Relayed Proton Brake in N-Pyridyl-2-iso-propylaniline Derivative: Two Brakes with One Proton.

The addition of methanesulfonic acid to N-(2,6-dimethylpyridin-4-yl)-N-methyl-2-iso-propylaniline led to the selective protonation of the pyridine nitrogen atom, resulting in a significant deceleration of the rotation rates around both N-pyridyl and N-(i-Pr)phenyl bonds through a relayed brake mechanism.

N-C Axially Chiral Compounds with an ortho-Fluoro Substituent and Steric Discrimination between Hydrogen and Fluorine Atoms Based on a Diastereoselective Model Reaction.

The fluorine atom is the second smallest atom; nevertheless, the ortho-fluoro group may lead to stable N-aryl atropisomers when the steric demand of the flanking substituents is large enough. 2-Alkyl-3-(2-fluorophenyl)quinazolin-4-ones and 3-(2-fluorophenyl)-4-methylthiazoline-2-thione were found to be the first N-aryl axially chiral compounds bearing an ortho-fluoro group whose enantiomers were isolated at ambient temperature. The reaction of alkyl halides with the anionic species prepared from 2-ethyl-3-(2-fluorophenyl)quinazolin-4-one presenting an N-C axial chirality provided a model reaction for quantitative evaluation of the steric discrimination (slight difference of steric factor) between hydrogen and fluorine atoms. In the case of low steric demand (allylation reaction) no diastereoselectivity was detected, while in the case of high steric demand (isopropylation reaction) the diastereoselectivity became significant.

Atropisomerism in a 10-Membered Ring with Multiple Chirality Axes: (3 Z,9 Z)-1,2,5,8-Dithiadiazecine-6,7(5 H,8 H)-dione Series.

For the first time, chirality in (3 Z,9 Z)-1,2,5,8-dithiadiazecine-6,7(5 H,8 H)-dione series was recognized. Enantiomers of the 4,9-dimethyl-5,8-diphenyl analogue were isolated at room temperature, and their thermal stability was determined. X-ray crystallography confirmed the occurrence of a pair of enantiomers in the crystal. Absolute configurations were assigned by comparing experimental and calculated vibrational/electronic circular dichroism spectra of isolated enantiomers. A distorted tesseract (four-dimensional hypercube) was used to visualize the calculated enantiomerization process, which requires the rotation around four chirality axes. Conformers of higher energy as well as several concurrent pathways of similar energies were revealed.

Steric Scale of Common Substituents from Rotational Barriers of N-(o-Substituted aryl)thiazoline-2-thione Atropisomers.

A steric scale of 20 recurrent groups was established from comparison of rotational barriers on N-(o-substituted aryl)thiazoline-2-thione atropisomers. The resulting energy of activation ΔG⧧rot reflects the spatial requirement of the ortho substituent borne by the aryl moiety, electronic aspects and external parameters (temperature and solvent) generating negligible contributions. Concerning divergent rankings reported in the literature, the great sensitivity of this model allowed us to show unambiguously that a methyl appears bigger than a chlorine and gave the following order in size: CN > OMe > OH. For the very bulky CF3 and iPr groups, constraints in the ground state decreased the expected ΔG⧧rot values resulting in a minimization of their apparent sizes.

A forgotten chiral spiro compound revisited: 3,3'-dimethyl-3H,3'H-2,2'-spirobi[[1,3]benzothiazole].

The title compound was obtained as a side product during dimerization-oxidation steps of the carbene generated from N-methylbenzothiazolium iodide. Chromatography on (S,S)-Whelk O1 column showed on cooling a typical plateau shape chromatogram indicating an exchange between two enantiomers on the column. The thermal barrier to racemization was determined (85 kJ.mol(-1) at 10 °C) by dynamic high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC).The absolute configuration of the first (M) and second eluted (P) enantiomers on the (S, S)-Whelk O1 column was established by comparing the reconstructed circular dichroism (CD) spectra from the CD detector signal and the calculated CD spectrum of the (P) enantiomer. Mass spectrometry revealed that 3,3'-dimethyl-3H,3'H-2,2'-spirobi[[1,3]benzothiazole] can be viewed as a masked thiophenate attached to a benzothiazolium framework.

Access to N-thioalkenyl and N-(o-thio)aryl-benzimidazol-2-ones by ring opening of thiazolobenzimidazolium and benzimidazobenzothiazolium salts and C-O bond cleavage of an alkoxide.

We report herein the synthesis of highly functionalized 1,3-dihydro-2H-benzimidazol-2-ones via a ring opening of thiazolo[3,2-a]benzimidazolium or benzimidazo[2,1-b][1,3]benzothiazol-6-ium salts and an unusual C-O bond cleavage of an alkoxide. A large variety of benzimidazolones bearing an original N-thioalkenyl or N-(o-thio)aryl group was obtained in high yields. The developed chemistry provides efficient and rapid access to the privileged benzimidazol-2-one scaffold.

Fast Pd- and Pd/Cu-catalyzed direct C-H arylation of cyclic nitrones. Application to the synthesis of enantiopure quaternary α-amino esters.

Cocatalysis by pivalic acid or copper bromide allows a very fast, clean, and high-yielding palladium-catalyzed coupling of a large array of aryl, thienyl, and pyridyl halides with cyclic nitrones, including DMPO. The study of the reaction conditions, scope, and mechanism is presented. Applied to the chiral nitrone MiPNO, this transformation provides a straightforward access to enantiopure α-methyl α-arylglycine esters.

Diastereoselective synthesis of 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluoroheptanes.

A stereocontrolled synthesis of alkanes containing five contiguous fluorine atoms is presented. The compounds were prepared by sequential fluorination of diastereoisomeric alcohol-diepoxides. The chemistry involved epoxide ring-opening with HF.NEt(3) and deshydroxyfluorination reactions of free alcohols with Deoxo-Fluor. The fluorination reactions were all highly stereospecific, with all five fluorines being incorporated in three sequential steps. Three different diastereoisomers of the 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluoroheptyl motif were prepared as heptane-1,7-diol derivatives, a structural format amenable for incorporation of the vicinal pentafluoro scaffold into larger molecular architectures.

Regioselective and sequential reactivity of activated 2,5-diketopiperazines.

The electrophilic reactivity of Boc-DKPs has been studied. Thanks to Boc activation, the opening ability of carbonyl lactam groups is enhanced. According to experimental conditions, this enabled the synthesis of Boc-amino acid derivatives or original dipeptides via a regioselective and sequential way.

Transannular rearrangement of activated 2,5-diketopiperazines: a key route to original scaffolds.

An efficient and original stereocontrolled transannular rearrangement starting from activated 2,5-diketopiperazines has been developed, an opportunity for the medicinal chemistry field, which requests access to novel biological scaffolds. This powerful ring contraction, which can be related to a stereoselective aza-version of the Chan rearrangement, allows for example the one-step synthesis of various tetramic acids, access to 2-disubstituted statins, or the synthesis of relevant lactam-constrained dipeptide mimetics using a TRAL-RCM sequence.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of 2,4-diamino-3-hydroxyacids starting from diketopiperazines: a new route for the preparation of statine analogues.

Chiral 3-aminopyrrolidine-2,4-diones, obtained by transannular rearrangement of activated diketopiperazines, could be a springboard toward an exceptional stereoselective synthesis of original 2-disubstituted statines. After a selective reduction of the pyrrolidine-2,4-diones, the access to opened 2,4-diamino-3-hydroxyacid esters was carried out by a subsequent alkaline treatment or directly through a tandem reduction-solvolysis.