Synthesis of Naphtho[2,3-d]oxazoles via Ag(I) Acid-Mediated Oxazole-Benzannulation of ortho-Alkynylamidoarylketones.

A cascade oxazole-benzannulation for the synthesis of naphtho[2,3-d]oxazoles has been developed employing ortho-alkynylamidoarylketones as substrates. This procedure provides the advantage of preparing a wide variety of substituents on naphtho[2,3-d]oxazole structures. In addition, o-alkynylamidoarylketones could be prepared from easily accessible and a wide variety of commercially available starting materials. Therefore, this method is a judicious choice of strategy to synthesize naphtho[2,3-d]oxazoles with a great variety of substituents. In this work, 27 examples were demonstrated to provide the desired products in moderate to good yields.

Mn(OAc)3-Mediated One-Pot Condensation-Oxidative Annulation of 2-Alkynylanilines and 1,3-Ketoesters: Synthesis of 2-Substituted Quinolines.

A general protocol for oxidative annulation was developed for the preparation of 2-methyl-3,4-diacylquinolines directly from 2-alkynylanilines and 1,3-ketoesters. The reactions were mediated by Mn(OAc)3 in acetic acid at room temperature, which led to the desired quinoline products in one-pot in low to good overall yields on a wide range of substrates. The current method was convenient to conduct and proceeded under mild conditions in short reaction times.

A Mechanistically Deceiving Formation of Aryl(1-indanyl)ketones via Acid-Catalyzed Cyclization of ortho-Alkynylarylmethanols.

The generation of reactive carbocation intermediates from ortho-alkynylarylmethanol substrates was utilized as a means for the synthesis of aryl(1-indanyl)ketones . Substrates with a tertiary carbon at the ß-position to the arene generated a carbocation intermediate via dehydration/protonation, followed by cyclization and hydration to give indanylketone products. For substrates with a quaternary carbon at that position, a carbocation intermediate was generated by protonation/elimination of water, followed by a 1,2-shift and a subsequent cyclization/hydration to give highly substituted indanylketones.

Divergent synthesis of 3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromen-2-one and fluorenone derivatives from ortho-alkynylarylketones.

Our research has led to the development of a divergent synthesis approach for the synthesis of 3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromen-2-one 3 and fluorenone 9 derivatives using ortho-alkynylarylketones as common precursors. The synthesis of 3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[h]chromen-2-ones 3 employed silver catalyzed ketonization to form polycarbonyl intermediates which underwent double intramolecular cyclization and decarboxylation to generate a lactone and a phenyl ring in a one-pot fashion. In addition, the same precursor could be used to prepare fluorenone derivatives 9 under acidic conditions. The reaction proceeded via the formation of indenone analogs, followed by the generation of the para-quinone methide intermediate and intramolecular cyclization to provide the corresponding products in good yields.

Selective electrophilic cyclization of ortho-carbonylarylacetylenols for the synthesis of cyclopenta[a]naphthalenol and 2-phenylnaphthalen-1-ol analogs.

This work demonstrates a new method for the synthesis of cyclopenta[a]naphthalenol and 2-phenylnaphthalen-1-ol analogs via selective cyclization. ortho-Alkynylarylkenones were employed as the common substrates that could be prepared by Sonogashira coupling between 2-haloarylacetophenone and pent-4-yn-1-ol derivatives. These precursors were used without purification to construct 2-phenylnaphthalen-1-ol intermediates by treating with (+)-CSA under heating conditions. Selective cyclization occurred when the reaction was conducted in methyl trimethylacetate solvent which predominantly produced the 2-phenylnaphthalen-1-ol product through 6-endo-dig cyclization without elimination or the formation of cyclopenta[a]naphthalenol via shutting down the 5-exo-dig mode of cyclization. Switching the acid from a Brønsted acid to Bi(OTf)3 led to smooth reactions, providing the cyclopenta[a]naphthalenol products in moderate to good yields. Moreover, we also demonstrated the utilization of 2-phenylnaphthalen-1-ol to prepare naphthoquinone, which is an important core structure of bioactive and natural product compounds.

Discovery of N-methylbenzo[d]oxazol-2-amine as new anthelmintic agent through scalable protocol for the synthesis of N-alkylbenzo[d]oxazol-2-amine and N-alkylbenzo[d]thiazol-2-amine derivatives.

We discovered a lead compound, N-methylbenzo[d]oxazol-2-amine (2a), which had comparable potency to albendazole, an orally administered anthelminticdrug, against Gnathostoma spinigerum, Caenorhabditis elegans and Trichinella spiralis. Compound 2a showed about 10 times lower cytotoxicity towards normal human cell line (HEK293) than albendazole. Moreover, we have developed new processes for the synthesis of N-alkylbenzo[d]oxazol-2-amine and N-alkylbenzo[d]thiazol-2-amine derivatives via metal-free conditions. This protocol could serve as a robust and scalable method, especially, to synthesize N-methylbenzo[d]oxazol-2-amine and N-methylbenzo[d]thiazol-2-amine derivatives which were difficult to prepare using other metal-free conditions. The method employed benzoxazole-2-thiol or benzothiazole-2-thiol as the substrate. The reaction was triggered by methylation of the thiol functional group to form the methyl sulfide intermediate, a crucial tactic, which facilitated in a smooth nucleophilic addition-elimination reaction with gaseous methylamine generated in situ from N-methylformamide. In addition, the proteomic analysis of compound 2a was also studied in this work.

