Alkene complexes reactions

Substitution of olefins by other alkenes takes place in many complexes [see methods of preparation of alkene complexes reactions (6.44)-(6.46), Table 6.11, Section 6.7]. Sometimes, substitution of olefins may be carried out even if the equilibrium constant of the reaction is not favorable by applying excess of alkene, removing more volatile alkene, etc. 

Pd(II) compounds coordinate to alkenes to form rr-complexes. Roughly, a decrease in the electron density of alkenes by coordination to electrophilic Pd(II) permits attack by various nucleophiles on the coordinated alkenes. In contrast, electrophilic attack is commonly observed with uncomplexed alkenes. The attack of nucleophiles with concomitant formation of a carbon-palladium r-bond 1 is called the palladation of alkenes. This reaction is similar to the mercuration reaction. However, unlike the mercuration products, which are stable and isolable, the product 1 of the palladation is usually unstable and undergoes rapid decomposition. The palladation reaction is followed by two reactions. The elimination of H—Pd—Cl from 1 to form vinyl compounds 2 is one reaction path, resulting in nucleophilic substitution of the olefinic proton. When the displacement of the Pd in 1 with another nucleophile takes place, the nucleophilic addition of alkenes occurs to give 3. Depending on the reactants and conditions, either nucleophilic substitution of alkenes or nucleophilic addition to alkenes takes place. 

Typical nucleophiles known to react with coordinated alkenes are water, alcohols, carboxylic acids, ammonia, amines, enamines, and active methylene compounds 11.12]. The intramolecular version is particularly useful for syntheses of various heterocyclic compounds[l 3,14]. CO and aromatics also react with alkenes. The oxidation reactions of alkenes can be classified further based on these attacking species. Under certain conditions, especially in the presence of bases, the rr-alkene complex 4 is converted into the 7r-allylic complex 5. Various stoichiometric reactions of alkenes via 7r-allylic complex 5 are treated in Section 4. 

The synthetic utility of the alkene metathesis reaction may in some cases be limited because of the formation of a mixture of products. The steps of the catalytic cycle are equilibrium processes, with the yields being determined by the thermodynamic equilibrium. The metathesis process generally tends to give complex mixtures of products. For example, pent-2-ene 8 disproportionates to give, at equilibrium, a statistical mixture of but-2-enes, pent-2-enes and hex-3-enes ... 

The catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation of an alkene, a reaction which was studied as early as 1966 by Nozaki and Noyori,63 is used in a commercial synthesis of ethyl (+)-(lS)-2,2-dimethylcyclo-propanecarboxylate (18) by the Sumitomo Chemical Company (see Scheme 5).64 In Aratani s Sumitomo Process, ethyl diazoacetate is decomposed in the presence of isobutene (16) and a catalytic amount of the dimeric chiral copper complex 17. Compound 18, produced in 92 % ee, is a key intermediate in Merck s commercial synthesis of cilastatin (19). The latter compound is a reversible... 

The preferred kinetic model for the metathesis of acyclic alkenes is a Langmuir type model, with a rate-determining reaction between two adsorbed (complexed) molecules. For the metathesis of cycloalkenes, the kinetic model of Calderon as depicted in Fig. 4 agrees well with the experimental results. A scheme involving carbene complexes (Fig. 5) is less likely, which is consistent with the conclusion drawn from mechanistic considerations (Section III). However, Calderon s model might also fit the experimental data in the case of acyclic alkenes. If, for instance, the concentration of the dialkene complex is independent of the concentration of free alkene, the reaction will be first order with respect to the alkene. This has in fact been observed (Section IV.C.2) but, within certain limits, a first-order relationship can also be obtained from many hyperbolic models. Moreover, it seems unreasonable to assume that one single kinetic model could represent the experimental results of all systems under consideration. Clearly, further experimental work is needed to arrive at more definite conclusions. Especially, it is necessary to investigate whether conclusions derived for a particular system are valid for all catalyst systems. 

The first examples of alkene cyclopropanation reactions with alkynylcarbene complexes were reported by Barluenga et al. in 2002 [15]. These intermolecular... 

Table 1 Results of the alkene epoxidation reactions with fluorinated (salen)Mn complexes under biphasic conditions ...

Another interesting example of dehydrative C-C coupling involves the alkylation of benzimidazole 36 with allyl alcohol 37, which is catalysed by complex 39 [15], The reaction is believed to proceed by alkene complex formation with the allyl alcohol 37 with loss of water from the NH proton of the NHC ligand and OH of the allyl alcohol to give an intermediate Ji-allyl complex. The initially formed 2-allylbenzimidazole isomerises to a mixture of the internal alkenes 38 (Scheme 11.9). 

