A-Carben

The synthon will be, in a lower valeney state - if X is C then it will be a carbene or the synthetic equivalent of a carbene. Let s see how this disconnection works out for epoxides. Taking X = O first we have... 

We discoimect two bonds at once to give us a carbene and an olefm ... 

First the normal Wittig reaction, and then a second mol of Wittig reagent must be behaving as a carbene equivalent, just as we hoped the sulphur yhd would. 

Chiefly in an hydrophobic medium, a base can extract the proton on position 2 leading to a reactive intermediate (able to give subsequent condensation) that could be an ylid (35, 36) or a carbene (37), though no dimer has ever been isolated as is the case with benzothiazolium (32, 38). Two mechanisms have been proposed for explaining the particular reactivity of thiazolium ... 

The metallocycle [67719-69-1] (24) undergoes an apparent P-elimination to a carbene-like reagent, which adds regiospecrfically to terminal acetylenes... 

Hydrogen atoms in azolium ions can be removed easily as protons (e.g. 230—>232) exchange with deuterium occurs in heavy water. The intermediate zwitterion (e.g. 231) can also be written as a carbene, and in some cases this carbenoid form can be trapped or isolated as a dimer. 

The reaction of oxiranes with base can follow several paths, giving products of type (34-38 Scheme 27). (a) Formation of an oxiranyl anion (34) is rare (Section 5.05.3.5). (b) Nucleophilic ring opening to give (35) is common with unhindered bases (Section 5.05.3.4). (c) a-Elimination to give a carbene or carbenoid (36) is favored by alkyllithium bases and... 

This usually generates a carbene (Section 5.05.3.2.2), but the oxirane (61) is deprotonated by butyllithium to the versatile oxiranyllithium (62 Scheme 59) (76JA4646). 

The reaction of thiocarbonyl compounds with diazoalkanes (alkyl, aryl substituted) frequently gives good to excellent yields of thiiranes. The mechanism may involve addition of a carbene across the thiocarbonyl group, especially in the presence of rhodium(II) acetate... 

Two other fluorine-containing diazirines give similar results. Cyanofluorodiazirine (223) and fluoromethoxydiazirine (224) release nitrogen at 100 °C the carbenes formed can be trapped by tetrafluoroethylene to give cyclopropanes (65JHC371). Without a carbene trap alkenes are obtained. 

Kinetic investigations of alkylchlorodiazirine thermolysis were carried out in the gas phase 70JCS(A)1916). Chloromethyldiazirine (232) decomposition follows first order kinetics giving nitrogen and vinyl chloride, easily interpretable as isomerization of a carbene. 

An extrapolation of product composition to zero pressure showed considerable but not complete absence of primary products. A second path to the primary products was assumed, leading from excited diazirine directly to the products without involving a carbene. 

The A -fluoropyridinium salts produce 2-fluoropyridines on treatment with base. A carbene mechanism has been proposed [78] (equation 36). 

A solid-liquid phase-transfer technique is used to synthesize aryl difluoro-methyl sulfides and selenides thiophenols dissolved in an aromatic solvent are treated with solid sodium hydroxide in the presence of a catalytic amount of tris(3,6-dioxaheptyl)amine (TDA1) [49] This condensation proceeds by a carbene mechanism (equation 44)... 

Trifluoromethyl thiirane is formed by the action of tris(diethylamino)-phosphineon l-chloromethyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyldisulfide [S2] (equation 73) Difluoromethyl phenyl selenide is prepared by treatment of lithium phenyl-selemde with chlorodifluoroniethane via a carbene mechanism [Si] (equation 44) Bis(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)diselenide is formed in the reaction of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl mesylate with lithium diselenide [84] (equation 74). 

Iodomethylzinc iodide is often refened to as a carbenoid, meaning that it resembles a carbene in its chemical reactions. Caibenes are neutral molecules in which one of the caibon atoms has six valence electrons. Such caibons aie divalent they are directly bonded to only two other atoms and have no multiple bonds. Iodomethylzinc iodide reacts as if it were a source of the caibene H—C—H. 

Several years ago, there was much debate concerning the mechanism of the Darzens condensation.2.3 The debate concerned whether the reaction employed an enolate or a carbene intermediate. In recent years, significant evidence that supports the enolate mechanism has been obtained, wherein the stabilized carbanion (11) of the halide (10) is condensed with the electrophile (12) to give diastereomeric aldolate products (13,14), which subsequently cyclize via an internal Sn2 reaction to give the corresponding oxirane (15 or 16). The intermediate aldolates have been isolated for both a-fluoro- and a-chloroesters 10. 

