Aminomethylation/hydrogenolysis as an alternative to direct methylation of metalated isoquinolines – a novel total synthesis of the alkaloid 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-1-methylisoquinoline

• Benedikt C. Melzer,
• Jan G. Felber and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2018, 14, 130–134, doi:10.3762/bjoc.14.8

• Benedikt C. Melzer Jan G. Felber Franz Bracher Department of Pharmacy – Center for Drug Research, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Butenandtstr. 5–13, D-81377 Munich, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.14.8 Abstract Highly-substituted isoquinolines are important scaffolds in syntheses of natural

• products and in drug development and hence, effective synthetic approaches are required. Here we present a novel method for the introduction of a methyl group at C1 of isoquinolines. This is exemplified by a new total synthesis of the alkaloid 7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-1-methylisoquinoline. Direct metalation of

• methods have been published over the decades for the construction of highly substituted isoquinolines [4]. Alternatively, subsequent functionalization of isoquinolines is feasible, e.g., via Pd-catalyzed C–H functionalization [5] or regioselective direct ring metalation (at C1) [6][7][8]. General aspects

Accessing simply-substituted 4-hydroxytetrahydroisoquinolines via Pomeranz–Fritsch–Bobbitt reaction with non-activated and moderately-activated systems

• Marco Mottinelli,
• Mathew P. Leese and
• Barry V. L. Potter

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1871–1878, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.182

• for related activities (Figure 1). Isoquinolines can be obtained from benzaldehyde and 2,2-diethoxyethylamine under Pomeranz–Fritsch (PF) reaction conditions (Scheme 1), as first reported in 1893 [6][7]. A modification of the classic reaction reported by Bobbitt allows access to THIQ analogues (Scheme

A novel approach to oxoisoaporphine alkaloids via regioselective metalation of alkoxy isoquinolines

• Benedikt C. Melzer and
• Franz Bracher

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1564–1571, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.156

• -substituted isoquinolines at C-1, followed by reaction with iodine. Subsequent Suzuki cross-coupling of the resulting 1-iodoisoquinolines to methyl 2-(isoquinolin-1-yl)benzoates and intramolecular acylation of the corresponding carboxylic acids with Eaton’s reagent afforded five alkaloids of the

• cytotoxicity against the HL-60 tumor cell line. Keywords: directed ortho/remote metalation; Eaton’s reagent; isoquinolines; Suzuki cross-coupling; Introduction Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids represent a very large group of plant secondary metabolites, which includes about 2,500 known structures. Besides simple

• ) [17], which start with the synthesis of 1-(2-bromoaryl)isoquinolines using Bischler–Napieralski chemistry, followed by tedious replacement of the bromine substituent by cyanide (for modern variants, see ref. [18][19]), and subsequent conversion to a carboxylate and Friedel–Crafts-type cyclization

A practical and efficient approach to imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-fused isoquinolines through the post-GBB transformation strategy

• Taofeng Shao,
• Zhiming Gong,
• Tianyi Su,
• Wei Hao and
• Chao Che

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 817–824, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.82

• conditions and a broad substrate scope, allowing for the rapid construction of structurally complex and diverse heterocycles in moderate to good yields. Keywords: Groebke–Blackburn–Bienaymé reaction; imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines; isoquinolines; multicomponent reaction; Ugi reaction; Introduction Imidazo[1,2-a

• hand, we then set out to explore the reaction scope for the library generation of structurally diverse imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-fused isoquinolines and the results are collected in Table 2. Initially, several GBB adducts 4 were synthesized through GBB reaction of amidines 1, substituted 2

• component had a negative effect on the GBB reaction efficiency due to steric hindrance (Table 2, entries 6, 11, 13 and 17). Then, the newly generated GBB adducts 4b–s were exposed to the established cyclization conditions to deliver the corresponding imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-fused isoquinolines 6b–s in

New approaches to organocatalysis based on C–H and C–X bonding for electrophilic substrate activation

• Pavel Nagorny and
• Zhankui Sun

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2834–2848, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.283

• the titration of L4 with TBAC [37]. Catalysts L3 and L4 were successfully applied to the asymmetric dearomatization of electron-deficient N-heteroarenes (Scheme 3). Various nitrogen-containing heterocycles such as pyridines [36], quinolines [38], isoquinolines [38], etc. were reacted with TrocCl to

