Diazoacetic esters, reactions with alkenes

The complex [Fe(D4-TmAP)Cl] with Halterman s porphyrin ligand can effect asymmetric alkene cyclopropanation with diazoacetate in high product yield and high stereoselectivity [57]. The reaction occurs smoothly at room temperature without the need for addition of CoCp2, affording the cyclopropyl esters... 

The Reactions of Diazoacetic Esters with Alkenes, Alkynes, Heterocyclic and Aromatic Compounds V. Dave and E. W. Warnhoff, Org. React., 1970,18, 217-402. Reactions of Singlet Oxygen with Heterocyclic Systems H. H. Wasserman and B. H. Lipshutz, Org. Chem., 1970, 40, 429-509. 

Reviews (a) V. Dave and E. W. Wamhoff, The Reactions of Diazoacetic Esters with Alkenes, Alkynes, Heterocyclic and Aromatic Compounds, in W. G. Dauben, ed., Organic Reactions, Vol. 18, Chap. 3, John Wiley Sons, New York, 1970. (b) G. Maas, Top. Curr. Chem., 137, 75 (1987). (c) J. Salaun, Chem. Rev., 89, 1247 (1989). (d) A. Demonceau, A. J. Hubert, and A. F. Noels, Basic Principles in Carbene Chemistry and Applications to Organic Synthesis, in A. F. Noels, M. Graziani, and A. J. Hubert, eds., Metal Promoted Selectivity in Organic Synthesis, p. 237, Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1991. 

CO)2Fe (THF) BFT A transition state model for the syn stereoselective cyclo-propanations of alkenes with diazoacetic ester by Rh-porphyrin catalysts has been proposed. Alkenes , conjugated dienes and enol ethers are stereoselectively cyclopropanated with Rh(II) -stabilized 1- (alkoxycarbonyl)vinyl carbenoids derived from the diazo precursors and Rh2(OAc)4 (equation 95). The Cu(acac)2-catalyzed reactions of Me3SiCH2COCHN2 with alkenes provide the expected adducts in good yields ". ... 

The reaction of diazoacetic esters with alkenes is stereospecific and anti-isomers are produced preferentially. However, the anti/syn ratio is markedly dependent on the catalyst utilized. In order to prepare the three-membered adducts in better yields, with higher stereoselectivity, or with higher optical yields, extensive investigations have been conducted. Among the various catalysts examined, rhodium carboxylates have been found to be very efficient (equation 66) The reaction is relatively insensitive to steric... 

Dave, V., Wamhoff, E. W. Reactions of diazoacetic esters with alkenes, alkynes, heterocyclic and aromatic compounds. Org. React. 1970, 18,217 01. 

The catalytic activity of low-valent ruthenium species in carbene-transfer reactions is only beginning to emerge. The ruthenium(O) cluster RujCCO), catalyzed formation of ethyl 2-butyloxycyclopropane-l-carboxylate from ethyl diazoacetate and butyl vinyl ether (65 °C, excess of alkene, 0.5 mol% of catalyst yield 65%), but seems not to have been further utilized. The ruthenacarborane clusters 6 and 7 as well as the polymeric diacetatotetracarbonyl-diruthenium (8) have catalytic activity comparable to that of rhodium(II) carboxylates for the cyclopropanation of simple alkenes, cycloalkenes, 1,3-dienes, enol ethers, and styrene with diazoacetic esters. Catalyst 8 also proved exceptionally suitable for the cyclopropanation using a-diazo-a-trialkylsilylacetic esters. ... 

Whereas the vast majority of cyclopropanation reactions, including systematic investigations on catalyst effectiveness, regio- and stereoselectivity (vide supra), have been carried out by combining alkenes and simple diazoacetic esters, the method can be extended to diazoacetic esters with functionalized ester groups, to disubstituted diazoacetic esters, and to several other classes of diazocarbonyl compounds. 

The Reactions of Diazoacetic Esters with Alkenes, Alkynes, Heterocyclic, and Aromatic Compounds Vinod Dave and E. W. Warnhoff... 

Scheme 31.1 (a) The products obtained from the catalytic reaction of 4-phenyl-butyne (19) with 18 both in the presence and absence of water [53a]. (b) Addition of TMSN3 to isonitriles to obtain a series of substituted IH-tetrazoles [53d]. (c) 1,3-Cycloaddition reaction between diazoacetate esters (26) and electron-poor alkene (27) to obtain 4,5-dihydro-IH-pyrazole derivatives (28) [53e]... 

