Copper-Catalyzed Cascade Cyclization Reaction of Enamines and Electron-Deficient Terminal Alkynes: Synthesis of Polysubstituted Pyrido[1,2-a]indoles

A copper-catalyzed tandem cyclization reaction of N-acyl enamines and electron-deficient alkynes: direct synthesis of alkynyl substituted pyridines

A copper-catalyzed coupling-cyclization reaction of N-acyl enamides with electron-deficient alkynes is developed. This reaction tolerates a wide range of N-acyl enamines and provides a simple and efficient method for the synthesis of 3-alkynyl-substituted pyridines in good to high yields from easily available acyclic starting materials with only water and hydrogen as the by-products in a single step.

Cascade [3 + 2]/[4 + 2] Cycloaddition of Enaminones with Vinylene Carbonate for the Synthesis of Functionalized Pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline Derivatives

We developed a protocol for the synthesis of functionalized pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline derivatives (PIQDs) 3 from enaminones 1 using vinylene carbonate 2. This strategy involved [3 + 2] and [4 + 2] cycloadditions via heating a mixture of substrates 1 with vinylene carbonate 2 and DCE at 60 °C, catalyzed by [Cp*RhCl2]2 and oxidized with Cu(OAc)2 and AgSbF6 promoted by NaOAc. As we increased the reaction temperature to 110 °C under the same conditions, we synthesized PIQDs 4 through sequential C-H activation, alkene insertion, migratory insertion, C-N reductive elimination, β-O elimination, and finally dehydration. As a result, a series of PIQDs 3-4 were generated by forming four bonds (2 C-C and 2 C-N bonds) in a single step. This strategy realizes the synthesis of linear molecules with potential biological activity, specifically natural-like heterocycles (3-4). It expands the application of vinylene carbonate as a C2 synthon in the construction of pyrrole and isoquinoline skeletons for the synthesis of functionalized PIQDs in combinatorial and parallel syntheses via one-pot reactions.

Novel convenient 2-step synthesis of pyrido[1,2-a]indoles from pyrylium salts and o-bromoanilines

A novel convenient 2-step synthesis of substituted pyrido[1,2-a]indoles is developed starting from easily available pyrylium tetrafluoroborates and ortho-bromoanilines. A conversion of the pyrylium tetrafluoroborates to pyridinium ones followed by their palladium catalyzed intramolecular cyclization allows the formation of 24 examples of N-fused heterocycles. A one-pot two-stage cyclization procedure was developed. The utility of the methodology was demonstrated with the synthesis of new pyrido[1,2-a]indoles bearing different alkyl, aryl, chlorine, fluorine and methoxy substituents.

Photooxidative Reaction of β-Oxoamides with Amines for the Synthesis of Pyrrolin-4-ones under External Photocatalyst-Free Conditions

The incorporation of oxygen atoms from air under aerobic conditions plays an important role in organic synthesis. Herein, Brønsted acids are found to be a two-in-one strategic catalyst to transform enamines from β-oxoamides and amines to pyrrolin-4-ones without an external photocatalyst under visible-light conditions. The Brønsted acid can inhibit the C-C bond fragmentation of the [2 + 2] adduct from enamine and 1O2, but most importantly, it can form photosensitizers with enamine and pyrrolin-4-one product by acidochromism to promote the 1O2 generation.

Access to thiionized-, selenolized-, and alkylated 5-alkylidene 3-pyrrolin-2-one derivatives via a regioselective oxidative annulation reaction

A metal-free regioselective oxidative annulation reaction of readily available 2,4-pentanediones with primary amines has been described. This protocol provides a divergent strategy for the incorporation of various radical donors into 5-alkylidene 3-pyrrolin-2-one skeletons, producing a variety of thiionized-, selenolized-, and alkylated 5-alkylidene 3-pyrrolin-2-one derivatives. Moreover, the diverse synthetic transformations of the 5-alkylidene 3-pyrrolin-2-one products were also investigated.

