Alkenes synthetic scope

The synthetic scope of radical cyclizations can be further extended by tandem trapping by electrophilic alkene. 

Since the previous review, new work has been carried out which has enlarged the synthetic scope of this reaction, including the use of new dienes (e.g. of favorable rigid structures) or new dienophiles (such as phosphaalkynes), as well as the use of high pressure and, more importantly, catalysis by low-valent transition metal complexes which permits the use of non-functionalized alkenes or alkynes, thus opening a new route to polycyclic and chiral hydrocarbons. 

The term hydrosilylation is used to describe addition reactions of R3SiH compounds to unsaturated reagents. The industrial importance of alkene hydrosilylation has led to a rapid development in this area. The synthetic scope of these reactions has been reviewed (179,185,187) so, again, we discuss here only the stereochemical and mechanistic aspects. 

Since the mid-1990s, synthetic attention has been directed more towards the use of metal-stabilized nitrenes as synthetic effectors of alkene aziridination. In 1969 it was reported that Cu(i) salts were capable of mediating alkene aziridination when treated with tosyl azide, but the method was limited in scope and was not adopted as a general method for the synthesis of aziridines [12]. Metaloporphyrins [13] were shown to be catalysts for the aziridination of alkenes in the presence of the nitrene precursor N-tosyliminophenyliodinane [14] in the early 1980s, but the reaction did... 

Martin, Padron, and coworkers have reported on the scope and limitations of the use of iron(lll) halides as effective catalysts in the coupling of alkenes or acetylenes with aldehydes to achieve a wide variety of useful synthetic transformations. All these reactions are shown in Scheme 10, which serves as a guide through the aliphatic C-C bond formation section [27]. 

The current scope of the controlled monocarbotitanation of alkenes and alkynes is still very limited at least in part due to competitive side-reactions arising via ft- and a-agostic interactions, as alluded to Scheme 6. On the other hand, polymerization, also shown in Scheme 6, may be largely avoided or minimized in most cases. T o overcome some of the difficulties mentioned above, cyclic version of monocarbotitanation have been explored,25-27 as shown in Scheme 12. None of these reactions has as yet been widely used, but their further development might lead to synthetically useful methods. 

Negishi reported the hydrogen transfer hydroalumination of alkenes with (/-Bu AKTIBA) and catalytic amounts of palladium and other late transition metal complexes.125 Although uncatalyzed hydroaluminations of alkenes with di-and trialkylalanes at elevated temperatures have long been known, their scope and limitations as well as their synthetic utility have not been extensively explored. 

This review focuses on the cross-metathesis reactions of functionalised alkenes catalysed by well-defined metal carbene complexes. The cross- and self-metath-esis reactions of unfunctionalised alkenes are of limited use to the synthetic organic chemist and therefore outside the scope of this review. Similarly, ill-defined multicomponent catalyst systems, which generally have very limited functional group tolerance, will only be included as a brief introduction to the subject area. 

The oxidation of organic substances by cyclic peroxides has been intensively studied over the last decades , from both the synthetic and mechanistic points of view. The earliest mechanistic studies have been carried out with cyclic peroxides such as phthaloyl peroxide , and more recently with a-methylene S-peroxy lactones and 1,2-dioxetanes . During the last 20 years, the dioxiranes (remarkable three-membered-ring cyclic peroxides) have acquired invaluable importance as powerful and mild oxidants, especially the epoxidation of electron-rich as well as electron-poor alkenes, heteroatom oxidation and CH insertions into alkanes (cf. the chapter by Adam and Zhao in this volume). The broad scope and general applicability of dioxiranes has rendered them as indispensable oxidizing agents in synthetic chemistry this is amply manifested by their intensive use, most prominently in the oxyfunctionalization of olefinic substrates. 

Due to the copious amount of recent literature pertaining to olefin CM, a comprehensive review would prove repetitive, as this reaction is now a widespread synthetic tool. Fortunately, numerous reviews are now readily available on this subject. This chapter therefore focuses on reports pertaining to important aspects in either the concept or the application of alkene CM. Allene, alkyne, and enyne CM reactions are not included within the scope of this review. Drawing from the examples discussed, a series of general guidelines toward constructing a desired olefin CM transformation will be presented. 

The scope and utility of cation radical induced cyclobutanation1 is greatly enhanced by the option of cross additions, the first of which was the formation of a 3 2 mixture of diastereomeric cyclobutanes in the irradiation of an equimolar mixture of phenyl vinyl ether and 1,1-dimethylindene in the presence of tetraphenylpyrylium tetrafluoroboratc in acetonitrile.2 The scope of PET cyclobutanations was further extended in a synthetic sense by the observation of cross additions of electron-rich alkenes to conjugated dienes.3 4 Examples of such reactions are shown below in the formation of compounds 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

From the discussion above, the following conclusions can be drawn. Apart from some selected examples, the issue ofchemoselectivity and catalytic activity in iron-catalyzed allylic hydroxylation has not so far been solved. In particular, synthetically useful methods with a broad scope concerning alkene substrates are still lacking. Furthermore, in many cases it seems to be difficult to avoid overoxidation of the allylic alcohol to the corresponding enone. In addition, most published procedures utilize the alkene in a large excess (often as a solvent), thus limiting the use of functionalized alkenes which are not commercially available. 

Although the Pd-catalyzed alkene-CO copolymerization reaction must involve a series of acylpalladation reactions, it is outside the scope of this chapter. And, the readers are referred to recent reviews and pertinent references cited therein [27-29]. As such, the cyclic carbonylation reactions of dienes were of limited synthetic utility because of difficulties in controlling regiochemistry and other aspects of importance in fine chemicals synthesis. Whatever the reasons might have been, little had been reported further until the 1980s. 

Allylic alcohols represent a small fraction of the total population of alkenes found in organic molecules. Asymmetric epoxidation of allylic alcohols therefore taps only a small portion of the synthetic potential inherent in a completely general asymmetric epoxidation of isolated (nonfunctionalized) alkenes. A partial solution to this problem now exists. The recent development of a catalytic asymmetric process for the dihydroxylation of aUcenes provides an indirect route to epoxides or epoxide-like functionalization of alkenes. The stereochemistry of the process, the scope of enantioselectivity and chemical yield and a summary of key chemical transformations are presented in this section. Since this roach to alkene functionalization is at an early stage of development, the results sununarized here are certain to benefit from extensions and improvements as research in this area progresses. 

This review is written to cover the needs of synthetic chemists with interests in oxidizing alkenes by addition of nitrogenous substituents. Whilst some aspects have been covered in previous reviews (noted in the text), most notably in the Tetrahedron Report No. 144, Amination of Alkenes and prior reviews on aziridines and nitrenes, the present review is the fust conq>ilation of references to the whole range of these particular bond-forming processes. A review by Whitham provides a useful general introduction to reaction mechanisms of additions to alkenes in greater detail than can be covered here. The oxidation requirement excludes from the scope the additions of N H and most additions of N + Metal or N + C. Hence, unmodified Michael and Ritter reactions are excluded. These topics are mostly covered in Volume 4 of the present series. 

---