A-Diazo ketones, Wolff

Structurally interesting derivatives of diazoalkanes are those substituted at C(l) by a carbonyl group, in particular the a-diazo ketones. Wolff (1900, 1902, 1912 Wolff and Hall, 1903) who synthesized them first, assumed originally a structure of a 1,2,3-oxadiazole (5.11) for a-diazo ketones (5.10). 

Pyrolysis of carboxylic acids Dehydrohalogenation of acyl halides Dehalogenation of a-halo acyl halides Rearrangement of diazo ketones (Wolff)... 

There are several reactions that are conceptually related to carbene reactions but do not involve carbene, or even carbenoid, intermediates. Usually, these are reactions in which the generation of a carbene is circumvented by a concerted rearrangement process. Important examples of this type are the thermal and photochemical reactions of a-diazo ketones. When a-diazo ketones are decomposed thermally or photochemically, they usually rearrange to ketenes, in a reaction known as the Wolff rearrangement.232... 

The use of copper as a catalyst in carbenoid transfer has its roots in the Amdt-Eistert reaction, Eq. 1 (3). Although the original 1935 paper describes the Wolff rearrangement of a-diazo ketones to homologous carboxylic acids using silver, the authors mention that copper may be substituted in this reaction. In 1952, Yates (4) demonstrated that copper bronze induces insertion of diazo compounds into the X-H bond of alcohols, amines, and phenols without rearrangement, Eq. 2. Yates proposal of a distinct metal carbenoid intermediate formed the basis of the currently accepted mechanistic construct for the cyclopropanation reaction using diazo compounds. 

FORMATION AND PHOTOCHEMICAL WOLFF REARRANGEMENT OF CYCLIC a-DIAZO KETONES D-NORANDROST-5-EN-3 -0L-16-CARB0XYLIC ACIDS, 52, 53 FORMIC ACID, AZIDO—, tert-BUTYL ESTER, 50, 9 Formylation, with acetic formic anhydride, 50, 2 p-FORMYLBENZENESULFONAMIDE, ... 

FORMATION AND PHOTOCHEMICAL WOLFF REARRANGEMENT OF CYCLIC a-DIAZO KETONES D-NORANDROST-5-EN-3P-OL-16-CARBOXYLIC ACIDS... 

Danheiser et al. developed a new aromatic annotation methodology for the total s)mthesis of hyellazole (245) by irradiation of the heteroaryl a-diazo ketone 675 in the presence of 1-methoxypropyne (590). This reaction proceeds via the photochemical Wolff rearrangement of the heteroaryl a-diazo ketone 675 to generate a vinylketene, followed by a cascade of three pericyclic reactions. 

The Dauben-Walker approach has yielded the smallest and most strained fenestrane known to date Following the intramolecular Wadsworth-Enunons cyclization of 443 which also epimerizes the butenyl sidechain to the more stable exo configuration, intramolecular photocycloaddition was smoothly accomplished to provide 444. Wolff-ELishner reduction of this ketone afforded the Cj-symmetric hydrocarbon 445. Application of the photochemical Wolff rearrangement to a-diazo ketone 446 p,ve 447. 

With 0,-y-unsaturated a -diazo ketones, the resulting [2.1.0]-bicyclic systems (40) were quite unstable and underwent a [2 + 2] cycloreversion to generate ketenes (41), which were then trapped by nucleophiles (Scheme 7). The overall scheme has been named a vinylogous Wolff rearrangement and offers a novel entry to products usually derived from a Claisen rearrangement.102 A recent report describes its application for functionalized angular alkylation in fused ring systems.103 In contrast, the intramolecular re-... 

The unique electrocatalytic role of benzoic acid-protected silver nanoclusters in the Wolff rearrangement of a-diazo ketones has been disclosed. The presence of a Agn°/Agn+ redox couple facilitates a non-classical electron-transfer process, involving chemical reactions interposed between two electron-transfer steps occurring in opposite directions.32... 

The Wolff and Amdt-Eistert rearrangements are probably among the earliest known reactions promoted by silver ions.2,3 Discovered at the turn of the nineteenth/ twentieth century, the Wolff rearrangement allows the transformation of a-diazo-ketones to carboxylic acids,4 while the Arndt-Eistert rearrangement is a similar sequence also leading to carboxylic acids, but including the preparation of a-dia-zoketones from a shorter acid chloride (Scheme 3.1).5... 

Wolff rearrangement of /)-diazenyl-a -diazo ketone 83 in the presence of water, methanol (or even with primary and secondary amines) under varied reaction conditions comes with surprise Instead of the expected homologous acid 89, methyl ester 90 (or the respective amide), 2-phenylcinnolin-3(2E0-one (91) is the only product indicative of the anticipated in situ formation of ketene intermediate 88 (Scheme 22). Obviously, the apparent 67r-electrocyclization reaction prevails forming the isolated heterocyclic product 91, a so far unknown compound. 

RCH=C=0, except when these are generated in situ by decomposition of a diazo ketone (the Wolff rearrangement, 18-8) in the presence of the imine. It has been done with ketene, but the more usual course with this reagent is an addition to the enamine tautomer of the substrate. Thioketenes ° (R2C=C=S) give p-thio-Imines also form p-lactams when treated with (i) zinc (or another... 

In the first step of the reaction sequence a methyl ester is formed via a Wolff rearrangement. The Wolff rearrangem ent provides acids, esters or amides from a-diazo ketones and is often used in a ring contractive way to form strained ring systems, which are not accessible by other sequences.It also occurs as the key step in the Arndt-Eistert homologation of carboxylic acids. ... 

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