Reaction of bromo- or iodo-substituted isatoic anhydrides with N-methylglycine, L-proline or D-proline afforded bromo- or iodo-substituted 1,4-benzodiazepinediones which on condensation with ethyl or t-butyl isocyanoacetates gave ethyl or t-butyl bromo- or iodo-imidazobenzodiazepine carboxylates. These aryl halides were converted into the corresponding tributylstannanes with bis(tributyltin) in the presence of (triphenylphosphine)palladium(0), and the stannanes were treated with sodium (123I)iodide in the presence of chloramine-Tto give the required 123I- labelled analogues of the imidazobenzodiazepine receptor ligands flumazenil and bretazenil.
For the syntheses of radiolabelled pyrrolo[1,4]benzodiazepine antitumour antibiotics we required a method in which the unstable carbinolamine functionality was introduced prior to the radiolabel. In turn this required the selective reduction of a secondary amide in the presence of, inter alia, a tertiary amide. We report methods which can be used to achieve this outcome in a series of 1H-pyrrolo[2,1-c][1,4]benzodiazepine-5,11-diones.