title: Pyridine N-alkylation by lithium, magnesium, and zinc alkyl reagents: synthetic, structural, and mechanistic studies on the bis(imino)pyridine system.
abstract: The 2,6-bis(alpha-iminoalkyl)pyridines 2,6-[ArNC(CR(3))](2)C(5)H(3)N [R = H, D; Ar = 2,6-i-Pr(2)C(6)H(3) (DIPP), 2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3) (DMP)] react with MeLi in Et(2)O to give a binary mixture of products: the pyridine N-methylated species 2,6-[ArNC(CR(3))](2)C(5)H(3)N(Me)Li(OEt(2)) and the deprotonated/dedeuterated species 2-[ArNC(CR(3))],6-[ArNC(=CR(2))]C(5)H(3)NLi(OEt(2)). For R = D, the product ratio is 2:1 in favor of the N-methylated product, while, for R = H, the deprotonated product is favored by 5:1, increasing to 8:1 in toluene solvent. Warming solutions of the N-methylated species leads to clean conversion to the thermodynamically preferred deprotonated species. Crossover experiments show that MeLi is re-formed and dissociates from the terdentate ligand before deprotonating the ketimine methyl unit. For MgR(2) (R = Et, i-Pr) and ZnR(2) (R = Et) reagents, N-alkylation products are formed exclusively, but derivatives containing bulky aryl substituents are found to undergo further rearrangement to 2-alkylated species, arising by migration of the alkyl group of the N-alkyl moiety to the adjacent ring carbon atom. The reversibility of the N-alkylation process has been probed using deuterio-labeled Mg alkyl reagents and mixed alkyl zinc species. A cationic zinc derivative is shown to undergo "reverse" alkyl migration, from the heterocycle nitrogen atom to the zinc center. EPR spectroscopy reveals a paramagnetic intermediate in which the unpaired electron is delocalized over the heterocycle and di-imine moieties of the ligand, indicating that the N-alkylation reactions proceed via single electron-transfer processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AY, UK, and Department of Chemistry, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK.
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Blackmore
authors.forename: Vernon C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Hitchcock
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Rees
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Andrew J P
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: White