Parallel synthesis of oxazolines and thiazolines by tandem condensation-cyclodehydration of carboxylic acids with amino alcohols and aminothiols

Microwave-Assisted Hydrolysis of Ethyl Azolylacetates and Cinnamates with K2CO3: Synthesis of Potassium Carboxylates

In this study, the hydrolysis of ethyl azolylacetates and ethyl cinnamates using K2CO3/ethanol under microwave irradiation was developed. For this purpose, ethyl azolylacetates were first synthesized by nucleophilic substitution between the corresponding azole and ethyl bromoacetate under sonication at 50 °C for 3 h, yielding derivatives with 10-92% chemical yields, while ethyl cinnamates were obtained by a microwave-assisted Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) reaction of triethyl phosphonoacetate with a variety of aryl aldehydes at 140 °C for 20 min, yielding derivatives with moderate to high yields (67-98%). Initially, the optimization of the hydrolysis reaction was performed using ethyl pyrazolylacetate as a model starting material while varying the temperature, time, and base equivalents; the best results were achieved by carrying out the reaction at 180 °C for 20 min with 3.0 eq of K2CO3. This simple and greener method facilitated the synthesis of potassium carboxylates in moderate to high yields, 80-98% for azolyl derivatives and 73-98% for cinnamate derivatives. The structures of all potassium carboxylates were confirmed by FTIR, 1H, 13C NMR, and HRMS.

2-Thiazolines: an update on synthetic methods and catalysis

2-Thiazolines are important building blocks in organic synthesis and are of great importance in many areas of chemistry. At the end of the last century, the use of 2-thiazolines increased in a significant way, especially in synthesis and catalysis. This review highlights the synthetic and catalytic value of 2-thiazolines in the last two decades. We will discuss the new synthetic methodologies for obtaining these heterocycles including new schemes for accessing their asymmetric versions. Most of the new catalytic applications include a variety of 2-thiazoline ligands containing diverse donor atoms, which in combination with metals like Pd, Ir, and Cu, among others, exhibit remarkable catalytic performances.

Ammonia-borane as a Catalyst for the Direct Amidation of Carboxylic Acids

Ammonia-borane serves as an efficient substoichiometric (10%) precatalyst for the direct amidation of both aromatic and aliphatic carboxylic acids. In situ generation of amine-boranes precedes the amidation and, unlike the amidation with stoichiometric amine-boranes, this process is facile with 1 equiv of the acid. This methodology has high functional group tolerance and chromatography-free purification but is not amenable for esterification. The latter feature has been exploited to prepare hydroxyl- and thiol-containing amides.

Diastereoselective One-Pot Synthesis of Oxazolines Using Sulfur Ylides and Acyl Imines

This work describes an extended version of the Corey-Chaykovsky reaction to access oxazolines using sulfur ylides and stable precursors of acyl imines. The reaction proceeds through a mixture of aziridines and oxazolines, which provides the trans-oxazolines following in situ Heine-type aziridine ring expansion upon treatment with BF₃·OEt₂. Following the same one-pot procedure, amidine imides react with the sulfur ylides to provide imidazolines.

Amino acids and peptides as reactants in multicomponent reactions: modification of peptides with heterocycle backbones through combinatorial chemistry

In this study, amino acids and peptides were used as reactants in a Hantzsch multicomponent reaction in order to synthesize new structurally diverse molecules containing these synthons. As well, an applicable strategy for modification of these natural molecules with heterocycle backbones such as pyrimidine, xanthene and acridine is introduced. Using this method, a set of new amino acid- and peptide-functionalized heterocycles were synthesized in good to excellent yields under mild conditions. Furthermore, carbohydrates were used as substrates in the synthesis of some derivatives. Overall, this methodology allows the possibility of synthesis of large numbers of natural product-based libraries, using amino acids, peptides and carbohydrates through combinatorial chemistry.

Copper N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes As Active Catalysts for the Synthesis of 2-Substituted Oxazolines from Nitriles and Aminoalcohols

The reaction between nitriles and aminoalcohols to access 2-substituted oxazolines was investigated. Using copper-NHC complexes, various nitriles were successfully converted into the corresponding oxazolines, under milder and less wasteful conditions than those of previously reported methods.

Synthetic and structural routes for the rational conversion of peptides into small molecules

The demand for modified peptides with improved stability profiles and pharmacokinetic properties is driving extensive research effort in this field. The conversion of peptides into organic molecules, as traditional drugs, is a long and puzzled way. Many and versatile approaches have been described for designing peptide mimetics: the substitution of natural residues with modified amino acids and the rigidification and modification of the backbone are the main structural and chemical routes walked in medicinal chemistry. All of these strategies have been successfully applied to obtain active new compounds in molecular biology, drug discovery and design. Here we propose a panoramic review of the most common methods for the preparation of modified peptides and the most interesting findings of the last decade.

Selective thioacylation of amines in water: a convenient preparation of secondary thioamides and thiazolines

Preparation of secondary thioamides and thiazolines via formation of β-hydroxythioamides from primary thioamides and aminoethanol in water.

Asymmetric synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted Δ2-thiazolines

Δ²-Thiazolines are interesting heterocycles that display a wide variety of biological characteristics. They are also common in chiral ligands used for asymmetric syntheses and as synthetic intermediates. Herein, we present asymmetric routes to 2,4,5-trisubstituted Δ²-thiazolines. These Δ²-thiazolines were synthesized from readily accessible/commercially available α,β-unsaturated methyl esters through a Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation and an O→N acyl migration reaction as key steps. The final products were obtained in good yields with up to 97% enantiomeric excess.

