Organic Azides: an Exploding Diversity of a Unique Class of Compounds Stefan Bräse,* Carmen Gil, Kerstin Knepper, and Viktor Zimmermann
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Reviews S. Bräse et al. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200400657 Azides Organic Azides: An Exploding Diversity of a Unique Class of Compounds Stefan Bräse,* Carmen Gil, Kerstin Knepper, and Viktor Zimmermann Keywords: Dedicated to Professor Rolf Huisgen cycloadditions · heterocycles · nitrenes · rearrangements · Staudinger reaction Angewandte Chemie 5188 www.angewandte.org 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 5188 – 5240 Angewandte Organic Azides Chemie Since the discovery of organic azides by Peter Grieß more than From the Contents 140 years ago, numerous syntheses of these energy-rich molecules have been developed. In more recent times in particular, completely new 1. Introduction 5189 perspectives have been developed for their use in peptide chemistry, 2. Physicochemical Properties of combinatorial chemistry, and heterocyclic synthesis. Organic azides Organic Azides 5189 have assumed an important position at the interface between chemis- try, biology, medicine, and materials science. In this Review, the 3. Synthesis of Organic Azides 5191 fundamental characteristics of azide chemistry and current develop- 4. Reactions of Organic Azides 5202 ments are presented. The focus will be placed on cycloadditions (Huisgen reaction), aza ylide chemistry, and the synthesis of hetero- 5. Applications of Azides 5226 cycles. Further reactions such as the aza-Wittig reaction, the Sundberg rearrangement, the Staudinger ligation, the Boyer and Boyer–AubØ 6. Summary and Outlook 5227 rearrangements, the Curtius rearrangement, the Schmidt rearrange- ment, and the Hemetsberger rearrangement bear witness to the versatility of modern azide chemistry. 1. Introduction 2. Physicochemical Properties of Organic Azides Since the preparation of the first organic azide, phenyl The structural determination of azides originates from the azide, by Peter Grieß in 1864 these energy-rich and flexible initial postulation of Curtius and Hantzsch, who had sug- intermediates have enjoyed considerable interest.[1,2] A few gested a cyclic 1H-triazirine structure years later Curtius developed hydrogen azide and discovered [3,12,13] , that was, however, rapidly the rearrangement of acyl azides to the corresponding revised in favor of the linear structure. isocyanates (Curtius rearrangement).[3] The organic azides A basis for the chemical diversity received considerable attention in the 1950s and 1960s[4, 5] with of azides comes from the physico- new applications in the chemistry of the acyl, aryl, and alkyl chemical properties of azides. Some of azides. Industrial interest in organic azide compounds began the physicochemical properties of the with the use of azides for the synthesis of heterocycles such as organic azides can be explained by a consideration of polar triazoles and tetrazoles as well as with their use as blowing mesomeric structures.[1] Aromatic azides are stabilized by agents and as functional groups in pharmaceuticals. Thus, for example, azidonucleosides attract international interest in the treatment of AIDS.[6] Like hydrogen azide most other azides are also explosive substances that decompose with the release of nitrogen through the slightest input of external energy, for example pressure, impact, or heat. The heavy-metal azides are used, conjugation with the aromatic system. The dipolar structures for example, in explosives technology, in which they serve as of type 1c,d (proposed by Pauling[14]) also compellingly detonators. Sodium azide is applied in airbags. The organic explained the facile decomposition into the corresponding azides, particularly methyl azide, often decompose explo- nitrene and dinitrogen (see Section 4.2) as well as the sively. reactivity as a 1,3-dipole. The regioselectivity of their However, in spite of their explosive properties, organic reactions with electrophiles and nucleophiles is explained azides are valuable intermediates in organic synthesis.[7,8] Thus they are used in cycloadditions, the synthesis of anilines and N-alkyl-substituted anilines,[9] as well as precursors for nitrenes. In this Review, which is not meant to be a [*] Prof. Dr. S. Bräse comprehensive overview,[10] the fundamental characteristics Institut für Organische Chemie of organoazide chemistry with its “explosive” diversity in Universität Karlsruhe (TH) modern synthetic chemistry will be illustrated. In this context, Fritz-Haber-Weg 6, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany) Fax : (+49)0721-608-8581 inorganic azides, purely main-group azides (such as E-mail: [email protected] Te(N ) [11]), and purely structural-chemical aspects will not 3 5 Dr. C. Gil, Dr. K. Knepper, Dipl.