title: The versatile electrophilic reactivity of 4,6-dinitrobenzo[d]isoxazole-3-carbonitrile.
abstract: The interaction of 4,6-dinitrobenzo[d]isoxazole-3-carbonitrile (5a) with methoxide ion has been kinetically investigated in methanol and a 20:80 (v/v) MeOH-Me2SO mixture. In methanol, stopped-flow experiments have revealed that a monomethoxyl sigma-adduct (5a-Me) is first formed, resulting from a fast MeO- addition at the unsubstituted 7-carbon. Rate and equilibrium constants for this sigma-complexation process could be determined, allowing a ranking of 5a within the pKa scale established for Meisenheimer electrophiles in methanol. With a pKa value of 13.50, the electrophilicity of 5a falls in the range of 1,3,6,8-tetranitronaphthalene, 2,4-dinitrothiophene or 4-nitrobenzofuroxan. This corresponds to a two-pKa units increase in electrophilicity from that of TNB, the common reference in sigma-complex chemistry but it is notably below that of so-called superelectrophilic molecules like 4,6-dinitrobenzofuroxan. In addition to its ease of sigma-complexation, 5a is found to undergo a slow but thermodynamically favourable addition of MeO- to the cyano group bonded to the isoxazole ring, leading to a complete conversion of the adduct 5a-Me into a dinitroimidate 6. The reactivity of 6 could be kinetically assessed. Going to 80% Me2SO still afforded initially the adduct 5a-Me but this anionic species undergoes addition of a second molecule of MeO- to the CN group, giving a dianion whose structure is unprecedented in the literature. Combining the above results with synthetic observations showing that 5a can readily contribute to S(N)Ar reactions under appropriate experimental conditions emphasizes the multifaceted electrophilic reactivity of this electron-deficient heterocycle.
authors.affiliation: Institut Lavoisier, UMR CNRS 8180, University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 45, Avenue des Etats-Unis, 78035, Versailles Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Betty
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cottyn
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Starosotnikov
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vichard
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goumont
authors.forename: Svyatoslav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shevelev
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Terrier
mesh_terms: D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide / Q000737:chemistry; D007555:Isoxazoles / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010080:Oxazoles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: C540237:4,6-dinitrobenzo(d)isoxazole-3-carbonitrile; D007555:Isoxazoles; D009570:Nitriles; D010080:Oxazoles; D000432:Methanol; D004121:Dimethyl Sulfoxide