Iron-Catalyzed Dehydration of Aldoximes to Nitriles Requiring Neither Other Reagents Nor Nitrile Media

Bioinspired Iron-Catalyzed Dehydration of Aldoximes to Nitriles: A General N-O Redox-Cleavage Method

Inspired by OxdA that operates biocatalytic aldoxime dehydration, we have developed an efficient iron catalyst, Cp*Fe(1,2-Cy₂PC₆H₄O) (1), which rapidly converts various aliphatic and aromatic aldoximes to nitriles with release of H₂O at room temperature. The catalysis involves redox activation of the N-O bond by a 1e^- transfer from the iron catalyst to the oxime. Such redox-mediated N-O cleavage was demonstrated by the isolation of a ferrous iminato intermediate from the reaction of the ketoxime substrate. This iron-catalyzed acceptorless dehydration approach represents a general method for the preparation of nitriles, and it also delivers salicylonitriles by catalyzing the Kemp elimination reaction.

Process Development of the Copper(II)-Catalyzed Dehydration of a Chiral Aldoxime and Rational Selection of the Co-Substrate

The access towards chiral nitriles remains crucial in the synthesis of several pharmaceuticals. One approach is based on metal-catalyzed dehydration of chiral aldoximes, which are generated from chiral pool-derived aldehydes as substrates, and the use of a cheap and readily available nitrile as co-substrate and water acceptor. Dehydration of N-acyl α-amino aldoximes such as N-Boc-l-prolinal oxime catalyzed by copper(II) acetate provides access to the corresponding N-acyl α-amino nitriles, which are substructures of the pharmaceuticals Vildagliptin and Saxagliptin. In this work, a detailed investigation of the formation of the amide as a by-product at higher substrate loadings is performed. The amide formation depends on the electronic properties of the nitrile co-substrate. We could identify an acceptor nitrile which completely suppressed amide formation at high substrate loadings of 0.5 m even when being used with only 2 equivalents. In detail, utilization of trichloroacetonitrile as such an acceptor nitrile enabled the synthesis of N-Boc-cyanopyrrolidine in a high yield of 92 % and with full retention of the absolute configuration.

Process Development of a Copper(II)-Catalyzed Dehydration of an N-Acyl Prolinal Oxime: Cascade Process and Application at an Elevated Lab Scale

Chiral N-acyl amino nitriles are important structural motifs in several pharmaceuticals such as Vildagliptin or Saxagliptin. Cyanide-free access to such nitriles is provided by a copper-catalyzed dehydration of oximes, which are readily available by condensation of chiral aldehydes resulting from the chiral pool with hydroxylamine. The application in a cascade process without the need for intermediate purification as well as a demonstrated scalability show the robustness of this methodology.

Cyanide-free synthesis of aromatic nitriles from aldoximes: Discovery and application of a novel heme-containing aldoxime dehydratase

Aromatic nitriles are important structural motifs that frequently existed in pharmaceutical drugs. Due to the convenient synthesis of aldoximes from aldehydes, the dehydration of aldoximes to corresponding nitriles by aldoxime dehydratases (Oxds) is considered as a safe and robust enzymatic production route. Although the Oxd genes are widely distributed in microbial kingdom, so far less than ten Oxds were expressed and further characterized. In this study, we found 26 predicted putative Oxd genes from the GenBank database using a genome mining strategy. The Oxd gene from Pseudomonas putida F1 was cloned and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The amino acid sequence of OxdF1 shows high identities of 33∼85 % to other characterized Oxds, and contained a ferrous heme as the catalytic site. The optimum reaction pH and temperature of recombinant OxdF1 were 7.0 and 35 °C, respectively. OxdF1 was stable in pH 7.0 potassium phosphate buffer at 30 °C, and its half-life was approximately 3.8 h. OxdF1 can efficiently dehydrate aromatic and heterocyclic aldoximes to nitriles, such as 2-bromobenzaldoxime, 2-chloro-6-fluorobenzaldoxime, thiophene-2-carboxaldoxime, and pyridine-3-aldoxime. Therefore, the recombinant OxdF1 shows a potential application in the cyanide-free synthesis of aromatic nitriles.

9-Anthraldehyde oxime: a synthetic tool for variable applications

Abstract

Oximes are one of the most important and prolific functional groups in organic chemistry; among them, 9-anthraldehyde oxime represents a valuable example both from the preparative side and the synthetic applications. There are many strategies to prepare 9-anthraldehyde oxime from different functional groups that were summarized in the present review, focusing on the most recent and innovative. The main synthetic applications of 9-anthraldehyde oxime are presented and thoroughly discussed, focusing on the most recent and innovative synthetic strategies.

Graphic abstract

Nickel-Catalyzed Transformation of Alkene-Tethered Oxime Ethers to Nitriles by a Traceless Directing Group Strategy

Nickel-catalyzed transformation of alkene-tethered oxime ethers to nitriles using a traceless directing group strategy has been developed. A series of alkene-tethered oxime ethers derived from benzaldehyde and cinnamyl aldehyde derivatives were converted into the corresponding benzonitriles and cinnamonitriles in 46-98% yields using the nickel catalyst system. Control experiments showed that the alkene group tethered to an oxygen atom on the oximes via one methylene unit plays a key role as a traceless directing group during the catalysis.

