A general and concise approach to thermally and hydrolytically stable alkyl 2,3-dihydroazete-2,3-di-/2,2,3-tricarboxylates from alkyl 2-bromoazirine-2-carboxylates or 4-bromo-5-alkoxyisoxazoles is reported. The synthesis involves the formation of 2-azabuta-1,3-diene by the reaction of rhodium carbenoid with isoxazole or azirine followed by cyclization/hydrodebromination cascade. The latter reaction is the first example of the selective hydrodehalogenation of a valence isomer under equilibrium conditions. In vitro cytotoxicity tests on THP-1 cell line revealed that the 2,3-dihydroazetes greatly differ in their ability to induce apoptosis and/or necrosis. To adequately describe and quantitatively assess these properties, the difference between the two areas under the curves of concentration dependency of apoptosis/necrosis induction within the concentration range was used. Trimethyl 4-phenyl-2,3-dihydroazete-2,2,3-tricarboxylate was found to display the maximal apoptotic potential coupled with high cytotoxic and minimal necrotic potential.

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4-Aminopyrrole-3-carboxylates and pyrazine-2-carboxylates were synthesized from 5-alkoxyisoxazoles and 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles by tuning the Rh(II) catalyst and the reaction conditions. The reaction in chloroform at 100 °C under Rh(OAc) catalysis provides 4-aminopyrrole-3-carboxylates in good yields. The use of Rh(Piv) in refluxing toluene results in the formation of 1,2-dihydropyrazine-2-carboxylates as the main products, which can be converted by a one-pot procedure to pyrazine-2-carboxylates by heating with catalytic amounts of TsOH. According to the NMR and DFT investigations of the reaction mechanism, pyrroles and dihydropyrazines are formed, respectively, via 1,5- and 1,6-cyclization of common (5Z)-1,4-diazahexa-1,3,5-triene intermediates. The influence of the nature of the catalyst on the product distribution is rationalized in terms of the Rh-catalyzed isomerization of a pyrrolin-2-ylium-3-aminide zwitterion, the primary product of 1,4-diazahexatriene 1,5-cyclization.

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Various 2-oxygen-substituted 2H-azirine-2-carboxylic acid derivatives were synthesized in high yields under mild conditions from readily available precursors, 2-halo-2H-azirines and OH-reagents having pKa values in the range of 3-10. This reaction is the first example of substitution at the azirine carbon atom for which an unusual SN2'-SN2' cascade mechanism was revealed.