C - H Bond Activation

The widely used Moifatt-Pfltzner oxidation works with in situ formed adducts of dimethyl sulfoxide with dehydrating agents, e.g. DCC, AcjO, SO], P4O10, CCXTl] (K.E, Pfitzner, 1965 A.H. Fenselau, 1966 K.T. Joseph, 1967 J.G. Moffatt, 1971 D. Martin, 1971) or oxalyl dichloride (Swem oxidation M. Nakatsuka, 1990). A classical procedure is the Oppenauer oxidation with ketones and aluminum alkoxide catalysts (C. Djerassi, 1951 H. Lehmann, 1975). All of these reagents also oxidize secondary alcohols to ketones but do not attack C = C double bonds or activated C —H bonds. 

The addic compounds used can be compounds with N-H bonds (aromatic primary amines [1], azole heterocycles [2-5], sulfonamides [6]), or enoHzable compounds with activated C-H bonds [7,8]. 

Spectroscopy of the PES for reactions of transition metal (M ) and metal oxide cations (MO ) is particularly interesting due to their rich and complex chemistry. Transition metal M+ can activate C—H bonds in hydrocarbons, including methane, and activate C—C bonds in alkanes [18-20] MO are excellent (and often selective) oxidants, capable of converting methane to methanol [21] and benzene to phenol [22-24]. Transition metal cations tend to be more reactive than the neutrals for two general reasons. First, most neutral transition metal atoms have a ground electronic state, and this... 

The reactivity of these oxidants towards organic substrates depends in a rough manner upon their redox potentials. Ag(II) and Co(III) attack unactivated and only slightly activated C-H bonds in cyclohexane, toluene and benzene and Ce(IV) perchlorate attacks saturated alcohols much faster than do Ce(lV) sulphate, V(V) or Mn(III). The last three are sluggish in action towards all but the active C-H and C-C bonds in polyfunctional compounds such as glycols and hydroxy-acids. They are, however, more reactive towards ketones than the two-equivalent reagents Cr(VI) and Mn(VIII) and in some cases oxidise them at a rate exceeding that of enolisation. 

These reactions demonstrate the Brflnsted base role of adsorbed oxygen perviously found on Ag(llO) and show further that more active transition metals which themselves activate C-H bonds catalytically oxidize via a two-step mechanism in which the surface intermediates are scavenged by adsorbed oxygen. 

The most important contributions in this area, however, directly related to bond activation chemistry, and, undoubtedly triggered by theoretical considerations along the lines of Figure 1, were reported by Whitesides and coworkers in 1986 and 1988 [11]. It was shown that the bent, bisphosphine-coordinated platinum chelate complex [(dcpe)Pt(O)] (9) (dcpe = bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane), which could be generated thermally as a "hot" reactive intermediate by reductive elimination of neopentane from its ris-neopentylhydride Pt(II) precursor at around 60-70°C in solution, was able to activate C-H bonds, even of unactivated alkanes. 

In reference 44 the authors found that the [Cu2(p-0)2]2+ core with either the LlPr3 or LBn3 ligand system will activate C-H bonds for cleavage and oxidation, again having important implications for oxygenation catalysis. These authors provide a useful summary for the two core structures, which are replicated in Table 5.7. 

The ruthenium-, rhodium-, and palladium-catalyzed C-C bond formations involving C-H activation have been reviewed from the reaction types and mechanistic point of view.135-138 The activation of aromatic carbonyl compounds by transition metal catalyst undergoes ortho-alkylation through the carbometallation of unsaturated partner. This method offers an elegant way to activate C-H bond as a nucleophilic partner. The rhodium catalyst 112 has been used for the alkylation of benzophenone by vinyltrimethylsilane, affording the monoalkylated product 110 in 88% yield (Scheme 34). The formation of the dialkylated product is also observed in some cases. The ruthenium catalyst 113 has shown efficiency for such alkylation reactions, and n-methylacetophenone is transformed to the ortho-disubstituted acetophenone 111 in 97% yield without over-alkylation at the methyl substituent. 

A very different neutrally charged complex for alkane activation has been reported recently and is shown in Scheme 34(A). The compound is a hydridoplatinum(II) complex bearing an anionic ligand based on the familiar nacnac-type, but with a pendant olefin moiety (97).This complex is extremely soluble in arenes and alkanes and activates C-H bonds in both types of hydrocarbons. This is indicated by deuterium incorporation from deuterated hydrocarbon into the substituents on the arene of the ligand and into the Pt hydride position (A A-d27, Scheme 34). The open site needed for hydrocarbon coordination at Pt(II) is created by olefin insertion instead of anion or solvent substitution (97). 

In the course of a study on creation of a library of a great number of hetaryl ketones and related derivatives, Szewczyk et al. <2001AGE216> elaborated a ruthenium-catalyzed transformation of heterocycles with activated C-H bond by reaction with olefins and carbon monoxide. Thus, 253 gave 254, albeit in very poor yield. Synthetically, the more straightforward iron-catalyzed transformation was described by Fiirstner et al. <2002JA13856>. These authors reacted 255 with a Grignard reagent in the presence of Fe(acac)3 to afford the 7-alkyl-substituted derivative 256 in reasonable yield (acac = acetylacetonate). 

