One-Pot Synthesis of γ-Azidobutyronitriles and Their Intramolecular Cycloadditions

Efficient gram-scale, one-pot approaches to azidocyanobutyrates and their amidated or decarboxylated derivatives have been developed, starting from commercially available aldehydes and cyanoacetates. These techniques combine (1) Knoevenagel condensation, (2) Corey–Chaykovsky cyclopropanation and (3) nucleophilic ring opening of donor-acceptor cyclopropanes with the azide ion, as well as (4) Krapcho decarboxylation or (4′) amidation. The synthetic utility of the resulting γ-azidonitriles was demonstrated by their transformation into tetrazoles via intramolecular (3+2)-cycloaddition. A condition-dependent activation effect of the α-substituent was revealed in that case. Thermally activated azide–nitrile interaction did not differentiate the presence of an α-electron-withdrawing substituent in γ-azidonitriles, whereas the Lewis acid mediated (SnCl4 or TiCl4) reaction proceeded much easier for azidocyanobutyrates. This allowed us to develop an efficient procedure for converting azidocyanobutyrates into the corresponding tetrazoles.