The 1,3-diaza Claisen rearrangement was initially discovered by the Madalengoitia group in the early 2000s. Tertiary, allylic, amines nucleophilically add to the carbon of a heterocumulene (isocyanate, isothiocyanate, or carbodiimide) to generate a zwitterion which then undergoes [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. The rearrangements conducted with a carbodiimide generate guanidine-containing skeletons. The guanidine functional group is found in many biologically active products, making it a worthwhile chemical target. To this end, strained, tertiary, allylic, amine 2-benzyl-2-azabicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene reacts with in-situ generated carbodiimides in the 1,3-diaza-Claisen rearrangement to afford structurally interesting bicyclic guanidines. Use of more electron deficient carbodiimides makes these rearrangements more facile; however, there are not sufficient methods for the synthesis of highly electron deficient carbodiimides. The synthesis of such carbodiimides was explored through new synthetic methodologies for the dehydration of ureas and desulfurization of isothioureas and the carbodiimides were used in a series of intermolecular rearrangements with the strained, tertiary, allylic, amine. The new methodologies for the synthesis of electron deficient carbodiimides were then applied to a series of intramolecular substrates, further expanding the 1,3-diaza Claisen rearrangement methodologies. To date series of bicyclic, tricyclic, and monocyclic guanidines of varying structures have been synthesized. The synthetic efforts towards these products are herein described.

The following thesis outlines work carried out during the past three years for the discovery and investigation of catalytic methodologies towards the synthesis and modification of heterocycles, namely cyclic carbamates, carbonates and their sulfur analogues. Chapter 1 summarises the current catalytic methods reported in the literature towards the synthesis and modification of functionalized 2-oxazolidinones. This introduction highlights the diverse range of methods and catalysts that have been developed and their scope and limitations. In addition the review highlights the importance of these structural motifs and suggests areas in which the following research fulfills unmet needs. Chapter 2 reports the discovery and development of a one-pot two-step copper-catalysed methodology towards the synthesis of N-aryl oxazolidinones from amino alcohol carbamates. The scope of both the N-aryl substituent as well as oxazolidinone functionalization is presented in addition to preliminary investigations into the mechanisms of both reactions. Chapter 3 presents the application of the previously reported one-pot process towards the synthesis of a number of medicinally active molecules and blockbuster pharmaceuticals. The one-pot two-step copper-catalysed reaction was utilized to synthesise a common intermediate in the synthesis of a number of oxazolidinone-based pharmaceuticals. The complete syntheses of Toloxatone, Linezolid, Tedizolid and Rivaroxaban are reported. Chapter 4 reports the modification of N-aryl oxazolidinones towards a diverse library of N-aryl oxazolidinethiones. The reactivity of these structures, in addition to N-alkyl oxazolidinethiones, towards transition metal catalysis was investigated and revealed a ruthenium catalysed O- to S-alkyl migration to afford structurally diverse thiazolidinones. Investigations into the substrate scope and mechanism were also carried out, suggesting a pseudo-reversible radical pathway drawing mechanistic parallels to the classic Barton-McCombie reaction. Chapter 5 details further development of the pseudo-reversible radical pathway for the regioselective rearrangement of dioxolane-2-thiones using Pd(PPh3)4 as a catalyst. The scope of the reaction is reported for the formation of highly selective, highly substituted sulfur-rearrangement products.

