The organocatalytic intramolecular aza-Michael reaction gives access to enantiomerically enriched nitrogen-containing heterocycles in a very simple manner. Enals, enones, conjugated esters and nitro olefins have been employed as Michael acceptors, while moderate nitrogen nucleophiles such as sulphonamides, carbamates and amides have been shown to be appropriate Michael donors in this type of reaction. Additionally, the process has been performed under both covalent and non-covalent catalysis, with diaryl prolinols, imidazolidinones, thioureas and chiral binol phosphoric acids being the most frequently used catalysts. The level of efficiency reached with this protocol is demonstrated by the implementation of numerous tandem processes, as well as the total synthesis of several natural products.
The preparation of N-methylpyrazoles is usually accomplished through reaction of a suitable 1,3-diketone with methylhydrazine in ethanol as the solvent. This strategy, however, leads to the formation of regioisomeric mixtures of N-methylpyrazoles, which sometimes are difficult to separate. We have determined that the use of fluorinated alcohols such as 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) as solvents dramatically increases the regioselectivity in the pyrazole formation, and we have used this modification in a straightforward synthesis of fluorinated analogs of Tebufenpyrad with acaricide activity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.