Hydroxyl-Directed Rh(III)-Catalyzed C-H Functionalization: Access to Benzo[de]chromenes

A cascade oxidative annulation reaction of heterocyclic ketene aminals (HKAs) with internal alkynes catalyzed by [Cp*RhCl₂]₂ and oxidized by Cu(OAc)₂·H₂O was developed to efficiently synthesize highly functionalized benzo[de]chromene derivatives in good to excellent yields. The reaction proceeded by the sequential cleavage of C(sp²)-H/O-H and C(sp²)-H/C(sp²)-H bonds. These multicomponent cascade reactions were highly regioselective. In addition, all of the benzo[de]chromene products exhibited intense fluorescence emission in the solid state, and they demonstrated concentration-dependent quenching in the presence of Fe³⁺, indicating that these compounds could be used in the recognition of Fe³⁺.

Recent advances in transition metal-free annulation toward heterocycle diversity based on the C-N bond cleavage of enaminone platform

The enaminones and analogous stable enamines are well known as platform building blocks in organic synthesis for construction of heterocyclic compounds, especially N-heterocycles. To date, especially enaminones have been successfully...

Copper-catalyzed switchable cyclization of alkyne-tethered α-bromocarbonyls: selective access to quinolin-2-ones and quinoline-2,4-diones

Copper-catalyzed cyclization of alkynes has played a significant role in modern catalytic chemistry.

Rhodium-catalyzed coupling-cyclization of o-alkynyl/propargyl arylazides or o-azidoaryl acetylenic ketones with arylisocyanides: synthesis of 6H-indolo[2,3-b]quinolines, dibenzonaphthyridones and dihydrodibenzo[b,g] [1,8]-naphthyridines

The developed rhodium-catalyzed coupling-cyclization provides a new strategy for the assembly of 6H-indolo[2,3-b]quinolines, dibenzonaphthyridones and dihydrodibenzo[b,g] [1,8]-naphthyridines.

Multicomponent Cascade Reaction of 3-Formylchromones: Highly Selective Synthesis of Functionalized 9-Azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane Derivatives

A novel protocol for the preparation of functionalized 9-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (ABCN) derivatives from 3-formylchromones, enaminones, and heterocyclic ketene aminals (HKAs) through an unprecedented cascade reaction has been developed by simply refluxing the mixture of the substrates 1-3. As a result, a series of ABCNs were produced through a very complex cascade reaction. This protocol can be used in the synthesis of ABCNs that are suitable for combinatorial and parallel syntheses of ABCN natural-like products in a one-pot reaction.

CuII-Catalyzed Coupling with Two Ynone Units by Selective Triple and Sigma C-C and C-H Bond Cleavages

We report a new copper-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 1] annulation process through the selective cleavage of sigma and triple C-C and C-H bonds using two ynone units. This new methodology involves breaking multiple chemical bonds in a single operation, including C≡C, C-C, C-H, and N-O. These high-value adducts lead to a diverse collection of synthetically challenging trisubstituted indolizines by the simultaneous engagement of different bond-breaking events and show excellent fluorescence in green aqueous solutions.

Alkynoates as Versatile and Powerful Chemical Tools for the Rapid Assembly of Diverse Heterocycles under Transition-Metal Catalysis: Recent Developments and Challenges