Not only heteroatom-H bonds but also activated C-H bonds can add to the jr-system of an allene. Since carbon lacks a free electron pair, the transition metal catalyst must first activate the C-H bond the new species formed will then react with the C=C double bond. For efficient activation of that kind, two acceptors (typically esters, nitriles and/or sulfones) are necessary. In accord with this mechanistic picture is the fact that the reaction does not benefit from an additional base (which would deproto-nate the pronucleophile). Hence neutral conditions are even better. 

Caulton and coworkers found that fluoride ligands in certain Ir complexes promote oxidative addition reactions [44]. This group s results showed that the fluoride complex lr(H)2F(P Bu2Ph)2 rapidly activated C—H bonds under dehydrogenation conditions. The reactive intermediate in these reactions may be a fluoro-bridged analogue of compounds 4-12, namely [lr(p-F)(P Bu2Ph)2]2. This would explain the improved reactivity in the Ir-catalyzed OHA reaction in the presence of cocatalytic naked fluoride . 

The above mechanism, implying a bis-alkyl species, is the best way to explain (i) the observed selectivities and (ii) the primary and secondary products. It also takes into account important facts (i) the minor ](=SiO)2ZrH2] supported species (20-35% depending on the oxide support) is more electrophilic and activates C-H bonds of alkane faster than its homolog ](=SiO)3ZrH] (65-80%) [48] (ii) the higher selectivity in isobutene compared to that of methyl-branched pentenes is not consistent with a simple insertion of adsorbed propene into Zr-alkyl species because the concentration of Zr-propyl has to be greater than Zr-Me species (Scheme 3.12). 

Dicarbonyl compounds are widely used in organic synthesis as activated nucleophiles. Because of the relatively high acidity of the methylenic C—H of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, most reactions involving 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds are considered to be nucleophilic additions or substitutions of enolates. However, some experimental evidence showed that 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds could react via C—H activations. Although this concept is still controversial, it opens a novel idea to consider the reactions of activated C H bonds. The chiral bifunctional Ru catalysts were used in enantioselective C C bonds formation by Michael addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with high yields and enantiomeric excesses. ... 

H2 and CO, whereas part of the ethoxy species generated on the supports is further oxidized to acetate species, which decomposes to CH4 and/or oxidizes to CO2 via carbonate species [202]. Hence supports with redox properties that help the oxidation of ethoxy species and metals with a high capacity to break C-C bonds and to activate C-H bonds are suitable for use in catalysts applied to the partial oxidation of ethanol. 

Oxidation of cedranes and their derivatives by RuCyaq. Na(104)/CCl4-CH3CN (anhydrous RUCI3 does not work) was studied thus epicedrane was hydroxylated regioselectively with retention of configuration to 8a-cedranol (Fig. 4.4), and other oxyfunctionalisations of non-activated C-H bonds in cedranes were similarly accomplished (Table 4.1, cf. mech. Ch. 1) [69]. 

Three years ago, while we were considering possible reasons for the general inability of transition metals to insert into and activate C-H bonds, our attention turned to the question of the instability of transition metal alkyl hydride complexes. We have listed the few alkyl hydride complexes of which we are aware (i) (one additional case (2) recently came to our attention) as well as some of the only slightly more numerous cases of substituted alkyl hydrides stabilized by chelation (3). In contrast, there are enormous numbers of polyalkyls (4, 5) and poly hydrides (6). While rarity does not logically imply instability, it does suggest it, so we considered possible mechanistic explanations for the assumed rapid decomposition of ci -MLn(R)(H) relative to cis-MLnR2 and cis-MLnH2. We have focused on octahedral complexes since they are both more important and more numerous. 

The unique ability of silver to epoxidize ethylene lies in the fact that it adsorbs oxygen dissociatively, and that atomic oxygen formed at high oxygen coverage is weakly bound. The low activity of silver to activate C—H bonds is the key factor in the selectivity of epoxidation. 

One of the most popular nitroxide-based radicals (TEMPO) has been shown to abstract H-atoms from activated C—H bonds. However, the nitroxide itself is easily photo-degraded, hi order to examine more photochemically stable alternatives to TEMPO in abstraction reactions, the related isoindoline nitroxide radical (61) has been examined.116 Abstractions from unactivated primary, secondary, and tertiary C—H alkane bonds were all achieved. 

In this case, the intermediate vinyl radical (cf Scheme 9) underwent a remarkable [1,51-hydrogen abstraction from the non-activated C—H bond of the proximal isopropyl group. Furthermore, the resulting primary alkyl radical underwent a unique, stereoselective 5-endo-trig cyclization onto the adjacent double bond to generate a tertiary radical, which is a precursor of the highly substituted cyclopentanols 22 and 23. The reaction with Bu3SnH as radical mediator totally reversed the products ratio obtained in 88% yield, i.e. 22 23 = 19 81. 

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