Long-range bonding/nonbonding interactions: a donor-acceptor resonance studied by dynamic NMR.

Long-range bonding interactions were evaluated using variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy and suitable 2'-CH2X-substituted phenylpyridines (X = Me, NMe2, OMe, F). It was found that the arylpyridyl rotational barriers were lower when electronegative atoms were bound to the α carbon of the 2' moiety. This effect was ascribed to a stabilizing interaction in the transition state due to the lone pair of the heterocyclic nitrogen with the α carbon. Computational support for this hypothesis came from CCSD(T)/6-31+G(d) calculations. Steric effects of the X moiety were ruled out by comparison of the rotational barriers of analogous biphenyls.

Rotational barriers of biphenyls having heavy heteroatoms as ortho-substituents: experimental and theoretical determination of steric effects.

The free energies of activation for the aryl-aryl rotation of 17 biphenyl derivatives, bearing a heavy heteroatom (S, Se, Te, P, Si, Sn) as ortho substituent, have been measured by variable temperature NMR. These numbers, so called B values, represent a meaningful measure of the steric hindrance exerted by the selected substituents. DFT computations match quite satisfactorily the experimental barriers and the ground state geometries as well (determined, in two cases, by X-ray diffraction). The present values extend the available list of B values and thus provide an enlarged basis for the compilation of the space requirements of standard substituents, based solely on experimental determinations.

The biphenyl-monitored effective size of unsaturated functional or fluorinated ortho substituents.

The size of a series of typical substituents has been probed by dynamic NMR measurements of the barriers to aryl-aryl rotation of the corresponding biphenyls. The resulting B values are meaningful because only mono-ortho substituted compounds were investigated and thus the results are not compromised by the non-additivity of multiple steric effects. On the basis of the chosen model system ethynyl and cyano groups were found to be slightly smaller than a phenyl ring. In contrast, vinyl and, in particular, formyl groups proved to be larger than phenyl. The latter difference is due to the loss of conjugation forces at the planar transition state. Alpha-Hydroxyhexafluoroisopropyl is slightly more bulky than tert-butyl. Pentafluorophenyl and trifluoromethoxy exhibit nearly the same effective size as phenyl and methoxy, respectively. Trifluoromethyl is somewhat smaller than isopropyl.

The torsional barriers of 2-hydroxy- and 2-fluorobiphenyl: small but measurable.

By making use of a novel diastereotopicity probe, namely C(CF(3))(2)OH, it has been possible to measure by very low temperature (19)F NMR spectroscopy the elusive aryl-aryl rotation barriers of biphenyls bearing an OH or F group in one ortho position. The experimental values (5.4 and 4.4 kcal mol(-1), respectively) are matched by those from ab initio calculations (5.3 and 4.3 kcal mol(-1), respectively).

B values as a sensitive measure of steric effects.

Someone who says "A" should be prepared to also say "B": In contrast to cyclohexane model-based A values, biphenyl model-derived B values are powerful tools to quantify steric repulsion in and conformational behavior of ortho-substituted aromatic compounds.Torsional barriers of 15 ortho-substituted biphenyls have been determined computationally using the B3LYP density functional and experimentally by variable-temperature ("dynamic") nuclear magnetic resonance. Taking advantage of the 3'-isopropyldimethylsilyl group as a novel and superior diastereotopicity probe and tracking coalescence temperatures down to -173 degrees C (100 K), activation energies of aryl-aryl rotation as small as 5 kcal mol(-1) can be assessed. The 2-X/2'-H repulsion increments thus derived are powerful parameters for rationalizing and predicting the conformational behavior of aromatic compounds carrying ortho substituents.

Relative basicities of ortho-, meta-, and para-substituted aryllithiums.

The relative basicities of aryllithiums bearing methoxy, chlorine, fluorine, trifluoromethyl and trifluoromethoxy substituents at the ortho, meta, and para positions have been assessed. To this end, two aryllithiums of comparable basicity were equilibrated together with the corresponding bromo- or iodoarenes in a 1:2 mixture of pentanes with tetrahydrofuran at -50, -75, or -100 degrees C. The "basicity" (protodelithiation) increments DeltaDeltaG derived from the equilibrium constants are linearly correlated with the relative protonation enthalpies of the corresponding aryl anions in the gas phase. However, the correlation factor proves to be position-dependent. Compared with "naked" aryl anions, the basicity of aryllithiums mirrors the effects of ortho, meta, and para substituents to the extent of 36%, 30%, and 25%, respectively.

Pyridine elaboration through organometallic intermediates: regiochemical control and completeness.

Pyridines carrying heterosubstituents (such as carboxy, amido, amino, alkoxy or trifluoromethyl groups or solely individual halogen atoms) can be readily and site selectively metalated. Subsequent reaction with a suitable electrophile opens rational access to a wealth of new building blocks for the synthesis of biologically active compounds. This approach relies on organometallic methods, which are both efficacious and extremely flexible as far as the substitution site and the product structure are concerned (86 references).

