CuAAC reactions with alkynes. On the other hand, 5-azidotetrazolo[1,5-a]quinazoline (formally described as 2,4-diazidoquinazoline) undergoes regioselective nucleophilic aromatic substitution with thiols at C5 and forms 5-(alkyl/arylthio)tetrazolo[1,5-a]quinazolines, the structure of which has been proved by X-ray crystallography. The latter exist in tautomeric equilibrium with their 2-azidoquinazoline form, which provides possibility for copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne 1,3-dipolar cyclo­addition reaction, leading to the 4-alkyl/arylthio-2-(1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)quinazolines.