Transition-Metal-Free Deconstructive Lactamization of Piperidines

DensToolKit2: A comprehensive open-source package for analyzing the electron density and its derivative scalar and vector fields

In this article, we provide details of the suite DensToolKit-v2, which consists of a set of cross-platform, optionally parallelized programs for analyzing the molecular electron density (ρ), as well as different fields and chemical indices derived from it. Notably, with this version, the user can compute the Non-Covalent Interaction index, the Density Overlap Regions Index, and fields related to single-spin-type molecular orbitals, such as the spin density. In addition, DensToolKit-v2 includes several programs for analyzing other less-known fields, such as the Density Matrix of order 1, the two-electron pair density function, and the Fourier transforms of these fields, that is, functionals in momentum space. A new sub-program to compute integrated properties of each of the fields released in the suite is included. A simple graphical user interface is released, which eases the visualization of ρ critical points topology. Most interestingly, this version includes a program that renders estimations of pKa's of carboxylic acids and pKb's of amines (primary, secondary, and tertiary) through refined relations between experimental data and the molecular electrostatic potential computed at isosurfaces of ρ. Details related to the speed of the programs and a few examples of how to use the program in workflows are discussed, and the source code is released through a git repository under the GPLv3 terms.

Synthesis and Structure Revision of Securingine E

Chemical synthesis plays a crucial role in confirming and revising the structures of natural products. Through meticulous synthetic efforts, NMR spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, DFT calculations, and mass spectrometric investigations, we revised the structure of securingine E. The revised structure of securingine E was unambiguously confirmed by its chemical synthesis.

Transformation of (allo)securinine to (allo)norsecurinine via a molecular editing strategy

Securinega alkaloids have intrigued chemists since the isolation of securinine in 1956. This family of natural products comprises a securinane subfamily with a piperidine substructure and norsecurinane alkaloids featuring a pyrrolidine core. From a biosynthetic perspective, the piperidine moiety in securinane alkaloids derives from lysine, whereas the pyrrolidine moiety in norsecurinane natural products originates from ornithine, marking an early biogenetic divergence. Herein, we introduce a single-atom deletion strategy that enables the late-stage conversion of securinane to norsecurinane alkaloids. Notably, for the first time, this method enabled the transformation of piperidine-based (allo)securinine into pyrrolidine-based (allo)norsecurinine. Straightforward access to norsecurinine from securinine, which can be readily extracted from the plant Flueggea suffruticosa, abundant across the Korean peninsula, holds promise for synthetic studies of norsecurinine-based oligomeric securinega alkaloids.

Organic Synthesis Using Nitroxides

Nitroxides, also known as nitroxyl radicals, are long-lived or stable radicals with the general structure R1R2N-O•. The spin distribution over the nitroxide N and O atoms contributes to the thermodynamic stability of these radicals. The presence of bulky N-substituents R1 and R2 prevents nitroxide radical dimerization, ensuring their kinetic stability. Despite their reactivity toward various transient C radicals, some nitroxides can be easily stored under air at room temperature. Furthermore, nitroxides can be oxidized to oxoammonium salts (R1R2N═O+) or reduced to anions (R1R2N-O-), enabling them to act as valuable oxidants or reductants depending on their oxidation state. Therefore, they exhibit interesting reactivity across all three oxidation states. Due to these fascinating properties, nitroxides find extensive applications in diverse fields such as biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, materials science, and organic synthesis. This review focuses on the versatile applications of nitroxides in organic synthesis. For their use in other important fields, we will refer to several review articles. The introductory part provides a brief overview of the history of nitroxide chemistry. Subsequently, the key methods for preparing nitroxides are discussed, followed by an examination of their structural diversity and physical properties. The main portion of this review is dedicated to oxidation reactions, wherein parent nitroxides or their corresponding oxoammonium salts serve as active species. It will be demonstrated that various functional groups (such as alcohols, amines, enolates, and alkanes among others) can be efficiently oxidized. These oxidations can be carried out using nitroxides as catalysts in combination with various stoichiometric terminal oxidants. By reducing nitroxides to their corresponding anions, they become effective reducing reagents with intriguing applications in organic synthesis. Nitroxides possess the ability to selectively react with transient radicals, making them useful for terminating radical cascade reactions by forming alkoxyamines. Depending on their structure, alkoxyamines exhibit weak C-O bonds, allowing for the thermal generation of C radicals through reversible C-O bond cleavage. Such thermally generated C radicals can participate in various radical transformations, as discussed toward the end of this review. Furthermore, the application of this strategy in natural product synthesis will be presented.