Heterocycles, heteroaromatics and spirocyclic entities are ubiquitous components of a wide plethora of synthetic drugs, biologically active natural products, marketed pharmaceuticals and agrochemical targets. Recognizing their high proportion in drugs and rich pharmacological potential, these invaluable structural motifs have garnered significant interest, thus enabling the development of efficient catalytic methodologies providing access to architecturally complex and diverse molecules with high atom-economy and low cost. These chemical processes not only allow the formation of diverse heterocycles but also utilize a range of flexible and easily accessible building units in a single operation to discover diversity-oriented synthetic approaches. Alkynoates are significantly important, diverse and powerful building blocks in organic chemistry due to their unique and inherent properties such as the electronic bias on carbon-carbon triple bonds posed by electron-withdrawing groups or the metallic coordination site provided by carbonyl groups. The present review highlights the comprehensive picture of the utility of alkynoates (2007-2019) for the synthesis of various heterocycles (> 50 types) using transition-metal catalysts (Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Ag, Au, Pt, Cu, Mn, Fe) in various forms. The valuable function of versatile alkynoates (bearing multifunctional groups) as simple and useful starting materials is explored, thus cyclizing with an array of coupling partners to deliver a broad range of oxygen-, nitrogen-, sulfur-containing heterocycles alongside fused-, and spiro-heterocyclic compounds. In addition, these examples will also focus the scope and reaction limitations, as well as mechanistic investigations into the synthesis of these heterocycles. The biological significance will also be discussed, citing relevant examples of drug molecules highlighting each class of heterocycles. This review summarizes the recent developments in the synthetic methods for the synthesis of various heterocycles using alkynoates as readily available starting materials under transition-metal catalysis.

Recent advances in the synthesis of pyrido[1,2-a]indoles

This review deals with the different accesses leading to the pyrido[1,2-a]indole nucleus in the last 20 years.

A Reusable CNT-Supported Single-Atom Iron Catalyst for the Highly Efficient Synthesis of C-N Bonds

C-N bond formation is regarded as a very useful and fundamental reaction for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing molecules in both organic and pharmaceutical chemistry. Noble-metal and homogeneous catalysts have frequently been used for C-N bond formation, however, these catalysts have a number of disadvantages, such as high cost, toxicity, and low atom economy. In this work, a low-toxic and cheap iron complex (iron ethylene-1,2-diamine) has been loaded onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to prepare a heterogeneous single-atom catalyst (SAC) named Fe-N_x /CNTs. We employed this SAC in the synthesis of C-N bonds for the first time. It was found that Fe-N_x /CNTs is an efficient catalyst for the synthesis of C-N bonds starting from aromatic amines and ketones. Its catalytic performance was excellent, giving yields of up to 96 %, six-fold higher than the yields obtained with noble-metal catalysts, such as AuCl₃ /CNTs and RhCl₃ /CNTs. The catalyst showed efficacy in the reactions of thirteen aromatic amine substrates, without the need for additives, and seventeen enaminones were obtained. High-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy in combination with X-ray absorption spectroscopy revealed that the iron species were well dispersed in the Fe-N_x /CNTs catalyst as single atoms and that Fe-N_x might be the catalytic active species. This Fe-N_x /CNTs catalyst has potential industrial applications as it could be cycled seven times without any significant loss of activity.

Aza-Henry and aza-Knoevenagel reactions of nitriles for the synthesis of pyrido[1,2-a]indoles

N-(Propargyl)indole-2-carbonitriles undergo DBU-catalyzed addition of CH-acids to nitriles, followed by cyclization to give 9-aminopyrido[1,2-a]indoles.

Cascade reaction of isatins with nitro-substituted enamines: highly selective synthesis of functionalized (Z)-3-(1-(arylamino)-2-oxoarylidene)indolin-2-ones

A novel protocol for the construction of functionalized (Z)-3-(1(-arylamino)-2-oxoarylidene)indolin-2-ones (AOIDOs) from isatins 1 with nitro-substituted enamines 2via an unprecedented cascade reaction catalyzed by sulfamic acid is developed.

Copper-catalyzed cascade cyclization reaction of 3-aminocyclobutenones with electron-deficient internal alkynes: synthesis of fully substituted indoles

A novel copper-catalyzed cascade cyclization reaction of 3-aminocyclobutenones with electron-deficient internal alkynes has been developed. This reaction provides a new method for the synthesis of fully substituted indoles by formation of four new bonds and two rings in a single step.