Microwave Assisted Reactions of Fluorescent Pyrrolodiazine Building Blocks

We report here the synthesis and optical spectral properties of several new pyrrolodiazine derivatives. The luminescent heterocycles were synthesized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between N-alkylated pyridazine and methylpropiolate or dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD). The pyrrolopyridazine derivatives are blue emitters with moderate quantum yields (around 25%) in the case of pyrrolopyridazines and negligible yet measurable emission for pyrrolophthalazines. In a subsequent step towards including the pyrrolodiazine moiety, given its spectral properties in various macromolecular frameworks such as biological molecules, a subset of the synthetized compounds has been subjected to α-bromination. A selective and efficient way for α-bromination in heterogeneous catalysis of pyrrolodiazine derivatives under microwave (MW) irradiation is presented. We report substantially higher yields under MW irradiation, whereas the solvent amounts required are at least five-fold less compared to classical heating.