Addition singlet carbenes

Woodworth, based on the common reaction of addition of carbenes to double bonds to form cyclopropane derivatives (15-50). If the singlet species adds to cis-2-butene, the resulting cyclopropane should be the cis isomer since the movements of the two pairs of... 

Transition structure for concerted singlet carbene addition... 

Addition reactions with alkenes to form cyclopropanes are the most studied reactions of carbenes, both from the point of view of understanding mechanisms and for synthetic applications. A concerted mechanism is possible for singlet carbenes. As a result, the stereochemistry present in the alkene is retained in the cyclopropane. With triplet carbenes, an intermediate 1,3-diradical is involved. Closure to cyclopropane requires spin inversion. The rate of spin inversion is slow relative to rotation about single bonds, so mixtures of the two possible stereoisomers are obtained from either alkene stereoisomer. 

Reactions involving free carbenes are very exothermic since two new theoretical treatment of the addition of singlet methylene to ethylene suggests that there is no activation barrier.168 The addition of carbenes to alkenes is an important method for synthesis of many types of cyclopropanes and several of the methods for carbene generation listed in Scheme 10.8 have been adapted for use in synthesis. Scheme 10.9, at the end of this section, gives a number of specific examples. 

The yields of cyclopropanes in this case are low in relation to the amount of acetophenone formed. However, similar cyclopropane product ratios are obtained when photolysis is carried out in the presence of Michler s ketone as sensitizer. Thus the carbene intermediate produced in the direct irradiation is thought to be a triplet, as suggested by the nonstereospecificity of its addition. Whether this intermediate arose from singlet diazoacetophenone (via singlet decomposition and intersystem crossing of the singlet carbene) or by decomposition of the triplet molecule was not determined. 

The stereospecificity of addition suggests a singlet(10) carbene although the ground state of cyclopentadienylidene is known to be a triplet. Attempts to produce a triplet species, which would be expected to react nonstereospecific-ally, in a 4-methyl-cw-2-pentene matrix at 77°K or by dilution of mixtures of the azo compound and olefin with hexafluorobenzene or octafluorocyclo-butane (inert diluents) were unsuccessful. It was concluded that the singlet carbene produced upon photolysis reacts more rapidly with the olefinic... 

A singlet carbene was proposed to account for this stereoselectivity. Attempts to produce triplet carbene by collisional deactivation with octafluorocyclo-butane were unsuccessful and stereospecific addition to olefin still occurred. However, nonstereospecific addition to olefins and larger amounts of olefinic (insertion) products result from irradiation of the phenyldiazomethane in a frozen m-butene matrix at — 196°C ... 

Carbene protonation has been amply demonstrated by product studies, time-resolved spectroscopy, and kinetic measurements. The ability of singlet carbenes to accept a proton is not adequately described by the traditional scale of carbene philicities, which is based on addition reactions with alkenes. In particular, aryl- and diarylcarbenes excel as proton acceptors but would traditionally be classified as electrophiles. 

The mechanism for the addition of singlet carbenes to alcohols has been studied in some detail (Bethell et al, 1971 Kirmse et al, 1981). By and large, the evidence supports two routes. The first, more common, sequence features initial formation of an ylid. Under some circumstances this reaction is reversible (Zupancic et al., 1985 Liu and Subramanian, 1984 Warner and Chu, 1984). Next, proton transfer, either intramolecularly, which may be slowed by symmetry constraints, or by a pair of intermolecular protonation and deprotonation steps, gives the ether. These reactions are outlined in (7). 

We know that carbenes have either a singlet or triplet structure. The addition of singlet carbene gives a halogenium ion and is therefore stereospecific. 

Photolysis of diazoaJkanes in liquid phase yields carbenes in a vibrationally relaxed state, since deactivation in solution immediately removes all excess vibrational energy. The addition of carbenes to the olefins, which results in nonstereospecific formation of cyclopropanes, must therefore result from the different multiplicity of carbenes — singlet or triplet. Since most of these multiplicity... 

The experimental ratio of ds- to trans-cyclopropane 43 46, i.e. the stereo-specifity of the reaction cannot be considered as a simple indication of singlet or triplet percentage of RaC , since the stereochemistry of the cyclo-addition depends on many factors. Photolysis produces the exdted 5i-state of the diazoalkane 41. This compound can lose nitrogen and form the singlet carbene 42 (So-state). 42 can add directly in a stereospecific manner if ki is large. If, however, intersystem crossing 42 45 (Aisc is large) competes favorably with... 

Photolysis of 21d (see earlier 21) in alkenes (cyclohexene, 1,1-diphenylethylene) always gave the cyclopropane derivatives 75 by a cis addition of the singlet carbene (64JOC3577) (Scheme 21). 

A deeper understanding of carbenic philicity requires a more detailed representation of the addition reaction transition state than that afforded by structure 4. Early MO calculations furnished structure 6 as representative of the transition state for addition of a singlet carbene to an alkene (Fig. 7.6). " ... 

Surprisingly, the critical experiment has been done infrequently over the last one-half of a century The requirements for an experiment that truly speaks to the issue at hand are that one be able to see the results of addition of both spin states of a single carbene, and these requirements rarely have been met. For example, the direct irradiation of methyl diazomalonate leads to the stereospecific addition expected of a singlet carbene, whereas the photosensitized decomposition of the diazo compound leads to formation of the triplet carbene and loss of the stereochemical relationship originally present in the reacting alkene. Rotational equilibration in the intermediate seems to be complete, as it makes no significant difference whether cis or trans alkene is used as starting material (Scheme 7.9). ... 

F. Mendez and M. A. Garcia-Garibay, A Hard-Soft Acid-Base and DFT Analysis of Singlet-Triplet Gaps and the Addition of Singlet Carbenes to Alkenes, J. Org. Chem. 1999, 64, 7061. 

Product Studios. Alkenes are known as diagnostic reagents for spin state of reacting carbenes. Thus, the reaction of a singlet carbene with an olefin usually results in the formation of a cyclopropane through stereospecific addition to the C—C double bond, while a triplet carbene gives rise to a nonstereospecific addition product (see Section 7). 

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