Fonctionnalisation d'halocyclopropanes et préparation de composés diazoïques semi- et non-stabilisés pour la synthèse de cyclopropanes polysubstitués

The cyclopropane moiety is present in a large number of bioactive molecules as its incorporation usually improves their physicochemical properties. As a result, the development of new methodologies allowing the synthesis of various substituted cyclopropanes have become of significant interest. In order to access stereoenriched 1,2,3-trisubstituted cyclopropanes, we first developed a Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling of 2,3-disubstituted halocyclopropanes synthesized in the group using a chiral dioxaborolane ligand. Mild and highly reproducible reaction conditions were developed, especially thanks to the synthesis of a Buchwald type pre-catalyst. The next chapters were devoted to the synthesis of substituted cyclopropanes using diazo compounds bearing the groups to introduce. Semi-stabilized diazoalkanes (bearing π-system-containing groups such as aryl or alkene moieties) were first employed. The use of an iron porphyrin allowed the cyclopropanation of aryldiazomethanes generated in situ from 2-nosylhydrazones under mild conditions, enabling a broader scope of semi-stabilized diazo compounds that can be used in cyclopropanation reactions. Then, we investigated the cyclopropanation of dialkyldiazoalkanes generated in situ from arylsulfonylhydrazones. Gem-dimethyl cyclopropanes, motifs of particular interest in medicinal chemistry, were synthesized under metal-free conditions. However, high temperatures were needed to decompose the diazo precursors. Because of these harsh reaction conditions, we moved to another strategy enabling the synthesis of non-stabilized diazo compounds. We envisioned the oxidation of free hydrazones, being a more atom economical process that typically requires lower temperatures. After the completion of a project initiated by other group members employing stoichiometric amounts of a metallic reagent, we investigated the use of an organic oxidant. Iodosylbenzene allowed the generation of numerous aliphatic diazo compounds and was compatible with the in situ [3+2] cycloaddition of various Michael acceptors. Conversion of the 1-pyrazolines into the corresponding cyclopropanes was not always spontaneous under these reaction conditions, and therefore a photolysis process using continuous flow was developed in order to induce the ring contractions. Unnatural amino acids and gem-dimethyl cyclopropanes were synthesized in high yields using methodology. Immobilizing the iodosylbenzene in a packed bed reactor using a continuous flow set up allowed us to rapidly generate clean solutions of phenyldiazomethane. However, the production of non-stabilized diazo compounds using this process turned out to be more complicated due to numerous incompatibilities. Finally, the syntheses of amino-, alkoxy- or aryloxycyclopropanes were attempted by generating heteroatom-substituted diazo compounds from the corresponding free hydrazones. An aminocyclopropane was obtained during the initial investigation of this reaction. Although in low yield, this result showed the feasibility of each and every step.

Keyphrases: cyclopropane, Suzuki-Miyaura, cycloaddition, diazo compound, carbene, continuous flow