-Chem. V. Zimmermann be discussed. After the section on their properties, the KekulØ-Institut für Organische Chemie und Biochemie synthetic opportunities and applications of organoazides will Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn be illustrated. Gerhard-Domagk-Strasse 1, 53121 Bonn (Germany) Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 5188 – 5240 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 5189 Reviews S. Bräse et al. on the basis of the mesomeric structure 1d (attack on N3 by nucleophiles, whereas electrophiles are attacked by N1). The angles R–N1–N2N3 and RN1–N2–N3 are approxi- mately 115.28 and 172.58, respectively (calculated for methyl [15] azide, R = CH3 ). The bond lengths in methyl azide were determined as d(R–N1) = 1.472, d(N1–N2) = 1.244, and d(N2– N3) = 1.162 ; slightly shorter N2–N3 bond lengths are observed with aromatic azides. Thus an almost linear azide structure is present, with sp2 hybridization at N1 and a bond order of 2.5 between N3 and N2 and 1.5 between N2 and N1. Figure 1 is an example of the molecular structure of an aromatic azide. The polar resonance structures 1b,c explain the strong IR absorption at 2114 cmÀ1 (for phenyl azide),[17] the UV absorption (287 nm and 216 nm for alkyl azides), the weak dipole moment (1.44 D for phenyl azide), and the acidity of Figure 1. ORTEP representation of 1,3,5-triazido-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene aliphatic azides (e.g. see Scheme 12).[18] The azide ion is with the ellipsoids of the C, N, and O atoms drawn at the 50% proba- [16b] regarded as a pseudohalide[19] and organic azides are similar bility level. in certain respects to organic halogen compounds. The Hammett parameters for arenes with azide groups in the number of atoms; Smith[20]). Synthesized but potentially meta and para positions are 0.35 and 0.10, respectively, which explosive compounds include hexakis(azidomethyl)benzene are comparable with those of fluoroarenes. In aromatic (2),[16] triazidotrinitrobenzene (3),[21] azidotetrazole (4) (88% substitution reactions the azide group acts as an ortho- and para-directing substituent. Whereas ionic azides such as sodium azide are relatively stable (see box), covalently bound and heavy-metal azides are thermally decomposable and in part explosive classes of compounds. For organic azides to be manipulable or non- explosive, the rule is that the number of nitrogen atoms must not exceed that of carbon and that (NC + NO)/NN 3(N = Stefan Bräse was born in Kiel in 1967 and Viktor Zimmermann studied chemistry at studied at Göttingen, Marseille (France), the universities of Nowosibirsk, Göttingen, and Bangor (Wales) (PhD: Prof. Armin and the RWTH Aachen. He completed his de Meijere). After periods of research in Diploma at the RWTH Aachen in 2002. Uppsala (Sweden) and La Jolla (USA) he Since then he has been working for his PhD completed his Habilitation at the RWTH at Bonn University (Prof. Stefan Bräse). The Aachen (Prof. Dieter Enders). In the same main topic of his research is carrier-sup- year he was appointed C3 professor at Bonn ported combinatorial synthesis of benzotri- University. He was guest professor in Madi- azoles and azides. son (USA) before taking up his current pro- fessorship at the Universität Karlsruhe (TH) in 2003. His research interests combine asymmetric catalysis, the synthesis of natural products, combinatorial chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. Carmen Gil was born in Talavera de la Kerstin Knepper was born in Dortmund, Reina, Spain in 1972. She studied at the Germany in 1976 and studied chemistry at Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Dortmund. In 2001, she received her PhD in 2001 at the Medicinal obtained her Diploma in chemistry (Prof. Chemistry Institute in Madrid (Prof. Ana Norbert Krause). She received her PhD in Martínez). After a postdoctoral appointment 2004 at the University of Bonn (Prof. Stefan at Bonn University (Prof. Stefan Bräse) as a Bräse). She is currently a postdoctoral fellow Marie-Curie fellow, she joined the Medicinal with Prof. N. Winssinger (Universit Louis Chemistry Institute in Madrid in 2004. Her Pasteur, Strasbourg, France). Her research research interests includes combinatorial interests include the solid-phase synthesis of chemistry applied to the synthesis of bio- benzannelated heterocycles, methods of or- active molecules. ganometallic chemistry, and the combinato- rial synthesis of natural product analogues. 5190 www.angewandte.org 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 5188 – 5240 Angewandte Organic Azides Chemie nitrogen!),[22] and azidomethane (6). Diazidomethane (5)is azides and is the oldest method for the preparation of prepared from sodium azide and dichloromethane.[23] Certain azides.[2, 34,35] low-molecular-weight azides, which in practice have proved to In the meantime, however, more convenient conversions be nonreactive, can still decompose under unexplained of diazonium