Application of the intramolecular Diels-Alder vinylarene (IMDAV) reaction for the synthesis of benzo-, carbocyclo-, thienothiopheneisoindolecarboxylic acids and its limitations.

Thienylallylamines, readily accessible from the corresponding thienyl aldehydes, react with maleic and trifluoromethylmaleic anhydrides leading to the formation of acids with a thieno[2,3-f]isoindole core. The reaction sequence involves two successive steps: acylation of the nitrogen atom of the initial allylamine and the intramolecular Diels-Alder vinylarene (IMDAV) reaction. The scope and limitations of the proposed method were thoroughly investigated. It has been revealed with the aid of X-ray analysis and DFT calculations that the key step, the IMDAV reaction, proceeds through an exo-transition state, giving rise to the exclusive formation of a single diastereomer of the target heterocycle. The obtained functionally substituted thieno[2,3-f]isoindole carboxylic acids are potentially useful substrates for further transformations and bioscreening. The antimicrobial evaluation of the obtained compounds revealed that 1-oxo-2-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)hexahydrobenzo[4,5]thieno[2,3-f]isoindole-10-carboxylic acid is the most active sample in the synthesized library. It exhibits antibacterial activity against sensitive strains of Gram-positive bacteria, including S. aureus, Enterococcus faecium, Bacillus cereus, and Micrococcus luteus, as well as the Gram-negative bacteria E. coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens, with MIC values ranging from 4 to 64 µg mL-1. 9-Oxo-8-phenyloctahydronaphtho[2,1-d]thieno[2,3-f]isoindole-10-carboxylic acid showed antifungal activity against yeast culture C. albicans with a MIC value of 32 µM.

Domino Three-Component N-Acylation/[4 + 2] Cycloaddition/Alder-ene Synthesis of Polysubstituted Benzo[f]isoindole-4-carboxylic Acids.

Diversely substituted, partially saturated benzo[f]isoindole-4-carboxylic acids were synthesized by a new three-component reaction (3CR) starting from cinnamic amines (3-arylallylamines), maleimides, and maleic anhydride. The process consists of N-acylation of the amines by maleic anhydride, intramolecular [4 + 2] cycloaddition in vinylarenes (the IMDAV reaction), and the concluding Alder-ene reaction between Diels-Alder intermediates and maleimides. All of the reaction steps proceed in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner, furnishing five adjacent chiral centers and leading to a single diastereoisomer of the title compound. The efficiency of the transformation is secured by thermal conditions or utilization of soft Lewis acids (Yb(OTf)3) as catalysts. The kinetics and mechanism of the 3CR were studied by using dynamic 19F NMR. Based on the NMR data and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the IMDAV, not the Alder-ene, reaction is the rate-limiting step of the entire process.

Unexpected Latency of Z-Stereoretentive Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalysts Bearing Unsymmetrical N-heterocyclic Carbene or Cyclic(alkyl)(amino)carbene Ligands.

A set of ruthenium complexes bearing a CAAC or uNHC ligand and a dithiocatechol fragment have been obtained and characterized spectroscopically. The activity and Z-selectivity of the newly obtained catalysts were studied in selected model CM, self-CM, and RCM olefin metathesis reactions. Intriguingly, and in contrast to structurally related NHC-bearing catalysts Ru4a and Ru4b, the CAAC and uNHC analogues showed no or only very little activity in olefin metathesis. Interestingly, despite being not productive in metathesis reactions conducted in solution, Ru8 enabled the synthesis of a model 16-membered macrocyclic lactone of valuable musk smell with excellent chemoselectivity (no C-C double-bond migration was observed) at a concentration 40 times higher than that typically used by organic chemists in similar macrocyclizations (200 mM instead of 5 mM) with excellent Z-selectivity. Unfortunately, also here the conversion was low.

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 4,5-di-bromo-6-methyl-2-phenyl-2,3,3a,4,5,6,7,7a-octa-hydro-3a,6-ep-oxy-1H-isoindol-1-one.