Multicomponent reactions: A simple and efficient route to heterocyclic phosphonates

• Mohammad Haji

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1269–1301, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.121

• compound 244 which can be hydrolyzed to give quinoline-2-carboxylic acid (245) (Scheme 50) [87]. This reaction can also be applied to isoquinolines and some pyridines. Additionally, a wide range of activating groups such as chloroformates, acetylenic esters, R3SiOTf, Tf2O and various nucleophiles can be

• utilized in this reaction. For example, the one-pot reaction of isoquinoline (246) with KCN and chlorophosphates or chlorothiophosphates 247 has been described by Spatz and Popp. The corresponding N-phosphorylated isoquinolines 248 were obtained in 21–85% yields in CH2Cl2 at room temperature (Scheme 51

• ) [88]. Further, 1-acyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline-2-phosphonates 251 and 2-acyl-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline-1-phosphonates 252 have been prepared via the one-pot reaction of quinoline (242) or isoquinolines 249 with acyl chlorides 250 and trimethyl phosphite in the presence of NaI in 22–94% yields depending on

Enantioselective additions of copper acetylides to cyclic iminium and oxocarbenium ions

• Jixin Liu,
• Srimoyee Dasgupta and
• Mary P. Watson

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2696–2706, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.290

• with pyridines. In 2011, Maruoka and co-workers investigated the use of isoquinolinium ions protected as azomethine imines [30]. The use of a CuOAc/Ph-Pybox catalyst enables the addition of a wide variety of alkynes to form isoquinolines with tertiary stereocenters in high yields and ee’s (Scheme 8A

• reaction of N-aryltetrahydroisoquinolines and alkynes can be accomplished under high-speed ball-milling conditions with copper balls (Scheme 9) [31]. Under these solvent-free reaction conditions, isoquinolines 28 were formed more quickly than the in-solvent reactions previously reported, but the ee’s are

• intermediates have been achieved. α-Chiral piperidines, quinolines, isoquinolines, and benzopyrans are accessible via these reactions. The utility of these alkyne-substituted products has been demonstrated via elaboration to biologically active natural products. As evidenced by the most recent reports

Synthesis of 2-trifluoromethylpyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines via silver triflate-catalyzed or electrophile-mediated one-pot tandem reaction

• Xiaoli Zhou,
• Meiling Liu,
• Puying Luo,
• Yingjun Lai,
• Tangtao Yang and
• Qiuping Ding

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2286–2292, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.238

• electrophile-mediated conditions is described. Various trifluoromethylated pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines were afforded in moderate to excellent yield by this developed method. Keywords: [3 + 2] cycloaddition; electrophile; N’-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide; silver triflate; tandem; Introduction Isoquinolines

• substituents are suitable partners in this process and the corresponding pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines 3e–h were obtained in good yields. Fortunately, alkyl-substituted N’-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide was demonstrated to be good partner in the transformation. For instance, N’-(2-alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazide

• -alkynylbenzylidene)hydrazides 1, electrophiles (I2 or ICl), and ethyl 4,4,4-trifluorobut-2-ynoate (2) were carried out under mild conditions. The results are summarized in Table 3. For all cases, this tandem reaction worked well leading to the corresponding iodinated fluorine-containing pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines

Visible-light photoredox catalyzed synthesis of pyrroloisoquinolines via organocatalytic oxidation/[3 + 2] cycloaddition/oxidative aromatization reaction cascade with Rose Bengal

• Carlos Vila,
• Jonathan Lau and
• Magnus Rueping

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1233–1238, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.122

• Bengal; visible-light; Introduction Pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines constitute the core structure of the natural products family lamellarin alkaloids (Figure 1) [1][2][3][4]. These alkaloids display numerous biological activities such as inhibitor of human topoisomerase I by lamellarin D [5] or inhibition

• of HIV integrase by lamellarin α-20-sulfate [6][7]. Moreover lamellarin I and lamellarin K also showed potential antitumor activities [8][9]. Due to their potential biological activities, the synthesis of pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines has become a very interesting, important and attractive goal in

