Journal of Natural Products
Article
mmol) in 200 mL of MeOH at room temperature. The resulting
mixture was stirred at 65 °C for 1 h, cooled to 40 °C, treated with 7.5 g
of fine urea−hydrogen peroxide complex (1:1), and heated at 65 °C
for an additional 1 h. The pH was adjusted to 3 with 18% HCl, and
MeOH was removed in vacuo. The residue was diluted with water
(200 mL) and extracted with CHCl3. The CHCl3 extract was washed
with water, refluxed over activated carbon, filtered, and dried over
anhydrous MgSO4. The resulting extract was concentrated in vacuo to
afford 5c (9.2 g, 4.38 mmol, 85% yield) as an off-white solid: mp 212−
213 °C; 1H NMR (DMSO-d6) δ 12.73 (1H, s, COOH), 7.11 (1H, d, J
= 1.9 Hz, ArH), 7.07 (1H, d, J = 1.9 Hz, ArH), 4.25−4.30 (4H, octet,
OCH2CH2O), 3.80 (3H, s, OCH3); EIMS m/z 210 [M]+ (100), 195
(26), 154 (31), 139 (35), 111 (35), 69 (30), 67 (23), 66 (44), 55 (29),
53 (27), 51 (28), 50 (32), 45 (26), 39 (61), 38 (50); anal. C 57.26; H
4.75%, calcd for C10H10O5, C 57.14; H 4.80%.
(43); anal. C 62.72; H 4.68; N 7.44%, calcd for C10H9NO3, C 62.82; H
4.74; N 7.33%.
2,5-Dimethoxy-3,4-methylenedioxyphenylacetonitrile (10d): 19.5
g, 88% yield; off-white solid; mp 97−98 °C (lit.18 mp 96−98 °C); 1H
NMR (CDCl3) δ 6.49 (1H, s, H-6), 5.99 (2H, s, OCH2O), 3.97 (3H,
s, OCH3), 3.87 (3H, s, OCH3-7), 3.61 (2H, s, CH2); EIMS m/z 221
[M]+ (72), 206 (80), 180 (3), 148 (10), 120 (14), 108 (11), 107 (13),
105 (12), 93 (31), 92 (20), 80 (49), 77 (79), 65 (64), 39 (100); anal.
C 59.61; H 4.95; N 6.47%, calcd for C11H11NO4, C 59.73; H 5.01; N
6.33%.
2,3-Dimethoxy-4,5-methylenedioxyphenylacetonitrile (10e): 14.4
1
g, 65% yield; beige solid; mp 60−61 °C; H NMR (CDCl3) δ 6.52
(1H, s, ArH-6), 5.94 (2H, s, OCH2O), 4.04 (3H, s, OCH3), 3.88 (3H,
s, OCH3), 3.62 (2H, s, CH2); EIMS m/z 221 [M]+ (54), 206 (100),
191 (13), 179 (12), 105 (21), 93 (16), 92 (13), 80 (27), 77 (68), 65
(30), 53 (54); anal. C 59.58; H 4.96; N 6.48%, calcd for C11H11NO4,
C 59.73; H 5.01; N 6.33%.
3,4-Ethylenedioxy-5-methoxybenzoic Acid Methyl Ester (5c). A
mixture of 4c (1g, 4.76 mmol) and SOCl2 (0.85 g, 7.12 mmol) in 15
mL of MeOH was refluxed for 1 h and concentrated in vacuo to yield
methyl ester 5c (0.96 g, 90% yield (95% purity)) as an off-white solid:
General Procedure for the Synthesis of α-Cyanoketones (11,
13). A 60% suspension of NaH (25 mmol) in mineral oil was added to
a solution of phenylacetonitrile (10.0 mmol) in anhydrous THF (20
mL) at room temperature under an argon atmosphere. The resulting
mixture was stirred for 30 min, and a solution of methyl benzoate (10
mmol) in anhydrous THF (20 mL) was added dropwise during 5 min.
The reaction mixture was refluxed for 5−6 h, cooled, quenched with
ice water (200 mL), acidified with 3 N HCl, and extracted with
CH2Cl2 (3 × 20 mL). The organic layers were combined, washed with
water, 10% NaHCO3 and water, dried over anhydrous Na2SO4, and
concentrated in vacuo to obtain the crude product. The resulting α-
cyanoketones were purified by column chromatography (SiO2,
EtOAc−hexanes).
