Revisiting the Urech Synthesis of Hydantoins: Direct Access to Enantiopure 1,5-Substituted Hydantoins Using Cyanobenziodoxolone

Preparation of a benziodazole-type iodine(III) compound and its application as a nitrating reagent for synthesis of furazans via a copper-catalyzed cascade process

The existing hypervalent I(III) reagents bearing ONO2 group are limited in types and their applications primarily focused on the nitrooxylation reactions featuring a fully-exo fashion. Herein, a benziodazole-type O2NO-I(III) compound was prepared and its reaction with β-monosubstituted enamines in the presence of CuI could trigger a radical nitration/cyclization/dehydration cascade to provide a series of less explored but biologically interesting furazan heterocycles. Mechanistically, the benziodazole-type O2NO-I(III) compound acts as a nitrating reagent and incorporates its NO moiety into the final furazan product in a fully-endo model, a process of which was proposed to involve nitration, cyclization and dehydration.

Organocatalytic cascade nucleophilic/aza-Michael addition reactions: metal-free catalytic strategy for the synthesis of hydantoins

Lewis base-catalyzed cascade nucleophilic/aza-Michael addition reaction of N-alkoxy β-oxo-acrylamides with isocyanates has been developed to afford various highly functionalized hydantoin derivatives in 80-98% yields under mild reaction conditions. The intriguing features of this method include metal-free reaction conditions, low catalyst loading, broad substrate scope and short reaction time.

Two-step continuous-flow synthesis of 6-membered cyclic iodonium salts via anodic oxidation

We describe a multi-step continuous-flow procedure for the generation of six-membered diaryliodonium salts. The accompanying scalability and atom economy are significant improvements to existing batch methods. Benzyl acetates are submitted to this two-step procedure as highly available and cheap starting materials. An acid-catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation followed by an anodic oxidative cyclization yielded a defined set of cyclic iodonium salts in a highly substrate-dependent yield.

Pd-Catalysed oxidative carbonylation of α-amino amides to hydantoins under mild conditions

The first example of palladium-catalysed oxidative carbonylation of unprotected α-amino amides to hydantoins is described here. The selective synthesis of the target compounds was achieved under mild conditions (1 atm of CO), without ligands and bases. The catalytic system overrode the common reaction pathway that usually leads instead to the formation of symmetrical ureas.

N-Cyanation of Primary and Secondary Amines with Cyanobenzio-doxolone (CBX) Reagent

An efficient electrophilic N-cyanation of amines with a stable and less-toxic cyanobenziodoxole reagent towards the synthesis of cyanamides is disclosed. This synthetically practicable strategy allows the construction of a wide variety of cyanamides under very mild and simple conditions with a broad functional group compatibility, and showcases a huge potential in late-stage modification of complex molecules.

Structure and Reactivity of N-Heterocyclic Alkynyl Hypervalent Iodine Reagents

Ethynylbenziodoxol(on)e (EBX) cyclic hypervalent iodine reagents have become popular reagents for the alkynylation of radicals and nucleophiles, but only offer limited possibilities for further structure and reactivity fine-tuning. Herein, the synthesis of new N-heterocyclic hypervalent iodine reagents with increased structural flexibility based on amide, amidine and sulfoximine scaffolds is reported. Solid-state structures of the reagents are reported and the analysis of the I-Calkyne bond lengths allowed assessing the trans-effect of the different substituents. Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps of the reagents, derived from DFT computations, revealed less pronounced σ-hole regions for sulfonamide-based compounds. Most reagents reacted well in the alkynylation of β-ketoesters. The alkynylation of thiols afforded more variable yields, with compounds with a stronger σ-hole reacting better. In metal-mediated transformations, the N-heterocyclic hypervalent iodine reagents gave inferior results when compared to the O-based EBX reagents.

Practical Synthesis of 2-Iodosobenzoic Acid (IBA) without Contamination by Hazardous 2-Iodoxybenzoic Acid (IBX) under Mild Conditions

We report a convenient and practical method for the preparation of nonexplosive cyclic hypervalent iodine(III) oxidants as efficient organocatalysts and reagents for various reactions using Oxone® in aqueous solution under mild conditions at room temperature. The thus obtained 2-iodosobenzoic acids (IBAs) could be used as precursors of other cyclic organoiodine(III) derivatives by the solvolytic derivatization of the hydroxy group under mild conditions of 80 °C or lower temperature. These sequential procedures are highly reliable to selectively afford cyclic hypervalent iodine compounds in excellent yields without contamination by hazardous pentavalent iodine(III) compound.