The most widely used method for adding the elements of hydrogen to carbon-carbon double bonds is catalytic hydrogenation. Except for very sterically hindered alkenes, this reaction usually proceeds rapidly and cleanly. The most common catalysts are various forms of transition metals, particularly platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and nickel. Both the metals as finely dispersed solids or adsorbed on inert supports such as carbon or alumina (heterogeneous catalysts) and certain soluble complexes of these metals (homogeneous catalysts) exhibit catalytic activity. Depending upon conditions and catalyst, other functional groups are also subject to reduction under these conditions. 

The Wacker Reaction and Related Oxidations. An important industrial process based on Pd-alkene complexes is the Wacker reaction, a catalytic method for conversion of ethene to acetaldehyde. The first step is addition of water to the Pd(n)-activated alkene. The addition intermediate undergoes the characteristic elimination of Pd(0) and H+ to generate the enol of acetaldehyde. 

Carbonylation reactions have been observed using both Pd(II)-alkene complexes and CT-bonded Pd(II) species formed by oxidative addition. Under reductive conditions, the double bond can be hydrocarbonylated, resulting in the formation of a carboxylic acid or ester.238 In nucleophilic solvents, the intermediate formed by solvopalladation is intercepted by carbonylation and addition of nucleophilic solvent. In both types of reactions, regioisomeric products are possible. 

Phosphite complexes of platinum(0) have received substantially less attention than have phosphine complexes.44 [Pt P(OC6H4OMe-2)3 3] can be prepared by reduction of the [PtCl2 P-(OC6H4OMe-2)3 2] complex in the presence of the phosphite or by the reaction of the phosphite with Lris(//2-norbornene)platinum(II) 44 Alkene complexes of bis(phosphite)platinum(II) can be prepared in a similar manner to the analogous phosphine complexes. 

The first step of the reaction is likely to be the protonation of ethylene to produce a carbocation that undergoes the direct addition of acetic acid to produce ethyl acetate. The successive addition of ethylene to the carbocation leading to the production of alkene oligomers is a likely side reaction Formation and accumulation of these oligomers could eventually deactivate the catalyst. Detailed studies for a better understanding of the complex reaction mechanism are in progress. 

The disilanickela complex 21 is an effective catalyst for the double silylation of some alkenes. Thus, reaction of 11 with 2 equiv. of4-vinylanisole in the presence of a catalytic amount of 21 afforded a moderate yield of the five-membered disilylene compound 30. However, treatment of 11 with 1.2 equiv. of 1,1-diphenylethylene in the presence of a catalytic amount of 21 gave five-membered disilylene ring compound 31, which contained a saturated side chain. 

Copper olefin complexes are usually generated by the direct reaction of a Cu(l) source, the ligand, and the corresponding olefin. Copper ethylene complexes are of interest in view of their biochemical importance,98,98a-98e their applications in organic chemistry,99,99a,99b and industrial applications.100 100 Because of this, many copper alkene complexes have been reported, with different nuclearity, in compounds with one, two, or even three C=C units coordinated to a given copper center. 

It is important to realize that there is a great deal of overlap in the topics covered in this chapter. For example, the chemistry of metal carbonyls is intimately related to metal alkene complexes, because both types of ligands are soft bases and many complexes contain both carbonyl and alkene ligands. Also, both areas are closely associated with catalysis by complexes discussed in Chapter 22, because some of the best-known catalysts are metal carbonyls and they involve reactions of alkenes. Therefore, the separation of topics applied is certainly not a clear one. Catalysis by metal complexes embodies much of the chemistry of both metal carbonyls and metal alkene complexes. 

Although there is a tendency for the alkene complexes to contain uncharged metals, a large number of complexes are known in which the metal ions are Pd2+, Fe2+, Cu+, Ag+, and Hg2 +. As we shall see, the formation of alkene complexes of these and other metals occurs as the metals catalyze certain reactions of the ligands. 

Since the early work dealing with Zeise s salt, many complexes have been prepared with the formula [PtL(C2H4)X2], where L = quinoline, pyridine, or ammonia and X=C1 , Br , I, or N()2. Similar compounds have been prepared that contain other alkenes than C2H4. Many of the complexes containing dienes, trienes, and tetraenes as ligands also contain carbonyl ligands. In fact, metal carbonyls are frequently starting complexes from which alkene complexes are obtained by substitution reactions. 

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