Hydrogen bonding interactions have been applied to the synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines and the generation of helical chirality. A stereospecific synthesis of vicinal diamines was developed by using the diaza-Cope rearrangement reaction driven by resonance-assisted hydrogen bonds (RAHBs). This process for making a wide variety of chiral diamines requires only a single starting chiral diamine, 1,2-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1,2-diaminoethane (HPEN) and aldehydes. Experimental and computational studies reveal that this process provides one of the simplest and most versatile approaches to preparing chiral vicinal diamines including not only C2 symmetric diaryl and dialkyl diamines but also unsymmetrical alkyl-aryl and aryl-aryl diamines with excellent yields and enantiopurities. Weak forces affecting kinetics and thermodynamics of the diaza-Cope rearrangement were systematically studied by combining experimental and computational approaches. These forces include hydrogen bonding effects, electronic effects, steric effects, and oxyanion effects. As an example of tuning diamine catalysts, a vicinal diamine-catalyzed synthesis of warfarin is described. Detailed mechanistic studies lead to a new mechanism involving diimine intermediates. Decreasing the NCCN dihedral angle by varying the diamine structure results in an increase of the enantioselectivity up to 92% ee. Hydrogen bonds have been used to generate helical chirality in a highly stereospecific manner with a single amino acid and 2,2′-dihydroxybenzophenone. DFT computational and experimental data including circular dichroism (CD), X-ray crystallography and 1H NMR data provide insight into the origin of the stereospecificity. A signalling dizao group can be attached to the receptor for general sensing of amino acid enantiopurity.

Hydrogen bonding interactions have been applied to the synthesis of chiral vicinal diamines and the generation of helical chirality. A stereospecific synthesis of vicinal diamines was developed by using the diaza-Cope rearrangement reaction driven by resonance-assisted hydrogen bonds (RAHBs). This process for making a wide variety of chiral diamines requires only a single starting chiral diamine, 1,2-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1,2-diaminoethane (HPEN) and aldehydes. Experimental and computational studies reveal that this process provides one of the simplest and most versatile approaches to preparing chiral vicinal diamines including not only C2 symmetric diaryl and dialkyl diamines but also unsymmetrical alkyl-aryl and aryl-aryl diamines with excellent yields and enantiopurities. Weak forces affecting kinetics and thermodynamics of the diaza-Cope rearrangement were systematically studied by combining experimental and computational approaches. These forces include hydrogen bonding effects, electronic effects, steric effects, and oxyanion effects. As an example of tuning diamine catalysts, a vicinal diamine-catalyzed synthesis of warfarin is described. Detailed mechanistic studies lead to a new mechanism involving diimine intermediates. Decreasing the NCCN dihedral angle by varying the diamine structure results in an increase of the enantioselectivity up to 92% ee. Hydrogen bonds have been used to generate helical chirality in a highly stereospecific manner with a single amino acid and 2,2′-dihydroxybenzophenone. DFT computational and experimental data including circular dichroism (CD), X-ray crystallography and 1H NMR data provide insight into the origin of the stereospecificity. A signalling dizao group can be attached to the receptor for general sensing of amino acid enantiopurity.

Marine natural products biogenetically derived from the pyrrole-imidazole oroidin (i) display fascinating structural diversity and exhibit a wide range of significant biological activities. Hence, they have attracted great interest from the synthetic community leading to the development of new synthetic methodologies and providing an admirable set of strategies and tactics to assemble the most complex representatives of this class of alkaloids. In this work, a synthesis of the potent antitumor dibromophakellstatin (ii) was devised featuring a highly diastereoselective acylation of the C2-symmetric prolyl-prolyl anhydride (iii), an intramolecular Mitsunobu reaction installing the C6 aminal and a tandem Hofmann rearrangement/cyclization that delivered the targeted imidazolidinone of the phakellstatins. Both enantiomers of phakellstatin were prepared starting from either D- or L- proline. Building on several findings made in the course of the synthesis of phakellstatin, namely the differential reactivity of the aminal centers (C6 and C9) and the formation of an oxidized phakellstatin, a second generation approach towards these deceitfully simple alkaloids was initiated. The second generation synthetic strategy towards phakellstatin (iv) and phakellin (v) utilizes a novel variation of Du Bois' C-H insertion involving a urea or a guanidine. This approach appears more amenable to the annulation of the phakellin substructure for the final stages of the synthesis of the potent immunosuppressant palau'amine (vi).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Chemistry. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-90). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71609.

