Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Charles W Rees.
Fused aromatic and heterocyclic 1,2,3,4,5-pentathiepins react with triphenylphosphine and alkynes bearing electron-withdrawing groups to give the corresponding 1,4-dithiins in high yields. Unsymmetrical alkynes add regioselectively to afford products in agreement with the electron distribution in a proposed reaction intermediate. A mechanism for these reactions is proposed.
[chemical reaction: see text]. Treatment of N-substituted 2,5-dimethylpyrroles 2 with an equilibrated mixture of disulfur dichloride and DABCO in chloroform at 0 degrees C gives pentathiepinopyrroles 3 in moderate yields; further reaction of 3 with the same mixture at room temperature leads, in an extensive reaction cascade, to bis(dithiolo)pyrroles 4 in high yield; 2 can be converted into 4 in a one-pot operation under unusually mild conditions.
Treatment of nucleophilic heterocycles like pyrroles and thiophenes, and their tetrahydro derivatives, with S2Cl2 and DABCO in chloroform at room temperature provides a simple one-pot synthesis of fused mono and bispentathiepins. N-Methylpyrrole and its 2-chloro and 2,5-dichloro derivatives and N-methylpyrrolidine all give the same dichloropentathiepin 1a. N-Ethyl, isopropyl and tert-butylpyrrolidine behave similarly; the isopropylpyrrolidine also gives the bispentathiepin 6which undergoes an intriguing rearrangement to the symmetrical monopentathiepin 1c. N-Methyl and ethyl indole give either 2,3-dichloro derivatives 8 or the pentathiepinoindoles 9, depending upon the reaction conditions. Thiophene and tetrahydrothiophene give the pentathiepin 10. X-Ray crystal structures are provided for the pentathiepins 1a and 1d, and possible reaction pathways are suggested for the extensive cascade reactions reported.
The 2,6-bis(alpha-iminoalkyl)pyridines 2,6-[ArNC(CR(3))](2)C(5)H(3)N [R = H, D; Ar = 2,6-i-Pr(2)C(6)H(3) (DIPP), 2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3) (DMP)] react with MeLi in Et(2)O to give a binary mixture of products: the pyridine N-methylated species 2,6-[ArNC(CR(3))](2)C(5)H(3)N(Me)Li(OEt(2)) and the deprotonated/dedeuterated species 2-[ArNC(CR(3))],6-[ArNC(=CR(2))]C(5)H(3)NLi(OEt(2)). For R = D, the product ratio is 2:1 in favor of the N-methylated product, while, for R = H, the deprotonated product is favored by 5:1, increasing to 8:1 in toluene solvent. Warming solutions of the N-methylated species leads to clean conversion to the thermodynamically preferred deprotonated species. Crossover experiments show that MeLi is re-formed and dissociates from the terdentate ligand before deprotonating the ketimine methyl unit. For MgR(2) (R = Et, i-Pr) and ZnR(2) (R = Et) reagents, N-alkylation products are formed exclusively, but derivatives containing bulky aryl substituents are found to undergo further rearrangement to 2-alkylated species, arising by migration of the alkyl group of the N-alkyl moiety to the adjacent ring carbon atom. The reversibility of the N-alkylation process has been probed using deuterio-labeled Mg alkyl reagents and mixed alkyl zinc species. A cationic zinc derivative is shown to undergo "reverse" alkyl migration, from the heterocycle nitrogen atom to the zinc center. EPR spectroscopy reveals a paramagnetic intermediate in which the unpaired electron is delocalized over the heterocycle and di-imine moieties of the ligand, indicating that the N-alkylation reactions proceed via single electron-transfer processes.
On heating with alkynes, the readily prepared 1,3-dithioles 3 undergo a new cycloaddition reaction and an unprecedented molecular rearrangement with loss of chlorine to give the first 7H-thieno[2,3-c]thiopyran-7-thiones 4 and 4H-thieno[3,2-c]thiopyran-4-thiones 5 whose structures were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Unexpectedly, the different alkynes used to form 3 and to convert it into 4 and 5 were incorporated regiospecifically into the thiophene and thiopyran rings, respectively. [reaction: see text]
Members of a series of carbon-poor sulfur-nitrogen heterocycles and polycycles are shown by direct ab initio ipsocentric calculation to support diatropic ring currents and hence to be aromatic on the basis of magnetic criteria. They include 7-cycles S(3)N(2)(CH)(2), S(3)N(3)(CH), and S(3)N(4) and 8-cycles S(2)N(4)(CH)(2) and S(2)N(2)(CH)(4), all with 10 pi electrons. The unknown trithiatetrazepine S(3)N(4) is predicted to be at least as aromatic as its known diaza and triaza homologues. Angular-momentum arguments show that the pi-electron-rich nature of (4n + 2) SN heterocycles is the key to their diatropic current. The Woodward dithiatetrazocine parent framework S(2)N(4)(CH)(2) supports a diatropic ring current, as does its analogue in which N and CH groups are formally exchanged. Formal expansion of (4n + 2)-pi carbocyclic systems by insertion of NSN motifs in every CC bond is predicted to lead to structures that support diatropic ring currents: explicit ab initio calculation of magnetic response predicts the 24-center, 30-pi-electron heterocycle S(6)N(12)(CH)(6), formally derived from benzene, to be aromatic on the basis of this criterion.
3,5-Dichloroisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 1 react with aryl- and methylboronic acids to give in high yields the 3-chloro-5-(aryl and methyl)-isothiazole-4-carbonitrile 2 regiospecifically. The reaction was optimized with respect to base, phase transfer agent and palladium catalyst. Suzuki coupling at C-5 was also achieved in high yield using potassium phenyltrifluoroborate. The regiospecificity of either coupling method is maintained with 3,5-dibromoisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 4 to give exclusively 3-bromo-5-phenylisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 5. Suzuki cross-coupling conditions applied to 3-chloro-5-phenylisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 2a gave 3-phenoxy-5-phenylisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 6, which was prepared independently, and not the 3-phenyl derivative. All isothiazole products were fully characterized.
[reaction: see text] In a remarkable cascade reaction, triethylamine is converted into the thienopentathiepin 2a and the heptathiocane 3a by a preequilibrated solution of disulfur dichloride and DABCO in chloroform.
Addition of MeLi to bis(imino)pyridines results in an unprecedented nucleophilic attack at pyridine nitrogen to afford novel mono-anionic [N,N,N] ligands: their treatment with FeCl3, followed by MAO activation, affords highly active ethylene polymerisation catalysts.
Treatment of nucleophilic heterocycles like pyrroles and thiophene, and their tetrahydro derivatives, with S2Cl2 and a base in chloroform at room temperature provides a simple one-pot synthesis of heterocyclic fused mono and bis pentathiepins such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 11.
The first calixhetarenes with more than one heteroatom in the constituent rings are prepared in one step by treatment of calix[4]furan 1a and calix[6]furan 1b with ethyl carbamate, thionyl chloride and pyridine to give 2, 3, 4 and 5, 6, 7 respectively; these products have been characterised by X-ray crystallography which reveals that in 2 all eight heteroatoms lie on one face of the macrocyle.