Weston et al.
JOCNote
Preparation of 1-Benzyl-2-(1-benzylpyrrolidin-2-yl)-1H-indole
(4). 1-Benzyl-2-(pyrrolidin-2-yl)-1H-indole was prepared by a
literature method15 and the pyrrolidine moiety was N-benzy-
lated with benzyl bromide-triethylamine in dichloromethane by
the same general procedure as in the preparation of 17 (vide
dichloromethane at 0 °C. The mixture was stirred at 0 °C for 2 h,
quenched with saturated NaHCO3 solution, extracted with
dichloromethane, dried, concentrated, and purified by flash
chromatography (50% ethyl acetate-hexanes) to afford 983
mg (67%) of 1-benzenesulfonyl-2-(4,5-dihydro-3H-pyrrol-2-
yl)-1H-indole as a pale yellow solid. This was dissolved in
ethanol (40 mL) and sodium borohydride (3.50 g, 92.5 mmol)
was added in portions over 2 d. The mixture was concen-
trated, dissolved in ethyl acetate, washed with aqueous NaOH,
dried, and concentrated to produce crude 1-benzenesulfonyl-
2-(pyrrolidin-2-yl)-1H-indole, which was dissolved in dichlor-
omethane (25 mL), along with triethylamine (0.84 mL, 6.1
mmol) and benzyl bromide (0.36 mL, 3.0 mmol). The mixture
was stirred overnight, washed with saturated NaHCO3 solution,
dried, concentrated, and purified via flash chromatography
(10% ethyl acetate-hexanes) to afford 695 mg (56%) of 17 as a
pale yellow oil: IR (film) 1448, 1371, 1173 cm-1; 1H NMR (300
MHz) δ 8.25 (d, J = 7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.75 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H),
7.52-7.19 (m, 11H), 7.02 (s, 1H), 4.30-4.25 (m, 1H), 3.90 (d,
J = 13.0 Hz, 1H), 3.18 (d, J = 13.0 Hz, 1H), 3.11-3.08 (m,
1H), 2.55-2.47 (m, 1H), 2.29 (dd, J = 16.7, 8.8 Hz, 1H),
1.90-1.73 (m, 3H); 13C NMR (75 MHz) δ 146.2, 139.8, 139.4,
137.8, 133.7, 129.9, 129.2, 128.5, 128.3, 126.9, 126.2, 124.0,
123.7, 120.7, 114.9, 108.6, 62.5, 59.2, 53.6, 34.4, 23.2; mass
spectrum m/z (%) 416 (Mþ, 25), 324 (45), 275 (100), 91
(65). HRMS Calcd for C25H24N2O2S, 416.1559; found,
416.1557.
infra) to afford 4 in 84% yield: IR (film) 1605, 1453, 1162 cm-1
;
1H NMR (300 MHz) δ 7.74 (m, 1H), 7.38-7.15 (m, 11H), 7.04
(d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 6.76 (s, 1H), 5.94 (d, J = 17.3 Hz, 1H), 5.66
(d, J = 17.3 Hz, 1H), 4.27 (d, J = 13.1 Hz, 1H), 3.86 (t, J = 7.9
Hz, 1H), 3.26 (d, J = 13.1 Hz, 1H), 3.25 (m, 1H), 2.35-2.17 (m,
2H), 2.10-1.80 (m, 3H); 13C NMR (75 MHz) δ 142.0, 139.7,
138.5, 138.3, 128.8, 128.7, 128.2, 128.1, 127.3, 127.0, 126.0,
121.5, 120.5, 119.8, 109.9, 101.3, 62.8, 58.7, 53.4, 47.2, 32.5,
22.7; mass spectrum m/z (%) 366 (Mþ, 63), 91 (100). HRMS
Calcd for C26H26N2, 366.2096; found, 366.2083.
Reaction of 4 with Acetylenic Sulfone 1a (Typical Procedure).
Indole 4 (127 mg, 0.347 mmol) and acetylenic sulfone 1a (62 mg,
0.34 mmol) were stirred for 14 h at room temperature in 5 mL of
acetonitrile. The mixture was concentrated and purified by flash
chromatography (15-30% ethyl acetate-hexanes) to afford
167 mg (90%) 1-benzyl-5-(1-benzylindol-2-yl)-6-(p-toluenesul-
fonyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-azepine (8) as white solid, mp
161-162 °C (from acetonitrile): IR (film) 1627, 1280, 1134
cm-1 1H NMR (400 MHz) δ 7.87 (s, 1H), 7.44-7.16 (m,
;
11H), 7.12-6.98 (m, 5H), 6.85 (d, J = 8.1 Hz, 2H), 5.97 (s,
1H), 5.32 (d, J = 17.3 Hz, 1H), 5.26 (d, J = 17.3 Hz, 1H), 4.50
(d, J = 15.0 Hz, 1H), 4.40 (d, J = 15.0 Hz, 1H), 4.36 (t, J = 3.6
Hz, 1H), 3.52-3.50 (m, 1H), 2.96-2.91 (m, 1H), 2.13 (s, 3H),
1.74-1.67 (m, 3H) 1.50-1.43 (m, 1H); 13C NMR (75 MHz) δ
149.5, 142.1, 140.3, 139.8, 137.8, 137.3, 137.1, 128.9, 128.68,
128.65, 128.1, 127.6, 127.3, 126.8, 126.1, 121.0, 119.8, 119.4,
109.4, 109.0, 103.6, 63.6, 52.6, 46.5, 35.4, 31.7, 23.5, 21.2; mass
spectrum m/z (%) 546 (Mþ, 51), 455 (46), 391 (100). HRMS
Calcd for C35H34N2O2S, 546.2341; found, 546.2344.