1
mp 106−108 °C (MeOH); H NMR (DMSO-d6) δ 7.11 (1H, d, J =
1.9 Hz, ArH), 7.09 (1H, d, J = 1.9 Hz, ArH), 4.26−4.31 (4H, octet,
OCH2CH2O), 3.82 (3H, s, COOCH3), 3.81 (3H, s, OCH3); EIMS m/
z 224 [M]+ 224; anal. C 58.89; H 5.28%, calcd for C11H12O5, C 58.93;
H 5.39%.
3-Methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxybenzyl Alcohol (8b). This was
synthesized according to a literature procedure:28 mp 64−66 °C
(lit.28 mp 64−66 °C).
2,5-Dimethoxy-3,4-methylenedioxybenzyl Alcohol (8d). This was
synthesized according to a literature procedure:29 mp 88 °C (lit.29 mp
85 °C).
2,3-Dimethoxy-4,5-methylenedioxybenzyl Alcohol (8e). A sus-
pension of aldehyde 3e (10.0 g, 47.6 mmol) in MeOH (150.0 mL) was
stirred for 10 min, and NaBH4 (2.05 g, 54.7 mmol) was added in small
portions over 30 min at room temperature. After stirring for 6−7 h,
the pH was adjusted to 5 with glacial CH3COOH. Solvent was
removed in vacuo followed by the addition of water. The mixture was
filtered, washed with H2O (2 × 100 mL), and dried to afford the title
compound in 88.4% yield (8.75 g, 41.2 mmol) as colorless crystals: mp
51−53 °C; 1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 500 MHz) δ 6.60 (1H, s, H-6), 5.95
(2H, s, OCH2O), 4.98 (1H, t, J = 5.3 Hz, OH), 4.40 (2H, d, J = 5.03
Hz, CH2), 3.91 (3H, s, OCH3), 3.6 (3H, s, OCH3); EIMS m/z 212
[M]+ (87), 197 (15), 195 (21), 139 (96), 137 (50), 111 (52), 109
(33), 107 (23), 96 (23), 95 (24), 93 (34), 83 (24), 81 (29), 79 (35),
77 (29), 69 (24), 68 (50), 67 (21), 66 (28), 65 (51), 55 (51), 53 (89),
52 (21), 51 (42), 50 (28), 40 (25), 39 (100), 38 (28).; anal. C 56.71;
H 5.78%, calcd for C10H12O5, C 56.60; H 5.70%.
General Procedure for the Synthesis of Polyalkoxybenzyl
Chlorides (9b,d,e). Neat SOCl2 (8 mL, 110 mmol) was added
dropwise to a stirred solution of polyalkoxybenzyl alcohol (43.3
mmol) in dry benzene (70 mL) at room temperature. The resulting
mixture was warmed to 45−50 °C, stirred for 40 min, and
concentrated in vacuo. Traces of SO2Cl2 were removed by co-
evaporation of the residue with benzene (50 mL) in vacuo. The
resulting crude benzyl chloride (94−100% yield) was used for
synthesis of the corresponding nitriles without further purification.
General Procedure for the Synthesis of Polyalkoxyphenyla-
cetonitriles (10b,d,e). A solution of crude chloride (above, 0.1 mol)
in dry acetonitrile (120 mL) was treated with dibenzo-18-crown-6 (0.5
g, 1.4 mmol) followed by addition of dried KCN (15 g, 0.23 mol). The
reaction mixture was stirred for 10 h at 50 °C, concentrated in vacuo,
and treated with water (200 mL). The residue was filtered and
recrystallized from EtOH to yield the corresponding nitrile. 3,4,5-
Trimethoxyphenylacetonitrile (10a) was purchased from Acros.
