Catalysts-Controlled Roles Exchange between 2,3-Diaryl-2 H-azirines and Acetone: Chemodivergent Synthesis of Pyrroles and 3-Oxazolines

J Org Chem. 2024 May 3;89(9):6064-6073. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.4c00012. Epub 2024 Apr 11.

Abstract

We report two practical and step-economical methodologies for the chemodivergent synthesis of tri-substituted pyrroles and 3-oxazolines from the domino reactions of 2H-azirines and acetone. For instance, acetone served as a nucleophile to react with 2H-azirines under the basic conditions to furnish pyrroles. Upon changing the catalyst to TfOH, acetone served as an electrophile to synthesize 3-oxazolines. Moreover, the products could be synthesized on a gram scale, and the possible catalytic cycles were proposed.