Embedding an allylmetal dimer in a chiral cavity: the unprecedented stereoselectivity of a twofold wittig [1,2]-rearrangement.

After alpha,alpha'-dimetalation, both 2,2'-diallyloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl and 2,2'-di-2-methylallyloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl undergo the Wittig rearrangement with perfect diastereoselectivity. When racemic 1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diol ("BINOL") is used as the starting material, it gives rise to a 1:1 mixture of antipodal stereoisomers, whereas enantiomerically pure (M)-2,2'-diallyloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl affords (M)-(S,S)-1,1-(1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(2-propen-1-ol) as the sole product. The (M)-(S,S)/(P)-(R,R) mixture resulting from the rearrangement of racemic 2,2'-diallyloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl can be effectively subjected to a kinetic racemate resolution by applying the Sharpless-Katsuki asymmetric epoxidation. The single-sided Wittig rearrangement of 2-allyloxy-2'-propyloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl proceeds without any diastereoselectivity as this substrate can only be monometalated and hence is incapable of intramolecular aggregate formation which is instrumental for the observed stereoselectivity.

CF(3)-bearing aromatic and heterocyclic building blocks.

Fluorine remains an insiders' tip in the life sciences as it enables the fine-tuning of biological properties. However, the synthesis of fluorine-substituted target compounds is not always trivial. Virtually any fluorine atom attached to an organic backbone has ultimately to be imported from inorganic sources. Crucial for the entire synthetic planning in medicinal and agricultural research is the decision on at what stage and how the halogen will be introduced. Standard technical processes, in particular the displacement of chlorine using anhydrous hydrogen fluoride or potassium fluoride, can hardly be implemented rationally on the laboratory scale. Universal methods that are applicable by both industrial and academic researchers thus have great appeal. If a trifluoromethyl-substituted arene or heterocycle is the target compound, two splendid options exist. The CF(3) group can be delivered packagewise by coupling an appropriate substrate with in situ generated (trifluoromethyl)copper. Alternatively, one may start from a CF(3)-substituted arene or heterocycle as a core and complete it with the missing parts of the ultimate structure.

pi-Arene/metal binding: an issue not only of structure but also of reactivity.

A trimethyl-, triethyl-, or triisopropylsilyl group attached to the meta position of toluene retards the rate of permutational hydrogen/metal interconversion with butyllithium in the presence of potassium tert-butoxide by factors of 1.7, 3, and 7, respectively. Although remote from the reaction center, the substituents sterically impede the coordination of potassium to the arene electron sextet. pi-Arene/metal bonding may play a major role in modulating chemical and, by extension, biochemical reactivity.

Selective functionalization of 2-fluoropyridine, 2,3-difluoropyridine, and 2,5-difluoropyridine at each vacant position.

The concept of "regioexhaustive substitution" has been successfully applied to 2-fluoro-, 2,3-difluoro-, and 2,5-difluoropyridine. All vacant positions were amenable to regioselective metalation and subsequent carboxylation by employing either chlorine as a neighboring site activating protective group or trimethylsilyl as a neighboring site screening protective group. In this way, approximately half a dozen fluorinated pyridinecarboxylic acids were derived from each starting material.

The kinetic acidity of oligofluorobenzenes correlated with their gas phase deprotonation energies.

The relative reactivities of fluorobenzene, all di-, tri-, and tetrafluorobenzenes and pentafluorobenzene toward sec-butyllithium have been assessed in tetrahydrofuran at -100 degrees C. At this temperature no subsequent transmetalation reactions take place but those compromise the outcome of the competition experiments if the latter are conducted at -75 degrees C. The rates determined at -100 degrees C reflect the basicity differences between the naked (oligo)fluorophenyl anions to the extent of 10 %.

Regiochemically flexible substitutions of di-, tri-, and tetrahalopyridines: the trialkylsilyl trick.

[reactions: see text] 2,4-Difluoropyridine, 2,4-dichloropyridine, 2,4,6-trifluoropyridine, 2,4,6-trichloropyridine and 2,3,4,6-tetrafluoropyridine react with standard nucleophiles exclusively at the 4-position under halogen displacement. However, the regioselectivity can be completely reversed if a trialkylsilyl group is introduced in the 5-position of the 2,4-dihalopyridines or in the 3-position of the 2,4,6-trihalopyridines or 2,3,4,6-tetrahalopyridine. Then only the halogen most remote from the bulky silyl unit (at the 2-position in the case of the 2,4-halopyridines, at the 6-position with the other substrates) gets involved in the exchange process. After removal of the silyl protective group the nucleophile is invariably found to occupy the nitrogen-neighboring position.

Removal of fluorine from and introduction of fluorine into polyhalopyridines: an exercise in nucleophilic hetarenic substitution.