Carbenes and substituted carbenes add to double bonds to give cyclopropane derivatives ([1 -f 2]-cycloaddition). Many derivatives of carbene (e.g., PhCH, ROCH) ° and Me2C=C, and C(CN)2, have been added to double bonds, but the reaction is most often performed with CH2 itself, with halo and dihalocarbenes, " and with carbalkoxycarbenes (generated from diazoacetic esters). Alkylcarbenes (HCR) have been added to alkenes, but more often these rearrange to give alkenes (p. 252). The carbene can be generated in any of the ways normally used (p. 249). However, most reactions in which a cyclopropane is formed by treatment of an alkene with a carbene precursor do not actually involve free carbene... 

Table 6. Cyclopropanation reactions with ethyl diazoacetate using equimolar amounts of alkene and diazo ester" b... 

Palladium(II) acetate was found to be a good catalyst for such cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 19) by analogy with the same transformation using diazomethane (see Sect. 2.1). The best yields were obtained with monosubstituted alkenes such as acrylic esters and methyl vinyl ketone (64-85 %), whereas they dropped to 10-30% for a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds bearing alkyl groups in a- or p-position such as ethyl crotonate, isophorone and methyl methacrylate 141). In none of these reactions was formation of carbene dimers observed. 7>ms-benzalaceto-phenone was cyclopropanated stereospecifically in about 50% yield PdCl2 and palladium(II) acetylacetonate were less efficient catalysts 34 >. Diazoketones may be used instead of diazoesters, as the cyclopropanation of acrylonitrile by diazoacenaph-thenone/Pd(OAc)2 (75 % yield) shows142). 

The cyclopropanation utilizing donor/acceptor rhodium carbenoids can be extended to a range of monosubstituted alkenes, occurring with very high asymmetric induction (Tab. 14.4) [40]. Reactions with electron-rich alkenes, where low enantioselectivity was observed at room temperature, could be drastically improved using the more hydrocarbon-soluble Rh2(S-DOSP)4 catalyst at -78°C. The highest enantioselectivity is obtained when a small ester group such as a methyl ester is used [40], a trend which is the opposite to that seen with the unsubstituted diazoacetate system [16]. 

As with the Aratani catalysts, enantioselectivities for cyclopropane formation with 4 and 5 are responsive to the steric bulk of the diazo ester, are higher for the trans isomer than for the cis form, and are influenced by the absolute configuration of a chiral diazo ester (d- and 1-menthyl diazoacetate), although not to the same degree as reported for 2 in Tables 5.1 and 5.2. 1,3-Butadiene and 4-methyl- 1,3-pentadiene, whose higher reactivities for metal carbene addition result in higher product yields than do terminal alkenes, form cyclopropane products with 97% ee in reactions with d-men thy 1 diazoacetate (Eq. 5.8). Regiocontrol is complete, but diastereocontrol (trans cis selectivity) is only moderate. 

Dioximato-cobalt(II) catalysts are unusual in their ability to catalyze cyclopropanation reactions that occur with conjugated olefins (e.g., styrene, 1,3-butadiene, and 1-phenyl-1,3-butadiene) and, also, certain a, 3-unsaturated esters (e.g., methyl a-phenylacrylate, Eq. 5.13), but not with simple olefins and vinyl ethers. In this regard they do not behave like metal carbenes formed with Cu or Rh catalysts that are characteristically electrophilic in their reactions towards alkenes (vinyl ethers > dienes > simple olefins a,p-unsaturated esters) [7], and this divergence has not been adequately explained. However, despite their ability to attain high enantioselectivities in cyclopropanation reactions with ethyl diazoacetate and other diazo esters, no additional details concerning these Co(II) catalysts have been published since the initial reports by Nakamura and Otsuka. 

Enantioselective Cyclopropanation of Alkenes. Cationic Cu complexes of methylenebis(oxazolines) such as (1), which have been developed by Evans and co-workers, are remarkably efficient catalysts for the cyclopropanation of terminal alkenes with diazoacetates. The reaction of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of 1 mol % of catalyst, generated in situ from Copper(I) Trifluoromethanesulfonate and ligand (1), affords the (rans -2-phenylcyclopropanecarboxylate in good yield and with 99% ee (eq 3). As with other catalysts, only moderate transicis selectivity is observed. Higher transicis selectivities can be obtained with more bulky esters such as 2,6-di-r-butyl-4-methylphenyl or dicyclohexylmethyl diazoacetate (94 6 and 95 5, respectively). The efficiency of this catalyst system is illustrated by the cyclopropanation of isobutene, which has been carried out on a 0.3 molar scale using 0.1 mol % of catalyst derived firom the (R,R)-enantiomer of ligand (1) (eq 4). The remarkable selectivity of >99% ee exceeds that of Aratani s catalyst which is used in this reaction on an industrial scale. 

