Current Organic Synthesis - Volume 16, Issue 1, 2019

Background: A lot of advancement has been made in the area of β-lactams in recent times. Most of the research is targeted towards the synthesis of novel β-lactams, their functionalization and exploring their biological potential. The C-3 functionalization of β-lactams has continued to attract considerable interest of the scientific community due to their utility as versatile intermediates in organic synthesis and their therapeutic applications. This has led to the significant increase in efforts towards developing efficient and economic strategies for C-3 functionalized β-lactams. Objective: The present review aims to highlight recent advancement made in C-3 functionalization of β - lactams. Conclusion: To summarize, functionalization of β-lactams at C-3 is an essential aspect of β-lactam chemistry in order to improve/modify its synthetic utility as well as biological potential. The C-3 carbocation equivalent method has emerged as an important and convenient strategy for C-3 functionalization of β-lactam heterocycles which provides a wide range of β-lactams viz. 3-alkylated β-lactams, 3-aryl/heteroarylated β-lactams, 3- alkoxylated β-lactams. On the other hand, base mediated functionalization of β-lactams via carbanion intermediate is another useful approach but their scope is limited by the requirement of stringent reaction conditions. In addition to this, organometallic reagent mediated α-alkylation of 3-halo/3-keto-β-lactams also emerged as interesting methods for the synthesis of functionalized β-lactams having good yields and diastereoselectivities.

Background: Heterocyclic compounds containing nitrogen have been known to possess a very important role in the field of medicinal chemistry. Indole and its derivatives displayed a wide range of biological properties such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-microbial, anti-convulsant, antidepressant, anti-diabetic, antihelmintic and anti-allergic activities etc. The diverse biological activities exhibited by compounds containing indole moiety has provided the impetus to explore its anti-microbial activity in order to save the valuable life of patients. Objective: The review focuses on the advances in the synthesis of indole derivatives and antimicrobial properties exhibited by them. Conclusion: A great deal of work has been done in order to synthesize indole derivatives and to evaluate antimicrobial potential, as indicated by the review. The information provided in this article may be helpful for the researchers for the development of efficient antimicrobial drugs.

Background: Pentaerythritol (2,2-bis (hydroxymethyl) propane-1,3-diol) as white crystalline odorless solid has been synthesized in 1891. Pentaerythritol is multifaceted species in many compounds, which are wildly utilized in medicine and industry. Also, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) play a crucial role in organic and medicinal chemistry. Hence, in these reactions, pentaerythritol is a versatile substrate for the synthesis of many polyfunctionalized products, because of the presence of the neopentane core and one hydroxyl group in each of the four terminal carbons. Objective: The review describes pentaerythritol multicomponent reactions in the presence of different solvents in the reaction medium to produce various compounds including pentaerythritols. This review covers the literature relevant up to 2018. Conclusion: It is obvious from the provided review that a great deal of research has been done in this field, utilizing various mediums (solvent-free conditions, aqueous media, and organic solvents) for the synthesis of the products of containing pentaerythritols. This classification is based on the importance of economic and environmental friendly reactions. Due to the whole aforesaid reports, some reactions required heat for their progress, and some others were accompanied by microwave or ultrasonic waves.

Background: Enamines and their variant enamides as powerful and versatile synthons have attracted great attention in synthetic chemistry. Enamides display unique stability and reduce enaminic reactivity in view of the electron-withdrawing effect of N-acyl group. A great deal of satisfactory achievements in the synthesis and application of enamides has been made in recent years. Especially, tertiary enamides without N-H bond regarded as low reactivity of compounds in the past can act as excellent nucleophiles to react with electrophiles for the construction of various nitrous molecules. Objective: This review focuses on recent advances on tertiary enamides in the synthetic strategies and applications including addition, coupling reaction, functionalization and electro- or photo-chemical reaction. Conclusion: Tertiary enamides as electron-deficient nucleophiles display a satisfactory balance between stability and reactivity to offer multiple opportunities for the construction of various functionalized nitrogencontaining compounds. Further exploration of the reactive mechanisms involved tertiary enamides and the development of novel and efficient transformations to generate ever more complex building blocks starting from tertiary enamides are particularly worth pursuing.

Halolactones are used both in chemical synthesis as intermediates as well as in various industries. These compounds may be secondary metabolites of living organisms, although they are mainly obtained by chemical synthesis. The substrates for the synthesis of chloro-, bromo- and iodolactones are often unsaturated carboxylic acids, and sometimes they are unsaturated esters. The article presents a number of different methods for the production of halolactones, both racemic mixtures and enantiomerically enriched compounds.

