The De Kimpe azirdine synthesis is a
name reaction A name reaction is a chemical reaction named after its discoverers or developers. Among the tens of thousands of organic reactions that are known, hundreds of such reactions are well-known enough to be named after people. Well-known examples include ...
of
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...
, for the generation of
aziridines
220 px, chemotherapeutic agent by virtue of its antitumour activity. Aziridines are organic compounds containing the aziridine functional group, a three-membered heterocycle with one amine (-NR-) and two methylene bridges (--). The parent compou ...
by the reaction of
α-chloroimines with nucleophiles such as
hydride
In chemistry, a hydride is formally the anion of hydrogen( H−). The term is applied loosely. At one extreme, all compounds containing covalently bound H atoms are called hydrides: water (H2O) is a hydride of oxygen, ammonia is a hydride ...
,
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
, or
Grignard reagents
A Grignard reagent or Grignard compound is a chemical compound with the general formula , where X is a halogen and R is an organic group, normally an alkyl or aryl. Two typical examples are methylmagnesium chloride and phenylmagnesium bromide . ...
.
The De Kimpe aziridine synthesis is suitable for both aldimines and ketamines, particularly those with two alkyl substituents on the α-carbon (
Thorpe-Ingold effect).
Mechanism
The nucleophile attacks the imino carbon atom, forming a tetrahedral intermediate. The intermediate then undergoes an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution, with the negatively charged nitrogen atom attacking the α-carbon and having the chloride anion as the leaving group.
References
Name reactions
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