Oxoammonium Salt-Promoted Multifunctionalization of Saturated Cyclic Amines Based On β-Oxo Cyclic Iminium Ion Intermediates

Herein we describe a convenient method for multiple C(sp³)-H bond functionalization of saturated cyclic amines through oxoammonium salt-promoted oxidation to afford a β-oxo cyclic iminium ion as a key intermediate, followed by cascade addition with thiocyanate and diverse N-, O-, and S-containing nucleophiles in the green solvent and EtOH. Notably, chiral spiro azapolyheterocycles were prepared enantioselectively (>20:1 dr, up to 99% ee) when cysteine or serine esters were used as substrates. Moreover, the concise late-stage modification of several natural product derivatives was accomplished using this method.

Cyclic Oxime Esters as Deconstructive Bifunctional Reagents for Cyanoalkyl Esterification of 1,6-Enynes

A concise copper catalysis strategy for the addition-cyclization of cyclic oxime esters across 1,6-enynes with high stereoselectivity to generate 1-indanones bearing an all-carbon quaternary center is reported. In this process, single-electron reduction of cyclic oxime esters enables deconstructive carbon-carbon cleavage to provide a key cyanopropyl radical poised for the addition-cyclization. This reaction is redox-neutral, exhibits good functional group compatibility, and features 100% atomic utilization. This process driven by copper catalyst makes readily available cyclic oxime esters as bifunctional reagents to demonstrate convergent synthesis.

Copper(ii)-catalyzed and acid-promoted highly regioselective oxidation of tautomerizable C(sp3)-H bonds adjacent to 3,4-dihydroisoquinolines using air (O2) as a clean oxidant

A mild, efficient and eco-friendly method for the oxidation of 1-Bn-DHIQs to 1-Bz-DHIQs without concomitant excessive oxidation of 1-Bz-DHIQs to 1-Bz-IQs is very important for the syntheses of 1-Bz-DHIQ alkaloids and analogues. In this article, we developed a novel Cu(ii)-catalyzed and acid-promoted highly regioselective oxidation of tautomerizable C(sp3)-H bonds adjacent to the C-1 positions of various 1-Bn-DHIQs. It was observed that when 0.2 equiv. of Cu(OAc)2·2H2O was used as the catalyst, 3.0 equiv. of AcOH was used as the additive and air (O2) was used as a clean oxidant, various 1-Bn-DHIQs could be efficiently oxidized to corresponding 1-Bz-DHIQs at 25 °C in DMSO. Especially, almost no concomitant excessive oxidation of 1-Bz-DHIQs to 1-Bz-IQs was observed during the above reaction. In addition, this method was successfully applied in the first total synthesis of the alkaloid canelillinoxine.

Selective cleavage and reconstruction of C–N/C–C bonds in saturated cyclic amines: tunable synthesis of lactams and functionalized acyclic amines

Selective cleavage of C–N/C–C bonds in saturated cyclic amines for the tunable synthesis of lactams and functionalized acyclic amines under the promotion of oxoammonium salt and TBHP in the presence of different additives have been developed.

Recent advances in the functionalization of saturated cyclic amines

Functionalized cyclic amines are the essential structural moieties of numerous biologically active compounds. This review summarized the most recent advances in the C–H, C–N and C–C bond functionalization of saturated cyclic amines.