Background: 3,4-dihydroisocoumarins are an important small group belonging to the class of naturally occurring lactones isolated from different bacterial strains, molds, lichens, and plants. The structures of these natural compounds show various types of substitution in their basic skeleton and this variability influences deeply their biological activities. These lactones are structural subunits of several natural products and serve as useful intermediates in the synthesis of different heterocyclic molecules, which exhibit a wide range of biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antiplasmodial, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiangiogenic and antitumoral activities, among others. Their syntheses have attracted attention of many researchers reporting many synthetic strategies to achieve 3,4-dihydroisocoumarins and other related structures. Objective: In this context, the isolation of these natural compounds from different sources, their syntheses and biological activities are reviewed, adding the most recent advances and related developments. Conclusion: This review aims to encourage further work on the isolation and synthesis of this class of natural products. It would be beneficial for synthetic as well as the medicinal chemists to design selective, optimized dihydroisocoumarin derivatives as potential drug candidates, since dihydroisocoumarin scaffolds have significant utility in the development of therapeutically relevant and biologically active compounds.

Aim and Objective: Because of the low abundance of 3,4-unsubstituted coumarins in plants combined with the complex purification process required, synthetic routes towards 3,4-unsubstituted coumarins are especially valuable. In the present work, we explore the possibilities of a solvent-free Green Knoevenagel condensation on various 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivatives and malonic acid without the use of toxic organocatalysts like pyridine and piperidine but only use ammonium bicarbonate as the catalyst. Materials and Methods: To investigate the scope of the Green Knoevenagel condensation for the synthesis of 3,4-unsubstituted coumarins, various 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde derivatives were screened as starting material in the optimized two-step procedure developed for 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Results: This study shows that the intramolecular esterification and the decarboxylation are in competition, but show different temperature optima. In order to suppress premature decarboxylation and maximize the yield of coumarin, a two-step procedure was adopted. The reaction mixture containing ammonium bicarbonate is initially kept at 90ºC for 1 hour. After completion of the cyclization, the temperature of the reaction mixture is increased to 140ºC for 2 hours. Following this protocol, coumarin could be isolated with a yield of 95%. Conclusion: A two-step procedure for the solvent-free synthesis of several 3,4-unsubstituted coumarins was developed using ammonium bicarbonate, resulting in high yields of the desired products. Moreover, this procedure has a low E-factor and is, therefore an environmental friendly reaction in line with the principles of Green Chemistry. It was shown that by initially capping the temperature at 90ºC, premature decarboxylation can be suppressed. After full conversion to the intermediate 3-carboxycoumarin, the temperature can be increased to 140ºC finalizing the reaction. Ammonium bicarbonate was shown to catalyze both the Green Knoevenagel condensation and the decarboxylation step.

Aim and Objective: A novel and convenient transformation for the synthesis of benzodiazepines has been developed via catalytic cyclization reaction using ionic liquid supported on mesoporous silica nanoparticles- imprinted iron metal (Fe-MCM-41-IL) as a recyclable catalyst under mild conditions. Materials and Methods: For preparation of Fe-MCM-41-IL, FeCl3·6H2O was added to a mixture of distilled water, CTAB and NaOH aqueous solution. The tetraethyl orthosilicate was dropped into the solution under stirring. The product was separated, washed, and dried. The solid product was collected and calcined. Then, to a solution of β-hydroxy-1,2,3-triazole in toluene, 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane was added and the mixture was refluxed. The Conc. H2SO4 was added dropwise into the above solution and stirred. For immobilization of IL onto Fe-MCM-41, the solution IL was added to Fe-MCM-41 and was refluxed for the production of the Fe- MCM-41. Following this, benzodiazepines were synthesized using Fe-MCM-41-IL as a catalyst. Results: The Fe-MCM-41-IL was prepared and characterized by a different analysis. The activity of the prepared catalyst as the above described was tested in the model reaction of o-phenyldiamine, tetronic acid, and different aldehydes under room temperature in ethanol solvent. Also, the catalyst could be recovered for five cycles. Conclusion: We developed a novel nanocatalyst for the synthesis of benzodiazepines in excellent yields. Fe- MCM-41-IL as a catalyst has advantages such as: environmental friendliness, reusability and easy recovery of the catalyst using an external magnet.

