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Chemistry; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1991. and references cited herein; (b)
Bégué, J.-P.; Bonnet-Delpon, D. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry of Fluorine;
John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, 2008; (c) O’Hagan, D. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2008, 37,
308; (d) Purser, S.; Moore, P. R.; Swallow, S.; Gouverneur, V. Chem. Soc. Rev.
2008, 37, 320; (e) Kirk, K. L. Org. Proc. Res. Dev. 2008, 12, 305; (f) Müller, K.;
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Fluorine Chem. 2006, 127, 303.
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15. Toye, J.; Ghosez, L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1975, 97, 2276.
16. De Kimpe, N.; Verhé, R.; De Buyck, L.; Schamp, N. Org. Prep. Proced. Int. 1982, 14,
213.
17. De Kimpe, N.; Verhé, R.; De Buyck, L.; Chys, J.; Schamp, N. J. Org. Chem. 1978, 43,
2670.
18. De Kimpe, N.; Verhé, R.; De Buyck, L.; Hasma, H.; Schamp, N. Tetrahedron 1976,
32, 2457.
Scheme 4. Reaction of
pounds and subsequent hydrolysis.
a-fluoroimidoyl cyanides 10 with organolithium com-
led to less ketenimine byproduct, in comparison to MeLi in diethyl
ether (entry 3). At À78 °C the reaction could not be driven to com-
pletion (entries 4 and 5). Finally, at À48 °C the reaction of 10a and
1.1 equiv methyllithium in hexane led to a selective addition of
methyllithium across the nitrile function resulting in diimine 13a
in 83% isolated yield and complete conversion (entry 6).24
a-Flu-
oroimidoyl cyanides 10a-b did not react with Grignard reagents,
for example, i-PrMgBr or s-BuMgBr, possibly due to the sterical
hindrance of the N-tert-butyl substituent.
Upon hydrolysis using aqueous oxalic acid at room temperature
in a two-phase system with dichloromethane, fluorinated 1,2-dii-
mines 13a–b were converted into new
a-fluorinated 1,2-diones
15a–b.25 The hydrolysis of phenyldiimine 13c required more con-
centrated acid at reflux temperature (Scheme 4).
In conclusion, a new synthetic pathway for the regiospecific
synthesis of 1,2-diones, chlorinated or fluorinated at the
19. De Kimpe, N.; Verhé, R.; De Buyck, L.; Hasma, H.; Schamp, N. Tetrahedron 1976,
32, 3063.
a-posi-
tion, was developed. This class of compounds with potential as
building blocks in organic chemistry, was synthesized via the
20. Fluorination of
a-cyanoenamines 8: The fluorination procedure is exemplified
for the synthesis of (2E)-2-(tert-butylimino)-3-ethyl-3-fluoropentanenitrile
10a. In a flame-dried 100 mL flask, a solution of 2.00 g (11.11 mmol) of 2-
(tert-butylamino)-3-ethylpent-2-enenitrile 8e in 50 mL of acetonitrile was
cooled to 0 °C and was treated portionwise with 3.94 g (13.33 mmol; 1.2 equiv)
of Selectfluor. The mixture was allowed to warm up to room temperature and
stirred for 1.5 h. The reaction mixture was poured in 50 mL of water and
extracted with 3 Â 50 mL of dichloromethane. The combined organic phases
were dried over MgSO4 and the solvents were evaporated in vacuo after
filtration of the drying agents. The residual oil was distilled to yield 1.21 g
selective attack of organolithium compounds across
and new -fluoroimidoyl cyanides resulting in novel
a
-chloro-
a
a-haloge-
nated 1,2-diimines followed by aqueous hydrolysis.
