Photochemical Strategies Enable the Synthesis of Tunable Azetidine-Based Energetic Materials.

Despite their favorable properties, azetidines are often overlooked as lead compounds across multiple industries. This is often attributed to the challenging synthesis of densely functionalized azetidines in an efficient manner. In this work, we report the scalable synthesis and characterization of seven azetidines with varying regio- and stereochemistry and their application as novel azetidine-based energetic materials, enabled by the visible-light-mediated aza Paternò-Büchi reaction. The performance and stark differences in the physical properties of these new compounds make them excellent potential candidates as novel solid melt-castable explosive materials, as well as potential liquid propellant plasticizers. This work highlights the scalability and utility of the visible-light aza Paternò-Büchi reaction and demonstrates the impact of stereochemical considerations on the physical properties of azetidine-based energetics. Considering the versatility and efficiency of the presented synthetic strategies, we expect that this work will guide the development of new azetidine-based materials in the energetics space as well as other industries.

1- and 2-Azetines via Visible Light-Mediated [2 + 2]-Cycloadditions of Alkynes and Oximes.

Azetines, four-membered unsaturated nitrogen-containing heterocycles, hold great potential for drug design and development but remain underexplored due to challenges associated with their synthesis. We report an efficient, visible light-mediated approach toward 1- and 2-azetines relying on alkynes and the unique triplet state reactivity of oximes, specifically 2-isoxazolines. While 2-azetine products are accessible upon intermolecular [2 + 2]-cycloaddition via triplet energy transfer from a commercially available iridium photocatalyst, the selective formation of 1-azetines proceeds upon a second, consecutive, energy transfer process. Mechanistic studies are consistent with a stepwise reaction mechanism via N-O bond homolysis following the second energy transfer event to result in the formation of 1-azetine products. Characteristic for this method is its operational simplicity, mild conditions, and modular approach that allow for the synthesis of functionalized azetines and tetrahydrofurans (via in situ hydrolysis) from readily available precursors.

Synthesis of azetidines via visible-light-mediated intermolecular [2+2] photocycloadditions.

Intermolecular [2+2] photocycloadditions represent a powerful method for the synthesis of highly strained, four-membered rings. Although this approach is commonly employed for the synthesis of oxetanes and cyclobutanes, the synthesis of azetidines via intermolecular aza Paternò-Büchi reactions remains highly underdeveloped. Here we report a visible-light-mediated intermolecular aza Paternò-Büchi reaction that utilizes the unique triplet state reactivity of oximes, specifically 2-isoxazoline-3-carboxylates. The reactivity of this class of oximes can be harnessed via the triplet energy transfer from a commercially available iridium photocatalyst and allows for [2+2] cycloaddition with a wide range of alkenes. This approach is characterized by its operational simplicity, mild conditions and broad scope, and allows for the synthesis of highly functionalized azetidines from readily available precursors. Importantly, the accessible azetidine products can be readily converted into free, unprotected azetidines, which represents a new approach to access these highly desirable synthetic targets.

Synthesis of azetidines by aza Paternò-Büchi reactions.

The [2 + 2] photocycloaddition reaction between an imine and an alkene component, the aza Paternò-Büchi reaction, is one of the most efficient ways to synthesize functionalized azetidines. However, the application of the aza Paternò-Büchi reaction has been met with limited success due to the inherent challenges associated with this approach. This review covers the current scope and limitations of reported examples of aza Paternò-Büchi reactions in organic synthesis. An outlook is provided, which highlights recent improvements and the discovery of new reaction protocols that have overcome some long-standing challenges within this field of research.

Functionalized azetidines via visible light-enabled aza Paternò-Büchi reactions.

Azetidines are four-membered nitrogen-containing heterocycles that hold great promise in current medicinal chemistry due to their desirable pharmacokinetic effects. However, a lack of efficient synthetic methods to access functionalized azetidines has hampered their incorporation into pharmaceutical lead structures. As a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction between imines and alkenes, the aza Paternò-Büchi reaction arguably represents the most direct approach to functionalized azetidines. Hampered by competing reaction paths accessible upon photochemical excitation of the substrates, the current synthetic utility of these transformations is greatly restricted. We herein report the development of a visible light-enabled aza Paternò-Büchi reaction that surmounts existing limitations and represents a mild solution for the direct formation of functionalized azetidines from imine and alkene containing precursors.

Beyond olefins: new metathesis directions for synthesis.

The olefin-olefin metathesis reaction has emerged as one of the most important carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions, as illustrated by its wide use in the synthesis of complex molecules, natural products and pharmaceuticals. The corresponding metathesis reaction between carbonyls and olefins or alkynes similarly allows for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Although these variants are far less developed and utilized in organic synthesis, they possess attractive qualities that have prompted chemists to incorporate and explore these modes of reactivity in complex molecule synthesis. This review highlights selected examples of carbonyl-olefin and carbonyl-alkyne metathesis reactions in organic synthesis, in particular in the total synthesis of natural products and complex molecules, and provides an overview of current advantages and limitations.

GaCl3-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Carbonyl-Olefin Metathesis.

The development of a Lewis acid-catalyzed ring-opening cross-metathesis reaction which enables selective access to acyclic, unsaturated ketones as the carbonyl-olefin metathesis products is described. While catalytic amounts of FeCl3 were previously identified as optimal to catalyze ring-closing metathesis reactions, the complementary ring-opening metathesis between cyclic alkenes and carbonyl functionalities relies on GaCl3 as the superior Lewis acid catalyst.

Biocatalytic site- and enantioselective oxidative dearomatization of phenols.

The biocatalytic transformations used by chemists are often restricted to simple functional-group interconversions. In contrast, nature has developed complexity-generating biocatalytic reactions within natural product pathways. These sophisticated catalysts are rarely employed by chemists, because the substrate scope, selectivity and robustness of these catalysts are unknown. Our strategy to bridge the gap between the biosynthesis and synthetic chemistry communities leverages the diversity of catalysts available within natural product pathways. Here we show that, starting from a suite of biosynthetic enzymes, catalysts with complementary substrate scope as well as selectivity can be identified. This strategy has been applied to the oxidative dearomatization of phenols, a chemical transformation that rapidly builds molecular complexity from simple starting materials and cannot be accomplished with high selectivity using existing catalytic methods. Using enzymes from biosynthetic pathways, we have successfully developed a method to produce ortho-quinol products with controlled site- and stereoselectivity. Furthermore, we have capitalized on the scalability and robustness of this method in gram-scale reactions as well as multi-enzyme and chemoenzymatic cascades.