The neutral divalent carbon atom of a carbene, CX2, with its six valency electrons is electron deficient and hence electrophilic. The... 

Interest in this reaction was revived when the relevance of a carbene mechanism was realized, particularly following the demonstration (cf. SectionI,B) of a similar ring expansion of indene to 2-chloro-naphthalene by dichlorocarbene via the cyclopropane adduct. Indeed, at this time Nakazaki suggested that these reactions occurred by the addition of dichlorocarbene to the indolyl anion and subsequent rearrangement to the indolenine and, with loss of chloride ion, to the quinoline [Eq. (12)]. The preference of dichlorocarbene for... 

NX-Dimethylpyrazolium iodide with [( -cod)Rh(/A-OEt)]2 gives a carbene complex 94 (L2 = cod), a phenomenon not quite typical for the pyrazole series [97JOM(532)261]. 

The reaction mechanism has been confirmed by trapping of intermediates 13, 14 and 15. Because of the fact that neither a carbene nor a carbenium ion species is involved, generally good yields of non-rearranged alkenes 2 are obtained. Together with the easy preparation and use of tosylhydrazones, this explains well the importance of the Shapiro reaction as a synthetic method. 

The vinylcyclopropane rearrangement is an important method for the construction of cyclopentenes. The direct 1,4-addition of a carbene to a 1,3-diene to give a cyclopentene works only in a few special cases and with poor yield. The desired product may instead be obtained by a sequence involving the 1,2-addition of a carbene to one carbon-carbon double bond of a 1,3-diene to give a vinylcyclopropane, and a subsequent rearrangement to yield a cyclopentene ... 

Yet another kind of alkene addition is the reaction of a carbene with an alkene to yield a cyclopropane. A carbene, R2C , is a neutral molecule containing a divalent carbon with only six electrons in its valence shell. It is therefore highly reactive and is generated only as a reaction intermediate, rather than as an isolable molecule. Because they re electron-deficient, carbenes behave as electrophiles and react with nucieophiiic C=C bonds. The reaction occurs in a single step without intermediates. 

Ring enlargement via an insertion of a carbene generated in the a-position to the ring is an established method and has also been applied to the synthesis of oxepins. The ()3-allylpalladium chloride catalyzed decomposition of substituted ethyl diazo(4/7-pyran-4-yl)acetates in benzene at room temperature gives ethyl oxepin-4-carboxylates 1 in excellent yield.190 The ester function can be replaced by the phosphonate group and other P = 0-functions (see Houben-Weyl,... 

Dibenzo[/>,rf]thiopyrylium tetrafluoroborate (1) reacts with ethyl lithiodiazoacetate at — 120 C to form the diazo compound 2 which, with dimeric ( 3-allyl)chloropalIadium at 20 C, gives ethyl dibenzo[ ,d]thiepin-6-carboxylate (3), via a carbene intermediate.5 Compound 3 is quite stable the ethoxycarbonyl group can be hydrolyzed by alkali and decarboxylated to give the corresponding parent compound 4 in good yield. 

Halogen exchange of F is usually with chloro compounds however, replacement of bromine has enabled fluorodiazirines to be obtained (83JA6513 86TL419). Diazirine (2) was previously obtained by a difficult route involving F2. The relative ease of access to (2) enables a carbene whose reactivity is intermediate between that of electrophilic ( CF2) and nucleophilic ( C(OMe)2) carbenes to be studied. 

Contradictory to a carbene mechanism is the high selectivity which is typical for the metathesis reaction. In the case of carbene complexes, side reactions must be expected, such as addition and insertion [Eqs. (38) and (39)] ... 

Because in metathesis reactions with most catalyst systems a selectivity of nearly 100% is found, a carbene mechanism seems less likely. Banks and Bailey ( ) reported the formation of small quantities of C3-C6-alkenes, cyclopropane, and methylcyclopropane when ethene was passed over Mo(CO)6-A1203, which suggests reactions involving carbene complexes. However, similar results have not been reported elsewhere most probably the products found by Banks and Bailey were formed by side reactions, typical for their particular catalyst system. 

The insertion of a carbene into a Z-H bond, where Z=C, Si, is generally referred to as an insertion reaction, whereas those occurring from Z=0,N are based on ylide chemistry [75]. These processes are unique to carbene chemistry and are facilitated by dirhodium(II) catalysts in preference to all others [1, 3,4]. The mechanism of this reaction involves simultaneous Z-H bond breaking, Z-car-bene C and carbene C-H bond formation, and the dissociation of the rhodium catalyst from the original carbene center [1]. 

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