Aim and Objective: KIT-5 nanoporous silica was functionalized with sulfonic acid and SO3H group has been immobilized on nanoporous KIT-5 silica support via in situ method to produce novel nanocatalyst as “KIT-5-Pr-SO3H”. The catalyst was fully characterized by FT-IR, SEM, EDXs, TEM, BET and TGA techniques. The surface morphology images approved that the nanocatalyst particle sizes are around 7-15 nm. The prepared catalyst was efficiently used in the synthesis of benzimidazolo quinazolinones, imidazo[1,2- a]chromeno[4,3-d]pyrimidinone and imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine via a multicomponent reaction under green conditions. The easy synthesis condition, environmental compatibility, high specific surface area, reusability for 5 run without loses in any activity, high selectivity, availability of raw material, are the remarkable properties for this new catalyst. Materials and Methods: All reagents were purchased from Aldrich and Merck with high-grade quality and used as received. The structural characteristics of the KIT-5 which was obtained, using three-dimensional large cage type face-centered cubic Fm3m mesoporous silica materials (KIT-5) nanocages were obtained according to the procedure described by Kleitz et al. Results: The purpose of this study is developing a new acid-functionalized mesoporous catalyst. Initially, (KIT-5) nanocages were obtained according to the procedure described by Kleitz et al. Then, KIT-5-Pr-SH was prepared by Mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane as illustrated in Scheme 1. In the next step, the solid product was oxidized with H2O2. The full characterization for proving the structure of the nano-size particles was achieved using FT-IR, TGA, TEM, SEM, and EDX analysis. Conclusion: Acid-functionalized mesoporous silica has been proved to act as an effective catalyst in various organic reactions. In this project, for the first time, KIT-5 was functionalized by propyl-sulfonic acid as a heterogeneous solid acid catalyst. Sulfonic acid functionalized KIT-5 (KIT-5-Pr-SO3H) performs as an organicinorganic hybrid catalyst, whereas Brønsted acid sites have been selectively generated. In this regard, the catalytic activities of this novel heterogeneous catalyst were successfully examined by the one-pot multicomponent reaction.

Background: Quinolines represent an important class of bioactive molecules which are present in various synthetic drugs, biologically active natural compounds and pharmaceuticals. Quinolines find their potential applications in various chemical and biomedical fields. Thereby, the demand for more efficient and simple methodologies for the synthesis of quinolines is growing rapidly. Objective: The green one-pot Friedlander Synthesis of Functionalized Quinolines has been demonstrated by using graphene oxide as a carbocatalyst. Method: The graphene oxide catalyzed condensation reaction of 2–aminoaryl carbonyl compounds with different cyclic/ acyclic/ aromatic carbonyl compounds in methanol at 70°C affords different quinoline derivatives. Results: The reaction has been examined in different protic and aprotic solvents and the best yield of quinoline is observed in methanol at 70°C. Conclusion: The present method of quinoline synthesis offers various advantages over other reported methods such as short reaction time, high yield of product, recycling of catalyst and simple separation procedure. The graphene oxide carbocatalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture by centrifugation and then can be reused several times without any significant loss in its activity.

Aim and Objective: Some ferrocenyl derivatives are active in vitro and in vivo against cancer. Generally, ferrocenyl derivatives for cancer research have three key components: a ferrocene moiety, a conjugated linker that lowers the oxidation potential and some derivative (peptide, nucleobase and others) that can interact with biomolecules. Since the pyrimidine fragment can easily pass through the membrane into the cells and become involved in metabolism; it appears to be promising. Furthermore, this fragment is an electron-acceptor group, so a spacer can be excluded. Therefore, the synthesis of 6-ferrocenylpyrimidin-4(3H)-one derivatives and the study of their anticancer activity have scientific and practical interest. Methods: The syntheses of 6-ferrocenylpyrimidin-4(3H)-one derivatives were performed by the condensation of ethyl 3-ferrocenyl-3-oxopropionate with thiourea or acetamidine or guanidine. The cytotoxicity of four 6- ferrocenylpyrimidin-4(3H)-one derivatives was evaluated by using the MTT assay in vitro against Human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 and normal human skin fibroblast HSF cells. The tested derivatives induced a concentration-dependent cytotoxic response in cell lines. Results: A study of the cytotoxic activity of 6-ferrocenylpyrimidin-4(3H)-one derivatives by the MTT test has found that all compounds have a dose-dependent toxic effect on the lines of breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and normal human fibroblast cells (HSF). The most pronounced cytotoxic effect is exhibited by 2-methyl-6-ferrocenylpyrimidin- 4(3H)-one (MCF-7, IC50 17 ± 1 μM). Conclusion: The experimental results confirm the importance of investigation and design of ferrocenylpyrimidin- 4(3H)-one derivatives as anticancer agents. Compounds where the pyrimidine derivatives are directly linked to the ferrocene unit rather than via a spacer group also may be of interest for antiproliferative drug design.