• ]isoquinolines. Wang and co-workers described a copper catalyzed oxidation/[3 + 2] cycloaddition/aromatization cascade [28]. Also, Xiao disclosed a very elegant oxidation/[3 + 2] cycloaddition/aromatization cascade catalyzed by [Ru(bpy)3]3+ under irradiation with visible light [29]. In this context, very

On the mechanism of photocatalytic reactions with eosin Y

• Michal Majek,
• Fabiana Filace and
• Axel Jacobi von Wangelin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 981–989, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.97

• photocatalysts [3][4][5][6][7][8], whereas much less attention has been directed at eosin Y-catalyzed reactions. The reductive quenching pathway of eosin Y, which operates in the photooxidation of isoquinolines [9], has been studied in a single report [22]. To the best of our knowledge, related data have not

Copper–phenanthroline catalysts for regioselective synthesis of pyrrolo[3′,4′:3,4]pyrrolo[1,2-a]furoquinolines/phenanthrolines and of pyrrolo[1,2-a]phenanthrolines under mild conditions

• Rupankar Paira,
• Tarique Anwar,
• Maitreyee Banerjee,
• Yogesh P. Bharitkar,
• Shyamal Mondal,
• Sandip Kundu,
• Abhijit Hazra,
• Prakas R. Maulik and
• Nirup B. Mondal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 692–700, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.62

• , antifungal, antitumor and anti-HIV candidates [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. We have also been pursuing the cycloaddition methodology for several years and established some synthetic routes towards indolizines, pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinolines/isoquinolines, oxazadicyclopenta[a,h]naphthalenes

Silver and gold-catalyzed multicomponent reactions

• Giorgio Abbiati and
• Elisabetta Rossi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 481–513, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.46

• -pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines 48 under silver triflate catalysis (Scheme 26). The synthesis of both 1,2-dihydroquinolines 47 and 48 takes advantage from the easy formation of the isoquinolinium-2-ylamide 43 under silver triflate catalysis. This intermediate can be trapped by other nucleophilic reagents

• copper(II) chloride under air (Scheme 27) [69]. However, with respect to the reaction reported in Scheme 26, also affording isoquinolines of general formula 48, a diverse arrangement of substituents can be achieved. The proposed reaction mechanism takes into account the recent applications of an oxygen

• , which by loss of the tosyl group and base-catalyzed aromatization yields the H-pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinoline 48. Finally, a new series of fully aromatic pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines 53, bearing an amino group in position 2 can be synthesized under silver triflate catalysis by the usual three-component

AgOTf-catalyzed one-pot reactions of 2-alkynylbenzaldoximes with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds

• Qiuping Ding,
• Dan Wang,
• Puying Luo,
• Meiling Liu,
• Shouzhi Pu and
• Liyun Zhou

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 1949–1956, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.231

• reported mild and efficient methodologies to synthesize substituted isoquinolines. Despite the aforementioned versatile and efficient methods for the direct construction of isoquinolines, the selective functionalization of isoquinoline species is still a challenging task. Recently, there has been some

• progress in this aspect. Wu and co-workers described an efficient three-component reaction of a 2-alkynylbenzaldoxime and an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compound with bromine or iodine monochloride under mild conditions, which generates the 1-alkylated isoquinolines in good to excellent yields [36]. Wu and co

• regioselective alkylation of isoquinoline N-oxide and its derivatives with sulfoxides for the synthesis of 1-alkylated isoquinolines [40]. We also reported the synthesis of 1-arylated 1,3-disubstituted isoquinoline N-oxides in a one-pot reaction characterized by a Ag-catalyzed intramolecular addition cyclization

Interplay of ortho- with spiro-cyclisation during iminyl radical closures onto arenes and heteroarenes

• Roy T. McBurney and
• John C. Walton

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 1083–1092, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.120

• , benzofuro- or benzothieno-isoquinolines, formed at higher temperatures. Estimates by steady-state kinetic EPR established that iminyl radical cyclisations onto aromatics took place about an order of magnitude more slowly than prototypical C-centred radicals. The cyclisation energetics were investigated by

