Table 1. Optimization of Reaction Conditions for the Forma-
tion of N-Alkenyl Pyridone 7a
Scheme 1. Observation of β-Iodo N-Alkenyl Pyridone 7a
pyridones 6a,11,12 β-iodo N-alkenyl pyridone 7a was observed
as a minor byproduct (Scheme 1). The unique complement of
orthogonal functionality found in compound 7a makes it an
optimal intermediate for the synthesis of other, more complex
pyridone scaffolds.
LiI
temp time
yield
entry (equiv)
additives
none
(°C)
(h)
6a:7a 7a (%)a
1
2
3
4
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
100
26
ꢀ
traceb
0.1 equiv butanol 100
72 1.0:1.1 20%
72 0:1.0 17%
0.1 equiv butanol
0.1 equiv butanol
10 wt % SiO2
butanol (5 M)
10 wt % SiO2
butanol (3 M)
10 wt % SiO2
10 wt % H2O
80
80
72 1.0:1.8 21%
72 1.0:4.2 21%
72 1.4:1.0 13%
Analysis of β-Iodo N-Alkenyl Pyridone 7a. The struc-
ture of byproduct 7a was initially determined by X-ray
crystallography.13 Further evaluation using 1H NMR
spectroscopy (CDCl3) showed that 7a possesses an unusually
strong coupling between the hydroxyl proton and adjacent
diastereotopic methylene protons (J = 4.8, 7.4 Hz).14
This interaction suggests that proton exchange with adventi-
tious water is not occurring on the NMR time scale and
supports the presence of an intramolecular H-bond between
the hydroxyl proton and the carbonyl of the pyridone.
Support for this constrained conformation was obtained
by applying standard computational methods to a truncated
version of 7a.15 In this way, the H-bound conformation was
found to be stabilized by 2.2 kcal/mol relative to the non-
bound structure at the B3LYP/6-31þG(d,p)/LANL2DZ
level of theory. Additional evidence for an intramolecular
H-bond was provided by calculating the 1H NMR chemical
shifts for these same conformations using the gauge inde-
pendent atomic orbital method (GIAO) at the B3LYP/
cc-pVTZ and B3LYP/6-311þþG(d,p) levels of theory.15
Using this method, a strong correlation was observed
between the calculated and experimental values for the
hydroxyl proton in the H-bound conformation (<0.5 ppm
difference), while a difference of more than 3 ppm exists in
the conformer without the H-bond.
5
6
0.5
1.0
80
80
a Isolated yield. b 81% yield of alkyne 6a isolated.
halogen bond (2.99 A).16 Such halogen bonds have been
observed in many halogenated materials and, of late, have
been utilized as a means for supramolecular organization
and crystal engineering.17
˚
Optimization of Reaction Conditions. Compound 7a was
initially observed upon treatment of pyridine 5a with 0.5
equiv of LiI at 100 °C in the absence of solvent, conditions
designed to generate the formal [1,3]-migration product 6a
(Table 1, entry 1).11 As the rate of formal [1,3]-migration is
sensitive to substrate concentration and temperature, 1-bu-
tanol was added to the reaction and the temperature was
decreased (entries 2 and 3). 1-Butanol was utilized as early
studies had shown that it provided improved product ratios
and yields relative to other solvents (e.g., CHCl3 or CH3CN).
Introduction of silica gel to the reaction was found to
increase the overall conversion to both alkyne 6a and alkene
7a, but even after 72 h the yield of compound 7a remained
undesirably low (entries 4 and 5).18
We postulate that alkene 7a is formed when iodine,
generated upon oxidation of LiI under the reaction condi-
tions, activates alkyne 5a, giving unsymmetrical iodenium
ion 8 (Scheme 2). Ring opening by the proximal pyridine
nitrogen in a 5-exo manner would then yield pyridinium
ion 9 with the proper geometry around the newly formed
alkene. Similar pyridinium rings have been observed in
related systems.3b,19 Opening of the five-membered ring
by a nucleophile, originally assumed to be adventitious
Unlike the solution phase structure of N-alkenyl pyridone
7a, the solid state structure does not contain an intramo-
lecular hydrogen bond.13 Rather, when the molecules
interact in the solid state, a network of intermolecular
H-bonds is observed. This change in preference seems to
be directed by the formation of a short iodineꢀoxygen
(9) Representative examples: (a) Camptothecin alkaloids: Wall,
M. E.; Wani, M. C. J. Ethnopharmacol. 1996, 51, 239–253. (b) Lupin
alkaloids: Gray, D.; Gallagher, T. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2006, 45,
2419–2423. (c) Mappicine: Govindachari, T. R.; Ravindranath, K. R.;
Viswanathan, N. J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1 1974, 1215–1217.
(10) Representative examples: (a) Huffman, J. W.; Lu, J.; Hynd, G.;
Wiley, J. L.; Martin, B. R. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2001, 9, 2863–2870. (b)
Parlow, J. J.; South, M. S. Tetrahedron 2003, 59, 7695–7701.
(16) (a) Clark, T.; Hennemann, M.; Murray, J. S.; Politzer, P. J. Mol.
Model. 2007, 13, 291–296. (b) Politzer, P.; Lane, P.; Concha, M. C.; Ma,
Y.; Murray, J. S. J. Mol. Model 2007, 13, 305–311.
(17) (a) Metrangolo, P.; Neukirch, H.; Pilati, T.; Resnati, G. Acc.
Chem. Res. 2005, 38, 386–395. (b) Metrangolo, P.; Meyer, F.; Pilati, T.;
Resnati, G.; Terraneo, G. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 6114–6127.
(18) For further evaluation of solid supports, see Supporting
Information.
(11) Lanni, E. L.; Bosscher, M. A.; Ooms, B. D.; Shandro, C. A.;
Ellsworth, B. A.; Anderson, C. E. J. Org. Chem. 2008, 73, 6425–6428.
(12) Ryu, K.-A.; Anderson, C. E. Unpublished work.
˚
(13) Structure was solved at 0.74 A resolution. For full details of the
structure and solid-state packing, see Supporting Information.
(14) The hydroxyl resonance undergoes exchange when the 1H NMR
spectrum is recorded in methanol-d4. See Supporting Information.
(15) Frisch, M. J. et al. Gaussian 03, revision E.02; Gaussian, Inc.:
Wallingford CT, 2004. See Supporting Information for full computational details.
(19) Dugstad, H.; Undheim, K. Synth. Commun. 2008, 38, 1846–
1854.
Org. Lett., Vol. 13, No. 23, 2011
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