First Exclusive Stereo- and Regioselective Preparation of 5-Arylimino-1,3,4-Selenadiazole Derivatives: Synthesis, NMR analysis, and Computational Studies

Isoselenocyanates are valuable coupling partners required for preparing key chemical intermediates and biologically active molecules in an accelerated and effective way. Likewise, (Z)-2-oxo-N-phenylpropanehydrazonoyl chlorides have been employed in numerous one-step heteroannulation reactions to assemble the structural core of several various kinds of heterocyclic compounds. Here, we describe the inverse electron demand 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of isoselenocyanates with a variety of substituted (Z)-2-oxo-N-phenylpropanehydrazonoyl chlorides to generate, regioselectively and stereoselectively, a series of 5-arylimino-1,3,4-selenadiazole derivatives comprising a multitude of functional groups on both aryl rings. The synthetic method features gentle room-temperature conditions, wide substrate scope, and good to high reaction yields. The selenadiazoles were separated by gravity filtration in all instances and chemical structures were validated by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and high accuracy mass spectral measurements. First conclusive molecular structure elucidation of the observed 5-arylimino-selenadiazole regioisomer was verified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Crystal-structure measurement was successfully carried out on (Z)-1-(4-(4-iodophenyl)-5-(p-tolylimino)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-selenadiazol-2-yl)ethan-1-one and (Z)-1-(5-((4-methoxyphenyl)imino)-4-(4-(methylthio)phenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1,3,4-selenadiazol-2-yl)ethan-1-one. Likewise, the (Z)-geometry of the hydrazonoyl chloride reactant was proven by X-ray diffraction studies. As representative examples, crystal-structure determination was carried out on (Z)-2-oxo-N-phenylpropanehydrazonoyl chloride and (Z)-N-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2-oxopropanehydrazonoyl chloride. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP-D4/def2-TZVP level were conducted to support the noted experimental findings and suggested mechanism.