SCHEME 1. Ring-Enlargement of Cyclopropyl Ketones
Ring-Enlargement of Dimethylaminopropenoyl
Cyclopropanes: An Efficient Route to Substituted
2,3-Dihydrofurans
Rui Zhang,† Yongjiu Liang,† Guangyuan Zhou,†
Kewei Wang,‡ and Dewen Dong*,†,‡
of intense research for decades, and continues to be an active
area of research today. Extensive work has generated a variety
of synthetic approaches, including ionic or radical [3 + 2]
annulations of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with appropriate
olefins,4,5 formal [3 + 2] annulations of ꢀ-ketosulfides/ꢀ-
ketosulfones with aldehydes,6 and the transition metal-catalyzed
[4 + 1] cycloaddition of enones with diazo compounds.7
On the other hand, cyclopropanes are extremely versatile
synthetic intermediates for their ready accessibility and good
reactivity.8,9 Their well-known “unsaturated” character can lead
to a variety of ring-opening reactions under the influence of
electrophiles, nucleophiles, and radicals, or external physical
forces such as heat and light. Since the pioneering work on the
ring-enlargement of cyclopropylketones was first reported by
Cloke in 1929 (Scheme 1),10 this type of transformation became
a notable approach for the synthesis of 2,3-dihydrofurans and
was widely studied by employing varied catalysts, such as Lewis
acids, metal, or strong oxidizing agents.11 Recently, Zhang and
Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, Changchun, 130022, China, and Department of
Chemistry, Northeast Normal UniVersity,
Changchun, 130024, China
ReceiVed June 16, 2008
A convenient and efficient synthesis of substituted dihydrofurans
is developed via ring-enlargement of 1-dimethylaminoprope-
noyl-1-carbamoyl/benzoyl cyclopropanes catalyzed by am-
monium acetate in acetic acid with high regio- and stereose-
lectivity. Some of the newly synthesized substituted dihydrofurans
are subjected to further synthetic transformation in the presence
of NaOH (aq) in ethanol to afford the corresponding 5-aryl-
2,3-dihydrofuro[3,2-c]pyridin-4(5H)-ones in high yields.
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The vast number of bioactive natural products as well as
medicinally important unnatural compounds based on the 2,3-
dihydrofuran ring system, such as aflatoxin B1 and clerodin,
are very important in the area of natural product and pharma-
ceutical chemistry.1,2 In addition, the utility of 2,3-dihydrofuran
derivatives as organic intermediates in the synthesis of an array
of highly functionalized tetrahydrofurans with good stereose-
lectivity is well recognized.3 The development of efficient
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† Chinese Academy of Sciences.
‡ Northeast Normal University.
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10.1021/jo801289p CCC: $40.75
Published on Web 09/18/2008
2008 American Chemical Society
J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 8089–8092 8089