Synergistic Lewis-Brønsted Acid Catalysis in Cascade Cyclization of ortho-Alkynylaryl Cyclopropylketones for the Synthesis of 2,3-Dihydronaphtho[1,2-b]furans.

In this work, a synthetic method for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,2-b]furans employing synergistic Lewis-Brønsted Acid catalyzed cyclization of ortho-alkynylarylcyclopropylketones has been developed. Benefits of our method included low catalyst loading, low cost of catalyst, short reaction time, and mild conditions which could be applied to a broad range of substrates, including a terminal alkyne (R = H), to provide generally high yields of the desired products. In addition, we found that 2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,2-b]furan derivatives could be isomerized to give 5,6-dihydrotetraphen-7-ol anaologs under acidic conditions via Friedel-Crafts-type alkylation in good to excellent yields. However, these products were not stable and gradually converted to the corresponding quinones. The competent transformation was successfully obtained by treating with m-CPBA in the presence of NaHCO3 to provide the desired quinone products in good to excellent yields.

Photoinduced C-C bond cleavage for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted-1-naphthols from indenone derivatives and sulfoxonium ylide.

The synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted-1-naphthols has been developed employing photomediated C-C bond cleavage (UV-LED 390 nm) of cyclopropane fused-indanones generated in situ from the reaction between indenones and trimethylsulfoxonium chloride under basic conditions at room temperature. Seventeen substrates were examined in this study. The results showed that indenone precursors containing aryl substituents could smoothly provide the desired products in up to 81% yield.

Dibrominative Spirocyclization of 2-Butynolyl Anilides: Synthesis of gem-Dibromospirocyclic Benzo[d][1,3]oxazines and Their Application in the Synthesis of 4H-Furo[3,2-b]indoles.

The combination of catalytic aqueous hydrochloric acid (HCl) and N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) generated electrophilic bromine monochloride (BrCl), which readily induced spiroannulation of 2-alkynolyl anilides (n = 1-3) to form gem-dibromospirocyclic benzo[d][1,3]oxazines in up to 92% yield. The reaction occurred under mild and metal-free conditions using EtOAc as a green solvent. The resulted spirocyclic products contained benzo[d][1,3]oxazine, which was useful both as a pharmacophore and synthetic precursor. In addition, the current protocol allowed to effortlessly introduce the sp3-gem-dibromide carbon adjacent to the sterically demanding spiroketal center. These spiroheterocycles (n = 1) were shown to be synthetically versatile and conveniently maneuvered. Base-promoted debrominative aromatization of these spirocycles unmasked rare and synthetically useful 2-aryl-3-bromofurans in mostly excellent yields. These 3-bromofurans were well-suited substrates for intramolecular Ullmann C-N bond coupling to construct difficult-to-prepare 4H-furo[3,2-b]indoles. Additionally, the current protocol was flexible and adaptable to preparing the gem-dichloride variants.

Utilization of ortho-alkynylarylcarbonyl derivatives for creating structurally diverse chemical compounds.

ortho-Alkynylarylcarbonyl compounds, including ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, carboxylate esters and amides, have served as useful building blocks for synthetic chemists to prepare numerous classes of important molecules. Various synthetic conversions starting from ortho-alkynylarylcarbonyl precursors are made possible by their unique and enabling structures embedded with reactive carbonyl and alkyne functional groups. These functional groups can be converted directly and independently to other compounds by several reactions. This review highlights the use of these compounds as common precursors for the divergent synthesis of valuable molecules. Moreover, these ortho-alkynylarylcarbonyl compounds can be decorated with other functional group tethers which can lead to an even greater diversity of molecular scaffolds.

Synthesis of neocryptolepines and carbocycle-fused quinolines and evaluation of their anticancer and antiplasmodial activities.

This study reported the discovery of novel compounds containing five-membered ring fused quinoline core structures as anticancer and antimalarial agents. Two libraries containing these core structures, neocryptolepines and carbocycle-fused quinolines, were prepared and evaluated. Compound 3h was found to be much more potent than other analogs against cancer cell lines with high selectivity. Meanwhile, carbocycle-fused quinolines 5h and 5s showed moderate anticancer properties but much less cytotoxicity to normal cell than doxorubicin. In addition, compound 3h also showed much lower cytotoxic against human normal kidney cell line compared to doxorubicin standard. However, only compounds 3s and 3p provided acceptable results for antimalarial activities.

Metal-Free Synthesis of 4-Chloroisocoumarins by TMSCl-Catalyzed NCS-Induced Chlorinative Annulation of 2-Alkynylaryloate Esters.

