A Facile and Efficient Synthesis of Thieno[2,3-c]furans and Furo[3,4-b]indoles via a Pummerer-Induced Cyclization Reaction.
The alpha-thiocarbocation generated from the Pummerer reaction of an o-heteroaroyl-substituted sulfoxide is intercepted by the adjacent keto group to produce an alpha-thio-substituted heteroaromatic isobenzofuran. In the presence of a suitable dienophile, the reactive o-xylylene undergoes a Diels-Alder cycloaddition followed by an acid-catalyzed ring-opening and aromatization to give heteroaromatic naphthalene derivatives. This one-pot procedure occurs smoothly with electron-deficient dienophiles. The tandem Pummerer cyclization-cycloaddition sequence also occurs intramolecularly using unactivated alkenyl tethers of variable length. With acetylenic dienophiles, the primary cycloadducts undergo in situ ring-opening to produce hydroxynaphthalene derivatives. In the absence of a dienophile, it was possible to prepare 4-(ethylthio)-6-phenylthieno[2,3-c]furan and 1-ethyl-4-(phenylsulfonyl)-4H-furo[3,4-b]indole. Various synthetic approaches were used for the preparation of the requisite thiophene- and indole-derived sulfoxide precursors. The facility of the tandem Pummerer-Diels-Alder reaction was very dependent on the experimental conditions used to promote the reaction. The best results were achieved by employing a mixture of acetic anhydride and toluene which contained a catalytic quantity of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The presence of the acid effectively drives the reaction in the desired direction by preventing formation of the acetoxy sulfide, which corresponds to the normal Pummerer product.
Kappe
C. Oliver
CO
Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322.
Padwa
Albert
A