Synthesis and Monoamine Oxidase B Catalyzed Oxidation of C-4 Heteroaromatic Substituted 1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine Derivatives

The monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) catalyzed oxidation of amines has been proposed to proceed via a polar pathway, an initial single-electron transfer pathway and an initial hydrogen atom transfer pathway. Results from previous studies on selected N-cyclopropyl-4-substituted-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine derivatives have led us to consider a mechanism for these cyclic tertiary allylamines which may not necessarily involve the aminyl radical cation as required by an initial single-electron transfer step. The studies summarized in this paper were undertaken to explore further the structural features that determine the MAO-B substrate and/or inactivator properties of various 1,4-disubstituted tetrahydropyridine derivatives. We report here the results of our studies on the synthesis and MAO-B catalyzed oxidation of 1-methyl- and 1-cyclopropyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine derivatives bearing a variety of heteroaromatic groups at C-4. All of the N-cyclopropyltetrahydropyridine analogs were time and concentration depend...