Acknowledgments
(6.11 mmol,
55%)
of
pure
(2E)-2-(tert-butylimino)-3-ethyl-3-
The authors are indebted to the Research Foundation—Flanders
(FWO—Flanders), Ghent University (GOA), and Janssen Pharmaceu-
tica (Johnson & Johnson) for financial support.
fluoropentanenitrile 10a (bp 80 °C, 19 mmHg) as a colorless oil. 1H NMR
(CDCl3, 300 MHz): d 0.91 (6H, t, J = 7.4 Hz, 2 Â CH3); 1.43 (9H, s, 3 Â CH3); 1.89
(2H, dq, J = 17.1 Hz, 7.4 Hz, CH2); 1.91 (2H, dq, J = 24.3 Hz, 7.4 Hz, CH2). 19F
NMR (CDCl3, 282 MHz): d À162.3 (1F, t  t, J = 24.3 Hz, 17.1 Hz). 13C NMR
(CDCl3, 75 MHz): d 6.9 (d, J = 5.8 Hz); 29.0; 29.5 (d, J = 23.1 Hz); 58.6; 99.9 (d,
J = 180.0 Hz); 110.5; 141.1 (d, J = 33.5 Hz). IR (ATR, cmÀ1):
m = 2975; 2942;
References and notes
2886; 2218 (CN); 1641 (C@N); 1462; 1366; 1240; 1210; 1160; 1092; 1040;
955; 912; 860. GC–MS (EI) m/z (%): 198 (M+, 1); 183 (M+ÀCH3, 14); 155 (4);
143 (4); 124 (8); 114 (17); 69 (5); 57 (+C(CH3)3; 100); 41 (19).
1. (a) Babudri, F.; Fiandanese, V.; Marchese, G.; Punzi, A. Tetrahedron Lett. 1995,
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J. M.; Halley, F.; Souness, J. E.; McLay, I. M.; Pickett, S. D.; Collis, A. J.; Page, K.;
Ahmed, I. J. Med. Chem. 2002, 45, 2173; (d) Singh, S. K.; Saibaba, V.; Ravikumar,
V.; Rudrawar, S. V.; Daga, P.; Rao, C. S.; Akhila, V.; Hegde, P.; Razo, C. S.; Akhila,
V.; Hegde, P.; Rao, Y. K. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2004, 12, 1881.
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Synthesis 2007, 551. and references cited therein; (c) Wan, Z.; Jones, C. D.;
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Zhang, D.; Kirichencko, K. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 3271. and references cited
therein.
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21. Reaction of a-chloroimidoyl cyanides with organolithium compounds: The general
procedure is exemplified for the synthesis of N-[(3E)-2-chloro-4-imino-2-
methylpentan-3-ylidene]propan-2-amine 11a. A solution of 5.17 g (0.03 mol)
of (2E)-3-chloro-3-methyl-2-(propan-2-ylimino)butanenitrile 9a in 40 mL of
freshly distilled diethyl ether was cooled to À78 °C and was treated dropwise,
while stirring under nitrogen, with 22 mL of 1.5 M methyllithium–lithium
bromide complex (0.033 mol) in diethyl ether. After stirring for 5 min at
À78 °C, the cooling bath was removed and stirring was continued for 15 min.
The reaction mixture was then poured into 100 mL of iced water, to which
10 mL of 2 M sodium hydroxide solution was added, and the organic phase was
isolated. The aqueous phase was extracted with diethyl ether and the
combined organic extracts were dried (K2CO3). Filtration of the drying agent
and evaporation of the solvent in vacuo afforded compound 11a (4.90 g, 87%)
as a light yellow oil (purity > 96%; 1H NMR). These labile 1,2-diimines 11 were
used immediately in the next hydrolysis step. N-[(3E)-2-Chloro-4-imino-2-
methylpentan-3-ylidene]isopropylamine 11a. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 60 MHz): d 1.08
(6H, d, J = 6 Hz, NCH(CH3)2); 1.77 (6H, s, (CH3)2CCl); 2.20 (3H, s, CH3C@N); 3.48
(1H, septet, J = 6 Hz, NCH); NH invisible. 13C NMR (CDCl3, 20 MHz): d 23.6;
28.8; 30.9; 53.1; 68.8; 168.3; 176.6. IR (NaCl, cmÀ1):
GC–MS (EI) m/z (%): 188/190 (M+, 0.5); 173/175 (3); 153 (3); 152 (3); 146/148
m = 1628–1650 (C@N).