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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Preparation of Stable Bicyclic Aziridinium Ions and Their Ring-Opening for the Synthesis of Azaheterocycles
Published on: August 22, 2018
From beta-nitrothiophenes to ring-fused nitrobenzenes: an overall ring-enlargement process via a facile,
Lara Bianchi1, Carlo Dell'Erba, Massimo Maccagno
1Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Genova, Italy.
Abstract:
[reaction: see text] In prosecution of previous work on the thermal cyclization of 1-aryl-4-methanesulfonyl-2-nitro-3-phenylsulfonyl-1,3-butadienes (7), the 3-unsubstituted derivatives 8, deriving from the initial ring opening of 3-nitrothiophene (2), have been likewise found herein to undergo cyclization, followed by aromatization, in analogous mild experimental conditions, leading to the ring-fused homo- or heteroaromatic nitro derivatives 10. The concerted electrocyclic nature of the process is strongly supported by the outcome of tests based on the variation of the polarity of the solvent or of the electron density on the aryl of 8. Thus, the successful application of the process to the non-phenylsulfonyl-activated 8 significantly widens the scope of a synthetically valuable overall ring-opening/ring-closing procedure from nitrothiophenes. Support to the recently renewed interest in thermal 6pi electrocyclizations as a tool for the construction of the benzene ring is furthermore provided.
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