4-Chloroisocoumarins can be conveniently prepared from 2-alkynylaryloate esters via the activation of alkynes by electrophilic chlorine, generated in situ from N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) in the presence of 10 mol % trimethylsilyl chloride (TMSCl), which leads to 6-endo-dig-selective chlorinative annulation to give the desired products in moderate to quantitative yields. The procedure employs readily available reagents and can be conveniently carried out on a wide scope of substrates under mild conditions (0 °C to rt). Furthermore, the reaction is scalable for gram-scale preparation of 4-chloroisocoumarins. Additionally, 4-bromo- and 4-iodoisocoumarins can be prepared in moderate to good yields by replacing NCS with N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and N-iodosuccinimide (NIS), respectively.

Divergent Synthesis of 3-Hydroxyfluorene and 4-Azafluorene Derivatives from ortho-Alkynylarylketones.

A divergent synthesis of 3-hydroxyfluorene and 4-azafluorene derivatives has been developed. ortho-Alkynylarylketone was employed as the substrates to react with molecular iodine leading to the generation of a common intermediate, indenone precursor. This precursor could lead to the diversified products when the reaction was carried out under different conditions. The indenone intermediate was converted to the corresponding 3-hydroxyfluorene products under basic conditions while the reaction in the presence of ammonium salt provided 4-azafluorene products. This divergent method could be applied to a broad range of substrates to give the corresponding products in moderate to good yields.

Construction of 5-Aminotetrazoles via in Situ Generation of Carbodiimidium Ions from Ketones Promoted by TMSN3/TfOH.

A novel synthetic approach for the synthesis of 5-aminotetrazoles has been developed by employing simple ketones as substrates. This methodology involved the N2-extrusion/aryl migration of azido complexes as the key step for the in situ generation of carbodiimidium ion, which could further react with hydrazoic acid and cyclize intramolecularly to provide 5-aminotetrazoles in good to excellent yields. In addition, the regioselectivity of the reaction was studied and rationalized by density functional theory calculations.

Domino N2-Extrusion-Cyclization of Alkynylarylketone Derivatives for the Synthesis of Indoloquinolines and Carbocycle-Fused Quinolines.

New synthetic approaches for the synthesis of indoloquinolines and carbocycle-fused quinolines have been developed employing alkynylketone substrates. These synthetic transformations involved the application of N2-extrusion of azido complexes as a key step to generate carbodiimidium ion and nitrilium ion in situ, which further cyclized intramolecularly with alkyne via a domino process to provide indoloquinolines and carbocycle-fused quinolines, respectively, in moderate to good yields.

Silver-Catalyzed Cyclization of ortho-Carbonylarylacetylenols for the Synthesis of Dihydronaphthofurans.

ortho-Carbonylarylacetylenols have been employed for the synthesis of dihydronaphthofurans via AgTFA-catalyzed annulation reaction. A broad range of substrates both ortho-keto- and ortho-formylarylacetylenols could be employed in this transformation providing the desired products in good yields. However, the reaction pathways of these two substrates are different. The reaction of the ketone precursors could directly lead to the desired products in a single operation while the reaction of the aldehyde precursors required a one-pot two-step approach, without isolation of the bicyclic acetal intermediates. In addition, this method was also successfully used for the synthesis of dihydronaphthopyrans in very good yields.

Utility of Nitrogen Extrusion of Azido Complexes for the Synthesis of Nitriles, Benzoxazoles, and Benzisoxazoles.

The utility of the nitrogen extrusion reaction of azido complexes, generated in situ from the corresponding aldehydes or ketones with TMSN3 in the presence of ZrCl4 or TfOH, has been described. These azido complexes could undergo three different pathways, depending on the substrates. First, azido methanolate complexes or imine diazonium ions could lead to benzisoxazole products via an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution. Second, imine diazonium ions could also undergo either the elimination of proton to provide nitrile products in good to excellent yields or an aryl migration, followed by an intramolecular nucleophilic addition, to give benzoxazole products in good yields.

Regioselective Synthesis of 3-Bromoquinoline Derivatives and Diastereoselective Synthesis of Tetrahydroquinolines via Acid-Promoted Rearrangement of Arylmethyl Azides.

Regioselective synthesis of 3-bromoquinoline derivatives was achieved via a formal [4 + 2]-cycloaddition between N-aryliminium ion, generated from arylmethyl azides, and 1-bromoalkynes. This method could also be applied to other quinoline derivatives using appropriate alkynes. Moreover, the current strategy could be utilized for the diastereoselective synthesis of tetrahydroquinoline derivatives employing alkenyl substrates in good to excellent yields.

A new synthetic approach to 6-unsubstituted phenanthridine and phenanthridine-like compounds under mild and metal-free conditions.

A new and mild synthetic approach for the synthesis of 6-unsubstituted phenanthridine and phenanthridine-like compounds under metal-free conditions at room temperature has been developed. The strategy involved a tandem azide rearrangement/intramolecular annulation and oxidation reactions of biarylmethyl azide precursors to obtain the desired products in up to 99% yields with high regioselectivity.