Alkenes, halogenation regioselectivity

Organoborane intermediates can also be used to synthesize alkyl halides. Replacement of boron by iodine is rapid in the presence of base.150 The best yields are obtained with sodium methoxide in methanol.151 If less basic conditions are desirable, the use of iodine monochloride and sodium acetate gives good yields.152 As is the case in hydroboration-oxidation, the regioselectivity of hydroboration-halogenation is opposite to that observed for direct ionic addition of hydrogen halides to alkenes. Terminal alkenes give primary halides. 

When halogenation of alkenes is carried out in aqueous solvent, a vicinal halohydrm is obtained. The reaction is regioselective, and follows the Markovnikov rule. The halide adds to the less substituted carbon atom via a bridged halonium ion intermediate, and the hydroxyl adds to the more substituted carbon atom. The reaction mechanism is similar to the halogenation of alkenes, except that instead of the halide nucleophile, the water attacks as a nucleophile. 

Ketones from halohydrins. Palladium acetate complexed with a triarylphos-phine, particularly tri-o-tolylphosphine, converts halohydrins into ketones in the presence of K2C03. Yields are about 70-85% for substrates in which the halogen is secondary or tertiary, but less than 50% when the halogen is primary because of epoxide formation. The reaction is useful for conversion of alkenes to ketones in those instances in which halohydrins are formed regioselectively. 

As the azocinoindole 40 constitutes the tricyclic substructure of the indole alkaloid apparicine , we attempted to improve the cyclization yield. Satisfactorily, the regioselectivity was completely switched to the 8-endo mode when the alkene acceptor was substituted at the internal position by a bromine atom. Thus, cyclization of selenoester 43 led to the desired target 40 as the only reaction product in 75% yield. Clearly, the bromine atom not only sterically prevented the competitive 1-exo attack, but also benefited the cyclization by activation of the double bond. It should be noted that similar halogen-controlled 8-endo cyclizations are known in the literature, but involving amidyl-type radicals <06OL2647>. 

In 1913, Kishner observed in one instance that under standard Wolff-Kishner reduction conditions, 2-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyloctan-3-one underwent eliminative reduction upon treatment with hydrazine hydrate and base at elevated temperatures to afford 2,6-dimethyloctan-2-ene (Scheme 7). This same reaction was later found to occur in the case of a-methoxy ketones and has since been referred to as the Kishner eliminative reduction. The reaction entails initial formation of the hydrazone and elimination of the a-substituent to afford the intermediate alkenyldiazene, which subsequently collapses to the desired alkene. Given the facile transformation of ketones into a-halo ketones, these conditions have been used to introduce alkenes regioselectively in the 2a-halocholestan-3-one series as shown in Scheme 8. Yields of 2-cholestene parallel the resistance of the a-halogen to undergo competitive elimination reactions. 

A few more vinyl halides can be made stereospecifically by halogenation and base-catalysed elimination. One example is the vinyl bromide E-28 available by stereospecific lruns bromination of crotyl alcohol 26 followed by stereospecific elimination.4 Various regioselectivities are available in the elimination reaction so the formation of that particular alkene is in a way more surprising than the stereopecificity of the reaction. Presumably the bromine atoms increase the acidity of nearby Hs (H-2 and H-3 in anti-21) so that one or other of the vinyl bromides will be formed. One explanation is an intramolecular elimination through an anti-peri-pimsa transition state in a chair like conformation using OLi as an internal base 26. It can reach H-3 in a five-membered cyclic array. 

In the presence of HjPtClg, hydrosilanes add to various 1-alkenes to give the corresponding terminal adducts in high yields ". Halogenated olefins such as 3,4-dichlo-robut-l-ene , 3,3,3-trifluoropropene , perfluoroethylene , and 1,1-difluoroethene are also readily hydrosilylated. 1,1-Difluoroethene is hydrosilylated regioselectively to give... 

---