Exploratory synthetic studies of the alpha-methoxylation of amides via cuprous ion-promoted decomposition of o-diazobenzamides

A convenient nonelectrochemical amide oxidation method has been developed. The process involves a cuprous ion-promoted decomposition of o-diazobenzamides like 4, generated in situ from the corresponding o-aminobenzamides, to give N-acyliminium ion intermediate 9 via a 1,5-H-atom transfer, followed by metal-catalyzed oxidation of the resulting alpha-amidyl radical. The transformation produces alpha-methoxybenzamides 15 in good yields. An attempt was made to apply this oxidation method to a total synthesis of the alkaloid (-)-anisomycin (16). Scalemic o-aminobenzamide pyrrolidine derivatives 18a/18b underwent oxidation to give a-methoxylated amide substrates 19a/ 19b, respectively, in good yields. However, alkylation of the N-acyliminium intermediate 20 with (p-methoxybenzyl)magnesium chloride gave the undesired anti-compounds 22a/22b as the major products. The amide oxidation exhibits good regioselectivity with many unsymmetrical 2-substituted piperidine and pyrrolidine systems. In general, it appears that the larger the C-2 substituent, the greater the methylene/methine H-atom abstraction ratio. A mechanistic rationale for this selectivity is suggested based upon amide rotamer populations. An extension of this methodology can be used to conduct two sequential amide oxidations using readily prepared 2-amino-6-nitrobenzamides such as 68 and 69.