Starting from six industrially available fluorinated pyridines, an expedient access to all three tetrafluoropyridines (2-4), all six trifluoropyridines (5-10), and the five non-commercial difluoropyridines (11-14 and 16) was developed. The methods employed for the selective removal of fluorine from polyfluoropyridines were the reduction by metals or complex hydrides and the site-selective replacement by hydrazine followed by dehydrogenation-dediazotation or dehydrochlorination-dediazotation. To introduce an extra fluorine atom, a suitable precursor was metalated and chlorinated before being subjected to a chlorine/fluorine displacement process.

The gas phase acidity of oligofluorobenzenes and oligochlorobenzenes: about the additivity or non-additivity of substituent effects.

The deprotonation energies of benzene, fluorobenzene, all di-, tri-, and tetrafluorobenzenes, pentafluorobenzene, chlorobenzene, all di-, tri-, and tetrachlorobenzenes, and pentachlorobenzene have been calculated at various levels of second-order Moller-Plesset and density functional theory. Taking the previously determined experimental data as a benchmark, good agreement was achieved in the chloro series even with moderate computational effort, whereas more extended basis sets have to be used to obtain meaningful numbers in the fluoro series. Apparently, most extensive electron correlation is required to avoid artifacts caused by the proximity of nonbonding lone pairs at the carbanionic center and at the fluorine atoms. When two or more fluorine substituents were introduced in the same aromatic ring, their individual effects (as defined by position-dependent acidity increments) proved to be perfectly additive in the entire series. In contrast, the acidifying effect of chloro substituents was found to level off when the number of such halogens increases. Additivity or non-additivity of element effects cannot be ascertained after having merely compared the acidity of mono- and disubstituted substrates, but only after having moved to higher degrees of substitution.

Rerouting nucleophilic substitution from the 4-position to the 2- or 6-position of 2,4-dihalopyridines and 2,4,6-trihalopyridines: the solution to a long-standing problem.

2,4-Difluoro-, 2,4,6-trifluoro-, and 2,3,4,6-tetrafluoropyridine undergo nucleophilic substitution preferentially if not exclusively at the 4-position. However, after the introduction of a trialkylsilyl group at C-3 or C-5, the halogen at the 6-(2-)position is displaced selectively. This synthetically valuable regiocontrol can also be realized with other halopyridines such as 2,4-dichloro- and 2,4,6-trichloropyridine.

The 2 x 3 toolbox of organometallic methods for regiochemically exhaustive functionalization.

This review describes a concept aimed at rational and maximal structure proliferation. To this end, simple aromatic or heterocyclic starting materials, often bulk chemicals, are converted into all regionisomerically possible polar organometallic intermediates (mostly lithiated species), which then may be combined with any of the countless electrophiles to provide attractive new building blocks, particularly functionalized derivatives. The practical implementation relies on a set ("toolbox") of sophisticated recipes developed by mechanistically guided modification of the two most prominent exchange methods used for the generation of polar organometallic compounds: hydrogen-metal and halogen-metal interconversion. These mutant methods ("old methods in a new outfit") amplify the existing options for organic synthesis by ensuring maximum regioflexibility. At the same time they offer new insight into factors that govern organometallic reactivity and provide hints on how to alter or finetune this reactivity judiciously.

Buttressing effects on haloarene deprotonation: a merely kinetic or also thermodynamic phenomenon?

(2,6-Dichlorophenyl)- and (2,6-dibromophenyl)trialkylsilanes undergo hydrogen/metal interconversion preferentially at the 4- rather than 3-position. However, the organometallic species generated by such a "meta metalation" are thermodynamically less stable (i.e., more basic) than those that would result from an ordinary "ortho metalation". This was demonstrated by equilibration experiments based on permutational halogen/metal interconversion. A new buttressing effect can explain the unprecedented regioselectivity. It is supported by X-ray structures that reveal marked deformations of the benzene ring in halophenylsilanes. [structure: see text]

Trifluoromethoxy substituted anilines: metalation as the key step for structural elaboration.

Trifluoromethoxy-substituted anilines undergo hydrogen/lithium permutation ("metalation") with optional site selectivity depending on the N-protective group employed. N-tert-Butoxycarbonyl-2- and -4-(trifluoromethoxy)aniline react with tert-butyllithium at the nitrogen-adjacent 6- and 2-position affording, after electrophilic trapping, products 1-6. In contrast, deprotonation of the para isomer occurs at the oxygen-neighboring 3-position, giving rise to the acid 12, when the amino group is carrying two trimethylsilyl groups. sec-Butyllithium attacks 3-trifluoromethoxy-N-mono(trimethylsilyl)aniline at the 2-position, but 3-trifluoromethoxy-N,N-bis(trimethylsilyl)aniline at the 4-position to provide respectively the acids 10 and 11 after carboxylation. The synthesis of two new benzodiazepines illustrates (19 and 22) the preparative potential of the aniline functionalization mediated by organometallic reagents.