Tertiary N ethylamines were converted into amide derivatives by reactions with sulfur monochloride and DABCO at 0 °C. Depending on the nature of the substituents in the amine, the reaction can be accompanied by unexpected transformations.Reactions of N substituted diisopropylamines, espe cially commercial and inexpensive N ethyl N,N diiso propylamine (1a) (Hünig base), with sulfur monochloride have been intensively studied by us for more than 10 years. It was believed for a long period of time that such reac tions involve only the isopropyl groups of these com pounds, which allowed the synthesis of complex S,N con taining heterocycles, e.g., bis[1,2]dithiolo[1,4]thiazines, 1 bis[1,2]dithiolopyrroles, 2 and bis[1,2]dithiolylamines. 3 In our further investigations in this field, we found the con ditions for the reaction to stop at the formation of mono cyclic 1,2 dithioles. 4 Tests of these compounds for anti cancer activity at the US National Cancer Institute have revealed their appreciable effects against certain types of cancer. 5 Recently, 6 we have demonstrated that the pathway of the reaction of Hünig base 1a with S 2 Cl 2 and 1,4 di azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) dramatically changes at a lower temperature (0 °C) so that the transformation selectively occurs at the N ethyl group to give N,N di isopropyldichloroacetamide (2), the isopropyl groups re maining intact (Scheme 1).
Scheme 1The discovered transformation of the N ethyl group into a dichloroacetamido one has not been documented hitherto and opens up new possibilities for functionaliza tion of N alkyl groups in compounds that can be of inter est for fine organic synthesis.Here we studied reactions of tertiary amines contain ing ethyl or β substituted ethyl groups with sulfur mono chloride and the influence of the structures of the starting reagents on the reaction outcome.
Results and DiscussionA study of a reaction of N ethyl N,N diisopropylamine (1a) with S 2 Cl 2 and DABCO in chloroform (Scheme 2) and an analysis of the previous results (Table 1) showed that amide 2 is formed on keeping the reaction mix ture at 0 °C. At room temperature, tricyclic bis[1,2]di thiolo [1,4]thiazines 4 were the major reaction products, while at -20 °C, the reaction proceeded slowly to give dithiolothiazines 5 and 6 in low yields. The amounts of S 2 Cl 2 and DABCO have no substantial effect on the reac tion pathway; with an increase in their amounts, the yield of amide 2 decreased only slightly. Selected data on opti mization of the synthesis of amide 2 from the Hünig base are given in Table 1.
Scheme 2i. 1) S 2 Cl 2 , DABCO; 2) HCO 2 H. X = Y = O (4); X = S, Y = O (5); X = Y = S (6)The best conditions for the synthesis of amide 2 are as follows: chloroform as a solvent, 0 °C, 3 days, further