Alkene Simmons-Smith reaction

This reaction is called the Smmons-Smith reaction and is one of the few methods avail able for the synthesis of cyclopropanes Mechanistically the Simmons-Smith reaction seems to proceed by a single step cycloaddition of a methylene (CH2) unit from lodomethylzmc iodide to the alkene... 

Simmons-Smith reaction (Section 14 12) Reaction of an alkene with lodomethylzmc iodide to form a cyclopropane denvative... 

It is clear that free CH2 is not involved in the Simmons-Smith reaction, but there is substantial evidence to indicate that caibenes aie formed as intermediates in certain other reactions that convert alkenes to cyclopropanes. The most studied exanples of these reactions involve dichlorocaibene and dibromocaibene. 

Without question, the most powerful method for cyclopropane formation by methylene transfer is the well-known Simmons-Smith reaction [6]. In 1958, Simmons and Smith reported that the action of a zinc-copper couple on diiodomethane generates a species that can transform a wide variety of alkenes into the corresponding cyclopropanes (Scheme 3.3) [7]. 

By application of the Simmons-Smith reaction it is possible to synthesize a cyclopropane from an alkene by formal addition of carbene to the carbon-carbon double bond, without a free carbene being present in the reaction mixture the... 

A carbene, R2C , is a neutral molecule containing a divalent carbon with only six valence electrons. Carbenes are highly reactive toward alkenes, adding to give cyclopropanes. Nonlialogenated cyclopropanes are best prepared by treatment of the alkene with CH212 and zinc-copper, a process called the Simmons-Smith reaction. 

Simmons-Smith reaction (Section 7.6) The reaction of an alkene with CH2l2 and Zn—Cu to yield a cyclopropane. 

Several modifications of the Simmons-Smith procedure have been developed in which an electrophile or Lewis acid is included. Inclusion of acetyl chloride accelerates the reaction and permits the use of dibromomethane.174 Titanium tetrachloride has similar effects in the reactions of unfunctionalized alkenes.175 Reactivity can be enhanced by inclusion of a small amount of trimethylsilyl chloride.176 The Simmons-Smith reaction has also been found to be sensitive to the purity of the zinc used. Electrolytically prepared zinc is much more reactive than zinc prepared by metallurgic smelting, and this has been traced to small amounts of lead in the latter material. 

Among methods of preparing optically active cyclopropane compounds, the Simmons-Smith reaction, first reported in 1958, is of significance. This reaction refers to the cyclopropanation of alkene with a reagent prepared in situ from a zinc-copper alloy and diiodomethane. The reaction is stereospecific with respect to the geometry of the alkene and is generally free from side reactions in contrast to reactions involving free carbenes. 

The Simmons-Smith reaction " and its variants are widely used for the stereospecific synthesis of cyclopropane compounds. The methodology involves the use of copper-treated zinc metal (the zinc-copper couple) with diiodomethane to add methylene to a carbon-carbon double bond. Alternative use of diazomethane in catalytic reactions does not offer the same synthetic advantages and is usually avoided because of safety considerations. As significant as is the Simmons-Smith reaction for cyclopropane formation, its employment for organic synthesis was markedly advanced by the discovery that allylic and homoallylic hydroxyl groups accelerate and exert stereochemical control over cyclopropanation of alkenes (e.g, Eq. 21), and this acceleration has been explained by a transition state model... 

Methylene can be transferred directly from the reagent mixture, CHjIj + Zn-Cu alloy, to the alkene without being generated as an intermediate (Simmons-Smith reaction). 

A study of the scope of the reaction has shown that mono- and disubstituted alkenes and, particularly, aryl-substituted alkenes are the best substrates. Various limitations have been noted, some not unexpected (sensitivity to steric effects), others quite surprising (complex reactivity of cyclohexenes). Nevertheless, the exceptionally high stability of the reagent should make it available from the shelf, and in appropriate cases its use is to be considered as an alternative to the Simmons-Smith reaction. 

TABLE 1. Yields (%) of the cyclopropanated reaction of several alkenes in the Simmons-Smith reaction with CH2X2 (X = Br, I) and several promoters... 

Organomercury compounds such as ICFbHgl and Hg(CH2Br)2 may be prepared by the reaction of metallic mercury with diiodomethane or by reaction of mercury(II) salts with diazoalkanes. These mercury derivatives are related to the intermediate that has been proposed in the Simmons-Smith reaction, and likewise, they have been found to convert alkenes into cyclopropanes.92... 

Even unreactive alkenes undergo the Simmons-Smith reaction (cyclopropanation) in high yield with dibromomethane and this zinc powder. Almost quantitative yields are obtained in the Reformatsky reaction of ethyl a-bromoacetate and this zinc powder. Ethyl a-chloroacetate can also be used if the reaction is conducted at higher temperatures for a longer period. 

However, this method really hit the headlines when it was used on allylic alcohols 61 and became known as the Simmons-Smith reaction.15 If there is stereochemistry at the alcohol 63, the cyclopropane is formed on the same side as the OH group 64 suggesting that the alcohol guides the zinc carbenoid into the alkene. 

Electrochemical cyclopropanation of alkenes occurs using dibromomethanes at a sacrificial zinc electrode in a CH2C12/DMF mixture with a one compartment cell (equation 65). Yields using more than twenty isolated and conjugated olefins were generally good (30 to 70%)98. Benzal halides give only poor yields in the same reaction, but 2,2-dibromo-propane leads to the equivalent gem-dimethylcyclopropanes in fair yields. The method represents a useful alternative to other methods of cyclopropanation of olefins such as the Simmons-Smith reaction. 

The mechanism for the formation of this carbenoid and for its reaction with alkenes need not concern us here. Just remember that it reacts as though it is methylene. The Simmons-Smith reaction is an excellent way to prepare cyclopropane derivatives from alkenes, as shown in the following examples. Note the stereochemistry in the second equation. 

Diiodomethane, CH2I2 Reacts with alkenes in the presence of zinc-copper couple to yield cyclopropanes (Simmons-Smith reaction Section 7.6). 

---