Aim and Objective: It is known that the Lamotrigine drug has anti-inflammatory activity. So it was the goal to prepare similar compounds containing fluorine atoms (fluorine-substituted 3,5-diamino-6-aryl- 1,2,4-triazines) as Lamotrigine drug analogs to evaluate them as an anti-inflammatory. Materials and Methods: The novel fluorine substituted 3,5-diamino-6-aryl-1,2,4-triazines as new Lamotrigine analogs were prepared via aminolysis and/ or ammonolysis of the corresponding 3-thioxo-6-aryl-1,2,4-triazin- 5-ones in ethanolic media. Results: All the new targets were deduced upon their elemental analysis and spectral data as well as screened as anti-inflammatory agents, where we found that the fluorinated systems 15 and 9-11 exhibited high and more activity. Conclusion: Simple routes to synthesize some more novel fluorinated Lamotrigine analogs have been reported. The new targets exhibited high and moderate anti-inflammatory probes. Presence of both amino and CF3 groups caused high biological activities of these compounds were studied.

Aim and Objective: The synthesis of bipyridines, especially 2, 2’-bipyridines, remains challenging because the catalytic cycle can be inhibited due to coordination of bipyridine to transition metal. Thus, the development of efficient methods for the synthesis of bipyridines is highly desirable. In the present work, we presented a promising approach for preparation of bipyridines via a Pd-catalyzed reductive homocoupling reaction with simple piperazine as a ligand. Materials and Methods: Simple and inexpensive piperazine was used as a ligand for Pd-catalyzed homocoupling reaction. The combination of Pd(OAc)2 and piperazine in dimethylformamide (DMF) was observed to form an excellent catalyst and efficiently catalyzed the homocoupling of azaarenyl halides, in which DMF was used as the solvent without excess reductants although stoichiometric reductant was generally required to generate the low-oxidation-state active metal species in the catalytic cycles. Results: In this case, good to excellent yields of bipyridines and their (hetero) aromatic analogues were obtained in the presence of 2.5 mol% of Pd(OAc)2 and 5 mol% of piperazine, using K3PO4 as a base in DMF at 140°C. Conclusion: According to the results, piperazine as an inexpensive and efficient ligand was used in the Pd(OAc)2-catalyzed homocoupling reaction of heteroaryl and aryl halides. The coupling reaction was operationally simple and displayed good substrate compatibility.

Aim and Objective: The Biginelli reaction, first reported in 1893, is one great example of the important multicomponent reactions reported from 1893. Under the same conditions, the influence of the common catalysts on the yield of the Biginelli reaction was investigated. Materials and Method: To a round-bottom flask equipped with a spherical condenser were added 1,3- dicarbonyl compound (1.0 eq), urea (1.45 eq), aromatic aldehyde (1.0 eq), catalyst and methanol. The mixture was heated at reflux for 16 h. After cooling off, the mixture was filtered and washed with cold methanol to give DHPMs. Reaction solution was further purified by recrystallization with petroleum ether and ethyl acetate. Six catalytic systems, different 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and different substituted aromatic aldehydes with varied substitutions are described for the Biginelli reaction. An analysis was also performed to study the factors that affect the yield of the reaction. Results: When 1,3-dicarbonyl compound was ethyl acetoacetate, the CuCl/ conc.H2SO4 system gave the highest yield (90.5%). While when acetoacetamide was used, the yields of DHPMs in presence of PTSA/conc. HCl, conc. HCl or FeCl3•6H2O were all over 90%. Nine DHPMs with different substituents were obtained. Conclusion: The Lewis acid or mixed catalyst had no significant advantage over a single protonic acid as catalyst. Conc. HCl as the catalyst was found to be the most effective condition for the preparation of DHPMs. The aromatic aldehyde with weak electron-withdrawing substituent such as Br resulted in the best yield.