Microwave-assisted Heck Synthesis of Substituted 2,4-Diaminopyrimidine-based Antibiotics

Abstract

Microwave-assisted organic synthesis is an area of increasing interest for promoting clean, reproducible, high-yielding reactions under mild conditions.1,2 This is evident from the large number of papers and reviews that have appeared on this topic in the recent literature.3–8 In the current work, microwave irradiation was employed to facilitate the intermolecular formation of C–C bonds using a palladium-catalyzed Heck coupling reaction. Microwave conditions have previously been used to accelerate this type of reaction9,10 as well as other metal-catalyzed processes such as the Suzuki, Sonogashira and Negishi couplings.11,12 However, the use of microwave irradiation to induce reactions of highly functionalized molecules has not been studied in detail. We, therefore, wish to report our work on a microwave-assisted Heck reaction to prepare a series of antibacterials bearing a variety of functional groups. The goal of the current project is the synthesis 2,4-diaminopyrimidine antibiotics 3a–h, which have potential for the treatment of inhalation anthrax, a bioterror threat. The most important aspect of these drugs is that they selectively inhibit the activity of Bacillus anthracis dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) but not human DHFR.13,14 DHFR plays a critical role in folate metabolism and is a good target for antibiotic drug candidates. Furthermore, since our compounds incorporate several structural units common to drugs that inhibit DHFR, it is less likely that bacteria exposed to these agents will readily develop a resistance to them. The synthesis involves a Heck reaction of 2,4-diamino-5-(5-iodo-3,4-dimethoxy-benzyl)pyrimidine (1) with a series of (±)-1-(1-substituted-1H-phthalazin-2-yl)prop-2-en-1-ones 2, both of which are available by known methods.13,15 Earlier syntheses of certain examples of 3 by conventional Heck procedures13,15 gave yields of 10%–37%. The products obtained by this method, however, were difficult to purify from the reaction mixture due to extensive side-product formation. We have successfully improved the synthesis by employing microwave irradiation to assist the Heck coupling process. The conventional reactions were carried out using 2.07 mmol each of 1 and 2, 2.27 mmol of N-ethylpiperidine and 0.026 mmol (1.24 mol % relative to substrates 1 and 2) of bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(II) dichloride catalyst in 8 mL of DMF under argon at 140°C–150°C for 18 h.13,15 This procedure generally afforded the coupled product in low yield (10%–37%) with substantial side-product formation. In an effort to improve this outcome, substrate concentrations and temperatures were varied, but neither of these changes resulted in significant improvement. Attempts to adjust the catalyst loading for this transformation were also examined. An increase in catalyst loading to 2.00 mol % decreased the yield of the product and added to the impurity profile, making isolation of the product more difficult. A decrease in catalyst loading to 0.96 mol % led to incomplete reaction and recovery of starting material along with the desired product. Thus, a catalyst loading of 1.24 mol % proved optimum for the complete conversion to the product with a minimum of side reactions. Finally, the use of other catalysts (e.g. Pd(OAc)2, PdCl2, (Ph3P)4Pd, Pd/C and CuI)13 and bases (e.g. Et3N, DBU, K2CO3 and Cs2CO3)13 failed to improve the conversion to product. Reactions were also carried out on the same molar scale in sealed tubes. This resulted in slightly improved yields (42%–65%), but side-reactions were still problematic. It is conceivable that prolonged heating under conventional and sealed tube conditions caused degradation of the substrates and the catalyst, leading to a more complex product mixture. Thus, a method was sought to decrease the reaction time, which led us to the use of microwave irradiation. Microwave-assisted reactions were run on the same scale as above at 400 W and 150°C under argon for 60–80 min and gave superior conversions to products with far fewer impurities. A comparison of yields obtained using conventional, sealed tube and microwave conditions is shown in Table 1. Microwave irradiation as an alternative source of heating expedited the reaction, decreased the required catalyst loading by 20% (to 0.96 mol %) and reduced the amount of solvent needed by 25%. A series of reactions was carried out with R = propyl, isobutyl, isobutenyl, phenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, benzyl, 4-methylbenzyl and 4-trifluoromethoxybenzyl to establish the generality of the method. Products prepared in this manner were conveniently purified by placing the crude reaction mixture directly onto a silica gel column and eluting with increasing concentrations of methanol in dichloromethane. The target molecules were isolated as hydrates or solvates16 and were characterized by elemental and spectral analysis. Table 1 Yields of 3 Using Conventional, Sealed Tube and Microwave Conditions 1+2a-h→N-ethylpiperidineDMF,Δ(Ph3P)2PdCl23a-h We have successfully developed a synthesis of 2,4-diaminopyrimidine-based antibiotics that utilizes a microwave-assisted Heck reaction on highly functionalized substrates in the final step. The reaction is superior to reactions performed under conventional or sealed tube conditions, requiring less solvent and catalyst. More importantly, the use of microwave conditions reduced reaction times and provided higher coupling yields with fewer side products.