In the title compound, C15H15Br2NO2, two bridged tetra-hydro-furan rings adopt envelope conformations with the O atom as the flap. The pyrrolidine ring also adopts an envelope conformation with the spiro C atom as the flap. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked into dimers by pairs of C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, thus generating R 2 2(18) rings. The crystal packing is dominated by H⋯H, Br⋯H, H⋯π and Br⋯π inter-actions. One of the Br atoms is disordered over two sites with occupation ratio of 0.833 (8):0.167 (8).

Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of (RS)-3-hy-droxy-2-{[(3aRS,6RS,7aRS)-2-(4-methyl-phenyl-sulfon-yl)-2,3,3a,6,7,7a-hexa-hydro-3a,6-ep-oxy-1H-isoindol-6-yl]meth-yl}isoindolin-1-one.

The title compound, C24H24N2O5S, crystallizes with two independent mol-ecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit. In the central ring systems of both mol-ecules, the tetra-hydro-furan rings adopt envelope conformations, the pyrrolidine rings adopt a twisted-envelope conformation and the six-membered ring is in a boat conformation. In mol-ecules A and B, the nine-membered groups attached to the central ring system are essentially planar (r.m.s. deviations of 0.002 and 0.003 Å, respectively). They form dihedral angles of 64.97 (9) and 56.06 (10)°, respectively, with the phenyl rings. In the crystal, strong inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O contacts link the mol-ecules, forming a three-dimensional network. In addition weak π-π stacking inter-actions [centroid-to centroid distance = 3.7124 (13) Å] between the pyrrolidine rings of the nine-membered groups of A mol-ecules are observed. Hirshfeld surface analysis and two-dimensional fingerprint plots were used to qu-antify the inter-molecular inter-actions present in the crystal, indicating that the environments of the two mol-ecules are very similar. The most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (55.8% for mol-ecule A and 53.5% for mol-ecule B), O⋯H/H⋯O (24.5% for mol-ecule A and 26.3% for mol-ecule B) and C⋯H/H⋯C (12.6% for mol-ecule A and 15.7% for mol-ecule B) inter-actions.

IMDAV reaction between phenyl-maleic anhydride and thien-yl(fur-yl)allyl-amines: synthesis and mol-ecular structure of (3aSR,4RS,4aRS,7aSR)-5-oxothieno- and (3aSR,4SR,4aRS,7aSR)-5-oxofuro[2,3-f]iso-indole-4-carb-oxy-lic acids.

The title compounds C24H21NO3S, I, and C24H21NO4, II, are the products of the IMDAV reaction between phenyl-maleic anhydride and thien-yl(fur-yl)allyl-amines. Their mol-ecular structures comprise fused tricyclic systems containing thio-phene, cyclo-hexene and pyrrolidine rings (I) or furan, cyclo-hexene and pyrrolidine rings (II). The central cyclo-hexene and pyrrolidine rings in both compounds adopt slightly twisted boat and envelope conformations, respectively. The dihedral angles between the basal plane of the pyrrolidine ring and the thio-phene (in I) or furan (in II) ring plane are 22.74 (16) and 26.29 (5)°, respectively. The nitro-gen atom both in I and II has practically planar environment [the sums of the bond angles are 359.8 and 358.9°, respectively]. In the crystal of I, the mol-ecules form hydrogen-bonded zigzag chains along [010] through strong inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds involving carb-oxy-lic and keto groups, whereas in the crystal of II, the mol-ecules are joined into centrosymmetric dimers by strong O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the carb-oxy-lic groups. In II, the atoms involved into these hydrogen bonds (and hence the whole carb-oxy-lic group) are disordered over two sets of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.6:0.4. Compounds I and II crystallize as racemates consisting of enanti-omeric pairs of the 3aSR,4RS,4aRS,7aSR and 3aSR,4SR,4aRS,7aSR diastereomers, respectively.