Transition-Metal-Free Functionalization of Saturated and Unsaturated Amines to Bioactive Alkaloids Mediated by Sodium Chlorite

New approaches to the synthesis of alkaloids through the straightforward functionalization of C(sp3)–H and C(sp2)=C(sp2) bonds of simple five- and six-membered-ring N-heterocycles are highlighted. The direct functionalization of pre-existing N-heterocycles to advanced alkaloids intermediates is a chemical operation that commonly requires the intervention of transition or precious metals. Regardless the inherent unwanted waste production, the high economical cost of many transition-metal catalysts limits their use globally. Here, we account our efforts directed toward the synthesis of bioactive alkaloids under an economic and ecological fashion by using NaClO2 as the key activating or oxidizing reagent that substitutes the use of transition-metal catalysts. While undesired metal wastes are collected during the extraction process of a transition-metal-catalyzed reaction, innocuous NaCl is the commonly product waste when NaClO2 is employed in our chemical transformations. Beginning with the synthesis of 2,3-epoxyamides from allyl amines, we concluded with the functionalization of multiple and remote C(sp3)–H and C(sp3)–C(sp3) bonds in piperidine rings that enabled the preparation of important bioactive alkaloids. For the latter functionalization, a precise amount of co-oxidant reagent (NaOCl) and radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy (TEMPO) were needed.

1 Introduction

2 Direct Chemical Method for Preparing 2,3-Epoxyamides

3 Dual C(sp3)–H Oxidation of Cyclic Amines to 3‑Alkoxyamine Lac­tams

4 Electrochemical Deamination of 3-Alkoxyamine Lactams

5 Direct C–H Oxidation of Piperazines and Morpholines to 2,3-Diketopiperazines and 3-Morpholinones, Respectively

6 Transition-Metal-Free Triple C–H Oxidation

7 Deconstructive Lactamization of Piperidines

8 Conclusion

Ring-opening functionalizations of unstrained cyclic amines enabled by difluorocarbene transfer

Chemical synthesis based on the skeletal variation has been prolifically utilized as an attractive approach for modification of molecular properties. Given the ubiquity of unstrained cyclic amines, the ability to directly alter such motifs would grant an efficient platform to access unique chemical space. Here, we report a highly efficient and practical strategy that enables the selective ring-opening functionalization of unstrained cyclic amines. The use of difluorocarbene leads to a wide variety of multifaceted acyclic architectures, which can be further diversified to a range of distinctive homologative cyclic scaffolds. The virtue of this deconstructive strategy is demonstrated by successful modification of several natural products and pharmaceutical analogues.

Deconstructive Oxygenation of Unstrained Cycloalkanamines

A deconstructive oxygenation of unstrained primary cycloalkanamines has been developed for the first time using an auto-oxidative aromatization promoted C(sp³ )-C(sp³ ) bond cleavage strategy. This metal-free method involves the substitution reaction of cycloalkanamines with hydrazonyl chlorides and subsequent auto-oxidative annulation to in situ generate pre-aromatics, followed by N-radical-promoted ring-opening and further oxygenation by 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) and m-cholorperoxybenzoic acid (mCPBA). Consequently, a series of 1,2,4-triazole-containing acyclic carbonyl compounds were efficiently produced. This protocol features a one-pot operation, mild reaction conditions, high regioselectivity and ring-opening efficiency, broad substrate scope, and is compatible with alkaloids, osamines, and peptides, as well as steroids.

Transition-Metal-Free Total Synthesis and Revision of the Absolute Configuration of Pipermethystine

Starting from 3-hydroxy piperidines, a novel transition-metal-free strategy to 5-hydroxy-5,6-dihydro-2(1H)pyridones is reported. This unprecedented approach, which provides a practical, economical, and ecofriendly alternative to either the classical ring-closing metathesis of N-homoallyl-unsaturated amides or the dehydrogenation of amides, occurs by means of a triple C-H functionalization of three unreactive piperidine sp³ carbons. The completion of the total synthesis revealed that the natural levo-isomer possesses the R absolute configuration, not S.