Peptidomimetics, a synthetic tool of drug discovery

The demand for modified peptides with improved stability profiles and pharmacokinetic properties is driving extensive research effort in this field. Many structural modifications of peptides guided by rational design and molecular modeling have been established to develop novel synthetic approaches. Recent advances in the synthesis of conformationally restricted building blocks and peptide bond isosteres are discussed.

One-step synthesis of oxazoline and dihydrooxazine libraries

The reactions of 1,2- and 1,3-hydroxyalkyl azides and aldehydes in the presence of Lewis acid result in the one-step construction of oxazolines and dihydrooxazines, respectively. The reaction was adapted to parallel synthesis using a polymer-bound phosphine to scavenge excess hydroxyalkyl azide. Thus, a 60-member library of various disubstituted oxazolines and di- and trisubstituted dihydrooxazines was generated.

Transition-metal-mediated cascade reactions: the water-accelerated carboalumination-Claisen rearrangement-carbonyl addition reaction

[Chemical reaction: See text] A three-step cascade reaction involving a water-accelerated catalytic carboalumination, a Claisen rearrangement, and a nucleophilic carbonyl addition converts terminal alkynes and allyl vinyl ethers into allylic alcohols containing up to three contiguous asymmetric carbon centers. Stoichiometric quantities of water as an additive increase the rate of the [3,3] sigmatropic rearrangement as well as the diastereoselectivity of the carbonyl addition process. Reaction products contain 1,6-diene functionalities that are readily cyclized to substituted cyclopentenes. An extension of this methodology to a sequence involving a [1,3] sigmatropic shift was feasible with a cyclopropylmethyl vinyl ether substrate.

Direct conversion of esters, lactones, and carboxylic acids to oxazolines catalyzed by a tetranuclear zinc cluster

The tetranuclear zinc cluster Zn4(OCOCF3)6O catalyzes the direct conversion of esters, lactones, and carboxylic acids to oxazolines with remarkable chemoselectivity.

Polymer−Micelle Incarcerated Scandium as a Polymer-Supported Catalyst for High-Throughput Organic Synthesis

A novel immobilization technique for Sc(OTf)3, a polymer-micelle incarcerated (PMI) method, has been developed. PMI Sc(OTf)3 is highly active in several fundamental carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions. The catalyst is recovered quantitatively by simple filtration and reused several times without loss of catalytic activity, and no Sc leaching was observed in all reactions (<0.1 ppm). In addition, several solvents are available, and these aspects are suitable for high-throughput organic synthesis (HTOS). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of immobilization of Lewis acids utilizing polymer micelles.

A Straightforward, One-Pot Protocol for the Preparation of Libraries of 2-Oxazolines

A practical protocol for the parallel synthesis of 2-oxazolines using polymer-supported reagents is described. Polymer-supported Mukaiyama reagent is used to couple a carboxylic acid with an amino alcohol, giving a beta-hydroxyamide, which is then cyclized in situ using either polymer-supported sulfonyl chloride resin or polymer-bound 2-fluoropyridinium triflate. Both 2,4-disubstituted and 2,4,5-trisubstituted 2-oxazolines are obtained in high yields and excellent purities after a simple resin filtration and solvent evaporation routine.

Molybdenum Oxides as Highly Effective Dehydrative Cyclization Catalysts for the Synthesis of Oxazolines and Thiazolines

In the presence of molybdenum oxide the dehydrative cyclization of N-acylserines, N-acylthreonines, and N-acylcysteines can be carried out under Dean-Stark conditions in toluene to give oxazolines and thiazolines. The ammonium salts (NH(4))(6)Mo(7)O(24).4H(2)O and (NH(4))(2)MoO(4) have excellent catalytic activities for the dehydrative cyclization of serine and threonine derivatives, and the acetylacetonate complex MoO(2)(acac)(2) has a remarkable catalytic activity for the dehydrative cyclization of cysteine derivatives. In addition, polyaniline-supported MoO(2)(acac)(2) can easily be recovered and reused.

Parallel and combinatorial approaches for synthesis of ligands

Although new detection screening methods must still be developed, the actual main limitation in combinatorial chemistry seems to be the diversity of ligands that can be generated in terms of real structural and chemical diversity. Thus, there is a strong interest for the development of different strategies for the parallel or combinatorial synthesis of ligands. We report here a selection of recent attempts proposing 'open' approaches able to increase the diversity of molecular architecture truly accessible via parallel or combinatorial processes.

Facile syntheses of oxazolines and thiazolines with N-acylbenzotriazoles under microwave irradiation

Microwave reactions of 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (2) or 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (4) with readily available N-acylbenzotriazoles 1a-j in the presence of SOCl(2) produced 2-substituted 2-oxazolines 3a-j in 84-98% yields and 2-substituted thiazolines 5a-i in 85-97% yields, respectively. With use of this method chiral oxazoline 6, bisoxazoline 7, bisthiazoline 8, and 5,6-dihydro-4H-1,3-oxazines 9 or 10 have also been prepared in 82-96% yields. These results demonstrate a new application of N-acylbenzotriazoles in the preparation of oxazolines and thiazolines under mild conditions and short reaction times with microwave irradiation.