Synthetic manipulation of azaheterocycles and their applications towards new bond transformations

Discovering new methods that can be broadly applied in different synthetic settings is an important task in the synthetic organic community. In particular, synthetic methods focused on the construction and manipulation of small-molecule building blocks to provide access to widely distributed pharmacophores and bioactive fragments of larger molecules are especially important. Azaheterocyclic frameworks such as pyridines, dihydropyridines, imidazolidines and benzimidazolines are commonly found in bioactive small molecules and natural products. Additionally, simple derivatives of these ring systems can be used as synthetic intermediates for construction of more functionalized building blocks owing to their unique reactivities. Methods to effectively harness the reactivity of these important azaheterocycles in bond-forming transformations remain underdeveloped and underutilized. In this thesis research leading to the discovery and development of several new synthetic methods utilizing azaheterocyclic frameworks as reaction intermediates for construction of common small molecule building blocks is described