Reaction of 17 with Acetylenic Sulfone 1a (Typical Procedure).
Indole 17 (100 mg, 0.240 mmol) and acetylenic sulfone 1a (43
mg, 0.24 mmol) were stirred for 24 h at room temperature in 5
mL of acetonitrile. The mixture was concentrated and purified
via flash chromatography (15-30% ethyl acetate-hexanes),
affording 136 mg (95%) of 5-benzenesulfonyl-1-benzyl-10-(p-
toluenesulfonyl)-1,2,3,4,4a,5,10,10a-octahydro-pyrido[20,30:4,5]-
cyclopenta[1,2-b]indole (22) as a pale yellow solid: mp 132-
135 °C (from toluene-hexanes); IR (film) 1596, 1449, 1366,
The preparation and characterization data for the other
products in Table 1, as well as for 23, 25, and 27, are provided
in the Supporting Information.
1
1184 cm-1; H NMR (300 MHz) δ 7.96 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H),
Preparation of 1-Benzenesulfonyl-2-(1-benzylpyrrolidin-2-yl)-
1H-indole (17). N-(Benzenesulfonyl)indole16 (2.00 g, 7.77 mmol)
and TMEDA (0.93 g, 8.0 mmol) were dissolved in THF (50 mL),
cooled to -78 °C, and n-butyllithium (3.11 mL, 2.5 M in
hexanes, 7.8 mmol) was added slowly. The red solution was
warmed to room temperature over 2 h and was then cooled back
to -78 °C. N-t-Butyloxycarbonyl-2-pyrrolidinone (1.44 g, 7.77
mmol) was added and the mixture was stirred at -78 °C for 1 h
and then at room temperature for 1 h. Brine was added and the
mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate, dried, and concen-
trated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (25%
ethyl acetate-hexanes) to give 2.02 g (58%) of [4-(1-benzene-
sulfonyl-1H-indol-2-yl)-4-oxo-butyl]-carbamic acid tert-butyl
ester as a yellow oil.
7.63 (d, J = 7.4 Hz, 2H), 7.56-7.50 (m, 2H), 7.35-7.20 (m, 11H),
6.94 (d, J = 7.9 Hz, 2H), 4.92 (d, J = 4.4 Hz, 1H), 4.30 (dd, J =
7.7, 4.7 Hz, 1H), 4.00 (d, J = 14.0 Hz, 1H), 3.75 (d, J = 13.8 Hz,
1H), 3.73 (m, 1H), 2.64-2.58 (m, 1H), 2.54-2.41 (m, 1H),
2.34 (s, 3H), 2.27-2.15 (m, 1H), 1.88-1.75 (m, 1H), 1.60-1.47
(m, 1H), 1.09-0.95 (m, 1H); 13C NMR (75 MHz) δ 149.5, 144.7,
140.5, 139.6, 138.2, 134.3, 134.1, 129.8, 129.6, 129.6, 128.9, 128.8,
128.7, 127.4, 126.9, 125.0, 124.7, 121.6, 119.5, 115.0, 68.5, 66.5,
59.1, 45.0, 39.3, 25.7, 22.1, 17.6; massspectrumm/z (%) 455 (100),
209 (50), 91 (46). HRMS Calcd for C28H27N2O2S (Mþ - C6H5-
SO2), 455.1793; found, 455.1780.
Acknowledgment. We thank the Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada for financial sup-
port and Detian Gao for recording several spectra.
Trifluoroacetic acid (1.08 mL, 14.6 mmol) was added drop-
wise to a solution of the above product (2.02 g, 4.52 mmol) in
(14) (a) Chen, Z.; Trudell, M. L. Synth. Commun. 1994, 24, 3149–3155.
(b) Bhattacharya, S. N.; Josiah, B. M.; Walton, D. R. M. Organomet. Chem.
Synth. 1971, 1, 145–149.
(15) Street, J. D.; Harris, M.; Bishop, D. I.; Heatley, F.; Beddoes, R. L.;
Mills, O. S.; Joule, J. A. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 1987, 1599–1606.
(16) Saulnier, M. G.; Gribble, G. W. J. Org. Chem. 1982, 47, 757–761.
Supporting Information Available: Characterization data
1
and H and 13C NMR spectra of new compounds; 2D NMR
spectra of 10; X-ray crystallographic data for 8 and 22. This
material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://
pubs.acs.org.
J. Org. Chem. Vol. 75, No. 15, 2010 5405