A convenient reagent for the conversion of aldoximes into nitriles and isonitriles

Described herein is the convenient transformation of aldoximes into nitriles or isonitriles by slightly modifying reaction conditions.

Direct Transformation of Nitroalkanes to Nitriles Enabled by Visible-Light Photoredox Catalysis and a Domino Reaction Process

A mild and convenient process for direct transformation of nitroalkanes to the corresponding nitriles was developed using a visible-light photoredox catalysis strategy with household decorative blue LEDs and the additives of Et₃N and DIPIBA (or DIPEA). Application of the process in secondary nitroalkanes bearing a β-alcohol resulted in a domino process of the retro-Henry reaction and the subsequent acetalization, aldol, cyanohydrin, and ring-contraction reactions with stereoselectivities. The photocatalytic reaction was demonstrated by a continuous flow method.

Dual Roles of tert-Butyl Nitrite in the Transition Metal- and External Oxidant-Free Trifluoromethyloximation of Alkenes

By employing tert-butyl nitrite as both nitrogen source and oxidant, the trifluoromethyloximation of alkenes proceeds smoothly in a free-radical process. The developed difunctionalization reaction enables practical and efficient synthesis of a wide range of α-CF₃ ketoximes in moderate yields with excellent regioselectivity. This method features the use of readily available and stable alkenes as substrates and inexpensive CF₃ SO₂ Na as a CF₃ reagent, no involvement of transition metals or external oxidant, and room-temperature conditions. Moreover, a scale-up of the reaction, further transformation of the products into various valuable CF₃ -containing compounds, and removal of the trifluoromethyl group are readily achieved.

Cascade Process for Direct Transformation of Aldehydes (RCHO) to Nitriles (RCN) Using Inorganic Reagents NH2OH/Na2CO3/SO2F2 in DMSO

A simple, mild, and practical process for direct conversion of aldehydes to nitriles was developed feathering a wide substrate scope and great functional group tolerability (52 examples, over 90% yield in most cases) using inorganic reagents (NH₂OH/Na₂CO₃/SO₂F₂) in DMSO. This method allows for transformations of readily available, inexpensive, and abundant aldehydes to highly valuable nitriles in a pot, atom, and step-economical manner without transition metals. This protocol will serve as a robust tool for the installation of cyano-moieties to complicated molecules.

Applications of sulfuryl fluoride (SO2F2) in chemical transformations

A number of novel methodologies concerning the chemical, biological and medicinal applications of sulfuryl fluoride (SO₂F₂) gas have dramatically improved year by year.

Biocatalytic Synthesis of Nitriles through Dehydration of Aldoximes: The Substrate Scope of Aldoxime Dehydratases

Nitriles, which are mostly needed and produced by the chemical industry, play a major role in various industry segments, ranging from high-volume, low-price sectors, such as polymers, to low-volume, high-price sectors, such as chiral pharma drugs. A common industrial technology for nitrile production is ammoxidation as a gas-phase reaction at high temperature. Further popular approaches are substitution or addition reactions with hydrogen cyanide or derivatives thereof. A major drawback, however, is the very high toxicity of cyanide. Recently, as a synthetic alternative, a novel enzymatic approach towards nitriles has been developed with aldoxime dehydratases, which are capable of converting an aldoxime in one step through dehydration into nitriles. Because the aldoxime substrates are easily accessible, this route is of high interest for synthetic purposes. However, whenever a novel method is developed for organic synthesis, it raises the question of substrate scope as one of the key criteria for application as a "synthetic platform technology". Thus, the scope of this review is to give an overview of the current state of the substrate scope of this enzymatic method for synthesizing nitriles with aldoxime dehydratases. As a recently emerging enzyme class, a range of substrates has already been studied so far, comprising nonchiral and chiral aldoximes. This enzyme class of aldoxime dehydratases shows a broad substrate tolerance and accepts aliphatic and aromatic aldoximes, as well as arylaliphatic aldoximes. Furthermore, aldoximes with a stereogenic center are also recognized and high enantioselectivities are found for 2-arylpropylaldoximes, in particular. It is further noteworthy that the enantiopreference depends on the E and Z isomers. Thus, opposite enantiomers are accessible from the same racemic aldehyde and the same enzyme.

Metal-Involving Synthesis and Reactions of Oximes

This review classifies and summarizes the past 10-15 years of advancements in the field of metal-involving (i.e., metal-mediated and metal-catalyzed) reactions of oximes. These reactions are diverse in nature and have been employed for syntheses of oxime-based metal complexes and cage-compounds, oxime functionalizations, and the preparation of new classes of organic species, in particular, a wide variety of heterocyclic systems spanning small 3-membered ring systems to macroheterocycles. This consideration gives a general outlook of reaction routes, mechanisms, and driving forces and underlines the potential of metal-involving conversions of oxime species for application in various fields of chemistry and draws attention to the emerging putative targets.