Yannick Evanno

Regioselective cobalt-catalyzed formation of bicyclic 3- and 4-aminopyridines.

Bimolecular cobalt-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloadditions between yne-ynamides and nitriles afford bicyclic 3- or 4-aminopyridines in up to 100% yield. The high regioselectivity observed depends on the substitution pattern at the starting ynamide. Aminopyridines bearing TMS and Ts groups are efficiently deprotected in an orthogonal fashion.

Synthesis of aminopyridines and aminopyridones by cobalt-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloadditions involving yne-ynamides: scope, limitations, and mechanistic insights.

An in-depth study of the cobalt-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition between yne-ynamides and nitriles to afford aminopyridines has been carried out. About 30 nitriles exhibiting a broad range of steric demand and electronic properties have been evaluated, some of which open new perspectives in metal-catalyzed arene formation. In particular, the use of [CpCo(CO)(dmfu)] (dmfu=dimethyl fumarate) as a precatalyst made possible the incorporation of electron-deficient nitriles into the pyridine core. Modification of the substitution pattern at the yne-ynamide allows the regioselectivity to be switched toward 3- or 4-aminopyridines. Application of this synthetic methodology to the construction of the aminopyridone framework using a yne-ynamide and an isocyanate was also briefly examined. DFT computations suggest that 3-aminopyridines are formed by formal [4+2] cycloaddition between the nitrile and the intermediate cobaltacyclopentadiene, whereas 4-aminopyridines arise from an insertion pathway.