3-Methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxyphenylacetonitrile (10b): 16.3 g,
85% yield; light brown solid; mp 88−90 °C (lit.30 mp 89−90 °C); 1H
NMR (DMSO-d6, 500 MHz) δ 6.65 (1H, d, J = 1.5 Hz, H-4), 6.60
(1H, d, J = 1.5 Hz, ArH-6), 6.00 (2H, s, OCH2O), 3.90 (2H, s, CH2),
3.83 (3H, s, OCH3); EIMS m/z 191 [M]+ (100), 190 (43), 176 (11),
160 (5), 146 (23), 133 (16), 90 (51), 78 (19), 77 (17), 64 (20), 63
2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-3-oxo-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-
propanenitrile (11a): 0.5 g, 65% yield; off-white solid; mp 94−96 °C
(lit.31 mp 90−92 °C); 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.35 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-
2′,6′), 7.18 (2H, s, H-2″,6″), 6.93 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-3′,5′), 5.47
(1H, s, HC−CN), 3.91 (3H, s, OCH3-4′), 3.86 (6H, s, 2 × OCH3-
3″,5″), 3.80 (3H, s, OCH3-4″) (Figure S1, Supporting Information);
EIMS m/z 341 [M]+ (3), 196 (31), 195 (100), 152 (22), 147 (11),
146 (26), 137 (19), 122 (16), 109 (19), 107 (12), 92 (12), 91 (13), 81
(26), 77 (34), 76 (16), 66 (27); anal. C 66.98; H 5.67; N 3.97%, calcd
for C19H19NO5, C 66.85; H 5.61; N 4.10%.
2 - ( 4 - M e t h o x y p h e n y l ) - 3 - o x o - 3 - ( 3 - m e t h o x y - 4 , 5 -
methylenedioxyphenyl)propanenitrile (11b): 2.4 g, 59% yield; oil; 1H
NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.33 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-2′,6′), 7.25 (1H, s, 1H, H-
4″), 7.08 (1H, s, H-6″), 6.91 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-3′,5′), 6.06 (2H, s,
OCH2O), 5.43 (1H, s, HC−CN), 3.91 (3H, s, OCH3-4′), 3.79 (3H, s,
OCH3-3″) (Figure S2, Supporting Information); EIMS m/z 325 [M]+
(3), 180 (6), 179 (100), 151 (42), 146 (25), 103 (13), 95 (65), 93
(18), 91 (14), 78 (26), 77 (13), 65 (18), 63 (15); anal. C 66.52; H
4.69; N 4.27%, calcd for C18H15NO5, C 66.46; H 4.65; N 4.31%.
2 - ( 4 - M e t h o x y p h e n y l ) - 3 - o x o - 3 - ( 3 - m e t h o x y - 4 , 5 -
1
ethylenedioxyphenyl)propanenitrile (11c): 0.41 g, 65% yield, oil; H
NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.34 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-2′,6′), 7.15 (1H, d, J = 2.0
Hz, H-5″), 7.13 (1H, d, J = 2.0 Hz, H-7″), 6.91 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-
3′,5′), 5.47 (1H, s, HC−CN), 4.37 (2H, m, OCH2), 4.27 (2H, m,
OCH2), 3.89 (3H, s, OCH3-4′), 3.79 (3H, s, OCH3-3″) (Figure S3,
Supporting Information); EIMS m/z 339 [M]+ (1), 194 (20), 193
(100), 165 (18), 146 (35), 137 (12), 109 (11), 107 (19), 103 (11), 91
(11), 66 (33); anal. C 67.40; H 5.09; N 4.26%, calcd for C19H17NO5,
C 67.25; H 5.05; N 4.13%.
2-(4-Methoxyphenyl)-3-oxo-3-(2,5-dimethoxy-3,4-
methylenedioxyphenyl)propanenitrile (11d): 1.82 g, 61% yield; oil;
1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 7.27 (2H, d, J = 8.8 Hz, H-2′,6′), 6.99 (1H, s, H-
6″), 6.88 (2H, d, J = 8.8 Hz, H-3′,5′), 6.06 and 6.08 (2H, 2s, OCH2O),
5.86 (1H, s, HC−CN), 4.06 (3H, s, OCH3-4′), 3.84 (3H, s, OCH3-
2″), 3.79 (3H, s, OCH3-5″) (Figure S4, Supporting Information);
EIMS m/z 355 [M]+ (1), 210 (22), 209 (100), 194 (23), 166 (12),
146 (21), 136 (8), 121 (9), 106 (13), 103 (9), 95 (15), 93 (17), 91
(11), 78 (13), 77 (13), 65 (23); anal. C 64.33; H 4.87; N 3.83%, calcd
for C19H17NO6, C 64.22; H 4.82; N 3.94%.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/np400310m | J. Nat. Prod. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX