Tautomerism in Quinoxalines Derived from the 1,4-Naphthoquinone Nucleus: Acid Mediated Synthesis, X-ray Molecular Structure of 5-Chlorobenzo[f]quinoxalin-6-ol and Density Functional Theory Calculations

The reaction of tert-butyl 2-(3-chloro-1,4-dioxo-1,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-ylamino) ethylcarbamate with CF3COOH/CH2Cl2 yields 5-chloro-3,4-dihydrobenzo[f]quinoxalin6(2H)-one which undergoes acid-promoted dehydrogenation in the presence of water to give novel 5-chlorobenzo[f]quinoxalin-6-ol. The molecular structure of 5-chlorobenzo[f]quinoxalin6-ol in the solid state, determined by an X-ray diffraction (XRD) study, and the solution data confirm that it exists as the enol-imine tautomer, both in the solid state and in solution, differently from 5-chloro-3,4-dihydrobenzo[f]quinoxalin-6(2H)-one, which exhibits the keto-amine arrangement. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the preference of 5-chlorobenzo[f]quinoxalin-6-ol and of the derivatives containing H and CH3 groups in place of the Cl atom for the enol-imine tautomer. It is suggested that the enol-imine structure is preferred for 5-chlorobenzo[f]quinoxalin-6-ol as a consequence of the higher aromatic character of this structure in comparison with the keto-amine form. DFT calculations carried out on the two tautomers of the benzo[a]phenazin-5(7H)-ones analogous to the benzo[f]quinoxalin-6(4H)-ones showed that the relative stabilities are dominated by solvation effects in the first case and the degree of aromaticity, in the latter.