Programmed Sequential Additions to Halogenated Mucononitriles.

Dihalomucononitriles were synthesized and their reactivity evaluated to assess their ability to function as linchpin reagents. Bis(2-chloroacrylonitrile) and bis(2-bromoacrylonitrile) were synthesized from 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole and undergo conjugate addition/elimination reactions with both nitrogen (40-95% yield) and carbon nucleophiles (72-93% yield). Secondary amines undergo monosubstitutions, while carbon nucleophiles are added twice. The sequence of addition of the nucleophiles could be controlled to give mixed addition products. The multicomponent coupling products could then be converted to natural product like motifs using intramolecular cyclization reactions.