A one-pot catalyst-free synthesis of functionalized pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxaline derivatives from benzene-1,2-diamine, acetylenedicarboxylates and ethyl bromopyruvate

• Mohammad Piltan,
• Loghman Moradi,
• Golaleh Abasi and
• Seyed Amir Zarei

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 510–515, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.55

• research area. The syntheses of pyrrolo[1,2- a]isoquinolines have previously been reported by us [28]. In this paper, we describe a simple synthesis of functionalized pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxaline and pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine derivatives in the absence of catalysts. Results and Discussion The reaction of 1,2

Zanthoxoaporphines A–C: Three new larvicidal dibenzo[de,g]quinolin-7-one alkaloids from Zanthoxylum paracanthum (Rutaceae)

• Fidelis N. Samita,
• Louis P. Sandjo,
• Isaiah O. Ndiege,
• Ahmed Hassanali and
• Wilber Lwande

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 447–452, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.47

• , namely isoquinolines represented by benzophenanthridines [8], oxoaporphines [9], aporphines [10] and benzylisoquinoline [11]; and quinolines represented by quinolones [12] and furoquinolines [10]. Others include carbazoles [13], pyrido-indoles [12] and quinazolines [14]. Arylethanamides and amines have

Inter- and intramolecular enantioselective carbolithiation reactions

• Asier Gómez-SanJuan,
• Nuria Sotomayor and
• Esther Lete

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 313–322, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.36

• synthesis of chiral aromatics and heteroaromatics, such as isoquinolines or benzofurans, though lower yields and ee were obtained [15]. On the other hand, α-aryl O-(α-arylalkenyl) carbamates (α-carbamoyloxy-substituted styrenes) such as 14 undergo facile intermolecular carbolithiation reactions, via

Dipyrazolo[1,5-a:4',3'-c]pyridines – a new heterocyclic system accessed via multicomponent reaction

• Wolfgang Holzer,
• Gytė Vilkauskaitė,
• Eglė Arbačiauskienė and
• Algirdas Šačkus

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 2223–2229, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.251

• -a]isoquinolines [12], and thieno[2,3-c]pyrazoles [13]. In view of these facts as well as due to our continuing interest in the exploration of useful but unused chemical space, which has become a paradigm of contemporary medicinal chemistry [14], we have devoted some effort to the construction of

• synthesis of H-pyrazolo[5,1-a]isoquinolines by a one-pot tandem reaction of 2-alkynylbenzaldehydes, sulfonohydrazide, and ketones or aldehydes [27]. In our case, application of pyrazolecarbaldehydes 1 should enable access to the desired dipyrazolo[1,5-a:4',3'-c]pyridines 5. In order to test the reaction

Engineering of indole-based tethered biheterocyclic alkaloid meridianin into β-carboline-derived tetracyclic polyheterocycles via amino functionalization/6-endo cationic π-cyclization

• Piyush K. Agarwal,
• Meena D. Dathi,
• Mohammad Saifuddin and
• Bijoy Kundu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2012, 8, 1901–1908, doi:10.3762/bjoc.8.220

• pyrimido[5,4-c]isoquinolines 20a–l (Table 3) in 79–92% isolated yields. Conclusion In conclusion, we have developed a mild and efficient protocol for the synthesis of pyrimido[5,4-c]isoquinolones and pyrimido-β-carbolines using a modified Pictet–Spengler strategy. Our method offers a unique opportunity to

• reaction involving substrates 18. Reagents and conditions: (i) R-CHO, 2% triflic acid in DMF, 120 °C, 16 h. Optimization of the reaction conditions for conversion of substrate 2a to 9a. Pyrimido-β-carbolines based on 9. Pyrimido[5,4-c]isoquinolines based on 20. Supporting Information Supporting

Recent advances in the gold-catalyzed additions to C–C multiple bonds

• He Huang,
• Yu Zhou and
• Hong Liu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 897–936, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.103

•  34). Yamamoto’s group reported that intramolecular cyclization of 2-alkynylbenzyl azides 187 in the presence of AuCl3 and AgSbF6 in THF under pressure at 100 °C gives the corresponding isoquinolines 188 in good yields [85]. 4 Gold-catalyzed C–C bond formations The formation of carbon–carbon bonds by