One pot oxidative dehydration - oxidation of polyhydroxyhexanal oxime to polyhydroxy oxohexanenitrile: A versatile methodology for the facile access of azasugar alkaloids.

A unique oxidative dehydration-oxidation of polyhydroxy-oxime (7) to the corresponding ketonitrile (8) in one pot is reported for the first time in carbohydrate literature. Key ketonitrile intermediate (8) upon palladium hydroxide mediated cascade reaction afforded 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) 1b in moderate diastereoselectivity. The cascade reaction involves the conversion of nitrile to amine, heteroannulation, reduction of the imine and subsequent debenzylation to furnish the azasugars. This oxidative dehydration-oxidation and reductive heteroannulation methodology is successfully utilized for the total synthesis of 1-deoxynojirimycin (1b), miglitol (2) and miglustat (3).

A concise formal synthesis of alkaloid cryptotackiene and substituted 6H-indolo[2,3-b]quinolines.

A five-step formal synthesis of alkaloid cryptotackiene and its 2-formyl, 11-methyl/phenyl derivatives involving conjugate addition of enolate anion from cyclohexanone (or 4-methylcyclohexanone) to bis[(methylsulfanyl)methylene]-2-oxindole followed by heterocyclization in the presence of ammonium acetate as the key step has been developed. The 11-methylsulfanyl group in the initial precursor can be either desulfurized (Raney Ni) or replaced by methyl/phenyl groups via nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction with appropriate Grignard reagents.

Reaction of alpha-oxoketene-N,S-arylaminoacetals with Vilsmeier reagents: an efficient route to highly functionalized quinolines and their benzo/hetero-fused analogues.

A simple, highly efficient, and regioselective synthesis of functionalized quinolines through Vilsmeier cyclization of a variety of alpha-oxoketene-N,S-anilinoacetals has been reported. The cyclization is found to be facile with N,S-acetals bearing strongly activating groups on aniline, whereas yields of quinolines are moderate in other cases. The reaction could also be extended for the synthesis of substituted tricyclic benzo[h]quinoline, pyrido[2,3-h]quinoline, 4,7-diphenylphenanthroline, and tetracyclic quino[8,7-h]quinoline by performing a Vilsmeier reaction on N,S-acetals derived from 1-naphthylamine, m-phenylenediamine, o-phenylenediamine, and 1,5-diaminonaphthalene, respectively. A few of the newly synthesized quinolines are subjected to further transformation to afford 2-unsubstituted (Raney-Ni/Ethanol), quinoline-5,8-quinone (NBS/H(2)SO(4)), or 2-alkyl/aryl aminoquinolines through sequential m-CPBA oxidation to the corresponding (2-methylsulfonyl)quinoline followed by replacement with appropriate amines. Similarly, cycloannulation of a few 2-methylthio-3-benzoylquinolines with hydrazine hydrate under microwave irradiation afforded the corresponding substituted and fused pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinolines in excellent yields, whereas TBTH/AIBN-mediated cyclization of the corresponding 3-(2-bromobenzoyl)-2-methylthioquinolines yielded the corresponding benzothiopyrano-fused quinolines through radical translocation.

A new route to spiropyrrolidinyl-oxindole alkaloids via iodide ion induced rearrangement of [(N-aziridinomethylthio)methylene]-2-oxindoles.

A new approach for the synthesis of spiropyrrolidinyloxindole alkaloids, i.e. coerulescine (4) and horsfiline (5) has been developed via iodide ion induced rearrangement of [(N-aziridinomethylthio)methylene]oxindoles 2 to the respective spiropyrroline-2-oxindole derivatives 3 and their subsequent one-pot reductive dethiomethylation-N-methylation. [reaction: see text]