Rh-Catalyzed Aziridine Ring Expansions to Dehydropiperazines

Org Lett. 2020 May 1;22(9):3637-3641. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.0c01124. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Abstract

Piperazines are prevalent in pharmaceuticals and natural products, but traditional methods do not typically introduce stereochemical complexity into the ring. To expand access to these scaffolds, we report Rh-catalyzed ring expansions of aziridines and N-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles to furnish dehydropiperazines with excellent diastereocontrol. Productive ring expansion proceeds via a pseudo-1,4-sigmatropic rearrangement of an aziridinium ylide species. However, the structural features of the carbene precursor are important, as pyridotriazoles undergo competing cheletropic extrusion to furnish ketimines.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Retracted Publication

MeSH terms

  • Aziridines / chemistry*
  • Catalysis
  • Imines / chemistry*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nitriles / chemistry*
  • Piperazines / chemical synthesis*
  • Piperazines / chemistry
  • Rhodium / chemistry*
  • Triazoles / chemistry*

Substances

  • Aziridines
  • Imines
  • Nitriles
  • Piperazines
  • Triazoles
  • ketimine
  • Rhodium