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Verdazyl radicals, discovered in 1963, are a family of exceptionally stable radicals defined by their 6-membered ring containing four nitrogen atoms. Verdazyl radicals are highly modular compounds with a large assortment of substitution patterns reported. Their stability and high degree of structural variability has been exploited in the fields of materials, inorganic, polymer and physical chemistry; however their deliberate use as starting materials towards organic synthesis had only been reported in recent years by the Georges lab. In 2008, the Georges group reported a disproportionation reaction that was observed to a occur with 6-oxoverdazyl radicals resulting in azomethine imines capable of undergoing 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. With this discovery, the door to using verdazyl radicals as substrates towards organic synthesis had been opened. Their utility in synthesis was soon discovered not to be limited to just the cycloadducts their azomethine imine derivatives could generate but also the increasing number of N-heterocycles that could be generated from these cycloadducts via unique rearrangement reactions, a major theme of this thesis. In addition, triphenyl verdazyl radicals, a distinct class of verdazyl radicals, has been shown to react with alkynes by direct radical addition and rearrangement to afford isoquinolines. As part of this thesis, a new synthetic methodology of generating 6-oxoverdazyl radicals is reported that does not rely on the use of phosgene or hydrazines. This new synthesis allows for the expansion of available alkyl substituents possible on N1 and N5 positions of 6-oxoverdazyl radicals, as well as, generation of unsymmetrical examples of 6-oxoverdazyl radicals with non-identical N1 and N5 alkyl substituents. Employing the new 6-oxoverdazyl radicals synthesized via this method, a study on the effects of different alkyl substituents on the disproportionation reaction of 6-oxoverdazyls was undertaken. Lastly, given the assortment of N-heterocyclic molecular scaffolds capable of being synthesised starting from verdazyl radicals as precursors, the applicability of verdazyl radicals in making a diversity oriented synthesis (DOS) based library was explored. In a group effort with other Georges lab members, a small library composed of various classes of verdazyl radical derived compounds was synthesized and non-specifically tested for cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma cell lines in collaboration with The Princess Margaret Hospital. One example was shown to effectively kill cancer cells in both these lines in 250 μM concentration pointing out the potential of using verdazyl radical based chemistry in drug discovery.

No description available.

Verdazyl radicals, discovered in 1963, are a family of exceptionally stable radicals defined by their 6-membered ring containing four nitrogen atoms. Verdazyl radicals are highly modular compounds with a large assortment of substitution patterns reported. Their stability and high degree of structural variability has been exploited in the fields of materials, inorganic, polymer and physical chemistry; however their deliberate use as starting materials towards organic synthesis had only been reported in recent years by the Georges lab. In 2008, the Georges group reported a disproportionation reaction that was observed to a occur with 6-oxoverdazyl radicals resulting in azomethine imines capable of undergoing 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions. With this discovery, the door to using verdazyl radicals as substrates towards organic synthesis had been opened. Their utility in synthesis was soon discovered not to be limited to just the cycloadducts their azomethine imine derivatives could generate but also the increasing number of N-heterocycles that could be generated from these cycloadducts via unique rearrangement reactions, a major theme of this thesis. In addition, triphenyl verdazyl radicals, a distinct class of verdazyl radicals, has been shown to react with alkynes by direct radical addition and rearrangement to afford isoquinolines. As part of this thesis, a new synthetic methodology of generating 6-oxoverdazyl radicals is reported that does not rely on the use of phosgene or hydrazines. This new synthesis allows for the expansion of available alkyl substituents possible on N1 and N5 positions of 6-oxoverdazyl radicals, as well as, generation of unsymmetrical examples of 6-oxoverdazyl radicals with non-identical N1 and N5 alkyl substituents. Employing the new 6-oxoverdazyl radicals synthesized via this method, a study on the effects of different alkyl substituents on the disproportionation reaction of 6-oxoverdazyls was undertaken. Lastly, given the assortment of N-heterocyclic molecular scaffolds capable of being synthesised starting from verdazyl radicals as precursors, the applicability of verdazyl radicals in making a diversity oriented synthesis (DOS) based library was explored. In a group effort with other Georges lab members, a small library composed of various classes of verdazyl radical derived compounds was synthesized and non-specifically tested for cytotoxicity against acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma cell lines in collaboration with The Princess Margaret Hospital. One example was shown to effectively kill cancer cells in both these lines in 250 μM concentration pointing out the potential of using verdazyl radical based chemistry in drug discovery.