Bis(camphorquinone-a-dioximato)cobalt(II) (10) has been developed as a catalyst for enan-tioselective cyclopropanation reactions. It allows selective carbene transfer from diazoacetic esters to terminal C-C double bonds which are in conjugation with vinyl, aryl, alkoxycarbonyl or cyano groups, but not to alkyl-substituted alkenes, cycloalkenes, 1,3-dienes and al-lenes. The unusual chemoselectivity and some other experimental observations make the two mechanistic pathways proposed vide supra) questionable for these special carbene-transfer reactions. In contrast, the cobalt(II) complex 11 allows not only the cyclopropanation of styrene but also of oct-l-ene, a nonactivated alkene (ethyl diazoacetate, 35 °C, 3mol% of catalyst yield 50-60%). ... 

Cyclopropanation reactions with these catalysts are typically carried out with 0.5-2 mol% (with respect to the diazo compound) of catalyst and a five- to tenfold excess of alkene. Under these conditions, the formation of formal carbene dimers [e.g. diethyl ( )-but-2-enedioate and (Z)-but-2-enedioate from ethyl diazoacetate], arising from the competition between alkene and the metal-carbene intermediate for the diazo compound, can be largely suppressed. It has been shown, however, that the control of the addition rate of the diazoacetic ester has no effect on the cyclopropane yield with (dibenzonitrile)palladium(II) chloride as catalyst, in contrast to tetraacetatodirhodium, Rhg(CO)ig, and CuCl P(OR)3. ... 

Ethyl diazoacetate (228 mg, 2.0 mmol) was added at a controlled rate over a 6-8 h period to a stirred mixture of the alkene (20.0 mmol) or diene (10.0 mmol) and the catalyst (0.01 -0,02 mmol) under and ordinarily at 25 C. For copper(I) triflate catalyzed reactions with enol ethers, the diazo ester dissolved in the enol ether w as added to copper(II) triflate in EtjO in order to minimize polymerization of the enol ether. Alkenes were generally purified by distillation prior to their use. The initial solubility of the transition metal compound was dependent on the alkene employed, and, with the exception of Rhg(CO)jg, bis(acetylacetonato)copper(II), and copper bronze, homogeneous solutions were obtained prior to or immediately after the initial addition of ethyl diazoacetate. 1 h after addition was complete, EtjO was added, the resulting solution was washed twice with sat. aq NaHC03 dried (MgSOJ. EtjO and excess alkene were distilled under reduced pressure. The desired cyclopropanes were obtained either by fractional bulb-to-bulb distillation or by preparative GC (Table 8). 

The cyclopropanation of gaseous alkenes, butadiene, and allene (see Section 1.2.1.2.4.2.6.3.3., Table 11, entry 1) by diazoacetic esters can be achieved by passing a vapor-gas mixture of the alkene and the diazo compound at atmospheric pressure through a tubular continuous flow reactor which contains a copper catalyst (ca. 10%) deposited on pumice. In this manner, alkyl cyclopropanecarboxylates were obtained in yields of up to 50% with cop-per(II) sulfate (typical reaction temperature 65-110"C, contact time 3.6 s) or copper(II) oxide (85-200°C, 5s) as catalysts. 

The diastereoselectivity of the cydopropanation reaction of alkenes with diazoacetates has two facets. The configuration of the alkene double bond is normally fully retained ( stereospecific cydopropanation ), but may be lost partially when a bis(camphorquinonedioxima-to)cobalt(II) catalyst is employed. As far as the stereochemical relationship between the alkene substituents and the carbenoid building block is concerned, the sterically less encumbered diastereomer is usually formed preferentially, but the diastereomeric excess is normally not very impressive (for examples, see Tables 7 and 9). Within certain limits, the diastereomeric ratio depends on the catalyst as well as on the nature of the diazoacetic ester and the alkene s substituents. The thermodynamically more stable trans- or anti-) diastereomer is increasingly favored with increasing steric bulk of the substituents at the C-C double bond (e.g. 1-R-sub-stituted-l-trimethylsiloxyethene ) and of the ester residuc, furthermore in the following sequence of the metal catalyst Pd < Rh, Ru < In contrast, comparisons of... 

In contrast to diazoacetic esters, systematic investigations on cyclopropanation reactions employing a-diazo ketones are not available. It is evident, however, that the same catalysts can be applied, with an emphasis on bis(acetylacetonato)copper(II), tetraacetatodirhodium(II) and diacetatopalladium(II). The range of alkenes that can be cyclopropanated is more limited, however, than with diazo esters. 

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