α-Diazo Sulfonium Triflates: Synthesis, Structure, and Application to the Synthesis of 1-(Dialkylamino)-1,2,3-triazoles

The one-pot synthesis of a series of sulfonium salts containing transferable diazomethyl groups is described, and the structure of these compounds is elucidated by X-ray crystallography. Under photochemical conditions, reaction of these salts with N,N-dialkyl hydrazones affords 1-(dialkylamino)-1,2,3-triazoles via diazomethyl radical addition to the azomethine carbon followed by intramolecular ring closure. The straightforward transformation of the structures thus obtained into mesoionic carbene-metal complexes is also reported and the donor properties of these new ligands characterized.

"On water" nano-Cu2O-catalyzed CO-free one-pot multicomponent cascade cyanation-annulation-aminolysis reaction toward phthalimides

An efficient nano-Cu2O-catalyzed cascade multicomponent reaction of 2-halobenzoic acids and trimethylsilyl cyanide with diverse amines was developed using water as a solvent, affording versatile N-substituted phthalimide derivatives in moderate to excellent yields. This novel strategy features carbon monoxide gas-free, environmentally benign, one-pot multistep transformation, commercially available reagents, a cheap catalyst without any additives, wide functional group tolerance, and operational convenience.

Synthetic Applications of Sulfonium Salts

This minireview aims to cover the developments over the past two decades in the chemistry of sulfonium salts. Specifically, insight is provided into the synthetic strategies available for the preparation of these compounds, the different reactivity patterns that are expected depending on their structural features or the reaction conditions applied, and the diversity of organic scaffolds that can thereby be synthesized. Additionally, the pros and cons derived from the use of sulfonium salts are presented and critically compared, when possible, in relation to reagents not based on sulfur but depicting similar reactivity.

One-Pot Synthesis and Conformational Analysis of Six-Membered Cyclic Iodonium Salts

Two one-pot procedures for the construction of carbon-bridged diaryliodonium triflates and tetrafluoroborates are described. Strong Brønsted acids enable the effective Friedel-Crafts alkylation with diversely substituted o-iodobenzyl alcohol derivatives, providing diphenylmethane scaffolds, which are subsequently oxidized and cyclized to the corresponding dibenzo[b,e]iodininium salts. Based on NMR investigations and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we could verify the so-far-undescribed existence of two stable isomers in cyclic iodonium salts substituted with aliphatic side chains in the carbon bridge.

Cu-catalyzed N-3-Arylation of Hydantoins Using Diaryliodonium Salts

A general Cu-catalyzed, regioselective method for the N-3-arylation of hydantoins is described. The protocol utilizes aryl(trimethoxyphenyl)iodonium tosylate as the arylating agent in the presence of triethylamine and a catalytic amount of a simple Cu-salt. The method is compatible with structurally diverse hydantoins and operates well with neutral aryl groups or aryl groups bearing weakly donating/withdrawing elements. It is also applicable for the rapid diversification of pharmaceutically relevant hydantoins.

5-(Cyano)dibenzothiophenium Triflate: A Sulfur-Based Reagent for Electrophilic Cyanation and Cyanocyclizations

The synthesis of 5-(cyano)dibenzothiophenium triflate 9, prepared by activation of dibenzo[b,d]thiophene-5-oxide with Tf2 O and subsequent reaction with TMSCN is reported, and its reactivity as electrophilic cyanation reagent evaluated. The scalable preparation, easy handling and broad substrate scope of the electrophilic cyanation promoted by 9, which includes amines, thiols, silyl enol ethers, alkenes, electron rich (hetero)arenes and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, illustrate the synthetic potential of this reagent. Importantly, Lewis acid activation of the reagent is not required for the transfer process. We additionally report herein biomimetic cyanocyclization cascade reactions, which are not promoted by typical electrophilic cyanation reagents, demonstrating the superior ability of 9 to trigger challenging transformations.