Alkenes transformations, benzene

More recently, catalytic hydrogenations of alkenes by other catalysts in water have been explored. For example, water-soluble ruthenium complex RuCl2(TPPTS)3 has been used for the catalytic hydrogenation of unsaturated alkenes (and benzene). Hydrogenation of nonactivated alkenes catalyzed by water-soluble ruthenium carbonyl clusters was reported in a biphasic system. The tri-nuclear clusters undergo transformation during reaction but can be reused repeatedly without loss of activity. The organometallic aqua complex [Cp Ir (H20)3] " ... 

The reaction of aromatic compounds with alkenes giving alkylaromatic compounds has obtained more attention. A typical transformation is the alkylation of benzene by lower alkenes, e.g. 

Schiff base-cobalt-nitro complexes are too mild as oxidants to react as such with alkenes. However, the addition of Lewis acids (e.g. BF3 Et20, LiPF6) to these complexes activates the nitro ligand and produces a variety of both stoichiometric and catalytic oxidations. Stoichiometric transformations involve the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and 1,3-cyclohexadiene to benzene.467 Alcohols such as benzyl alcohol and cycloheptanol are catalytically transformed into the corresponding carbonyl compounds.467,474... 

In addition to alkenes, functionalized alkenes can also be used as alkylating agents. Koltunov, Walspurger, and Sommer, have reported the alkylation of benzene with a,/3-unsaturated carboxamides in the presence of excess aluminum chloride [Eq. (5.72)]. The reaction takes place under mild conditions and gives the products in near-quantitative yields. Results with ortlro-dichlorobenzene and triflic acid are usually inferior. Triflic acid, however, can catalyze similar reactions of cyclic and open-chain unsaturated amines with benzene to give phenylalkylamines in excellent yields.180 The transformations are interpreted by invoking the involvement of dica-tionic intermediates 39 and 40. 

The other major dehalogenation pathway involves elimination of two halogens, leaving behind a pair of electrons that usually goes to form a carbon-carbon double bond. Where the pathway involves halogens on adjacent carbons, it is known as vicinal dehalogenation or reductive -elimination. The major pathway for reductive transformation of lindane involves vicinal dehalogenation, which can proceed by steps all the way to benzene (28). Recently, data has shown that this pathway not only can convert alkanes to alkenes, but can produce alkynes from dihaloalkenes (29). 

A variety of four-membered ring compounds can be obtained with photochemical reactions of aromatic compounds, mainly with the [2 + 2] (ortho) photocycloaddition of alkenes. In the case of aromatic compounds of the benzene type, this reaction is often in competition with the [3 + 2] (meta) cycloaddition, and less frequently with the [4 + 2] (para) cycloaddition (Scheme 5.7) [38-40]. When the aromatic reaction partner is electronically excited, both reactions can occur at the 7t7t singlet state, but only the [2 + 2] addition can also proceed at the %% triplet state. Such competition was also discussed in the context of redox potentials of the reaction partners [17]. Most frequently, it is the electron-active substituents on the aromatic partner and the alkene which direct the reactivity. The [2 + 2] photocycloaddition is strongly favored when electron-withdrawing substituents are present in the substrates. In such a reaction, crotononitrile 34 was added to anisole 33 (Scheme 5.8, reaction 15) [41 ], and only one regioisomer (35) was obtained in good yield. In this transformation, the... 

Frequently, the intramolecular [2 + 2] photocydoaddition of an alkene to a benzene ring is followed by further pericyclic reactions. Such transformations yield... 

The oxidative decarboxylation of aliphatic carboxylic acids is best achieved by treatment of the acid with LTA in benzene, in the presence of a catalytic amount of copper(II) acetate. The latter serves to trap the radical intermediate and so bring about elimination, possibly through a six-membered transition state. Primary carboxylic acids lead to terminal alkenes, indicating that carbocations are probably not involved. The reaction has been reviewed. The synthesis of an optically pure derivative of L-vinylglycine from L-aspartic acid (equation 14) is illustrative. The same transformation has also been effected with sodium persulfate and catalytic quantities of silver nitrate and copper(II) sulfate, and with the combination of iodosylbenzene diacetate and copper(II) acetate. ... 

In addition to the ozonolysis of alkenes and a few aromatic compounds [93, 104], ozone oxidizes other groups. Thus saturated hydrocarbons containing tertiary hydrogen atoms are converted into tertiary alcohols [105, 106], and some alkenes are transformed into epoxides [107] or a,p-unsat-urated ketones [108], Benzene rings are oxidized to carboxylic groups [109, ethers [110] and aldehyde acetals [111] to esters aldehydes to peroxy acids [772] sulfides to sulfoxides and sulfones [775] phosphines and phosphites to phosphine oxides and phosphates, respectively [775] and organomer-cury compounds to ketones or carboxylic acids [114]. 

The reaction of chromyl chloride with alkenes gives epoxides, chlo-rohydrins, chloroketones, and ketones [668, 667, 668, 669, 670] or aldehydes (in the presence of zinc) [671, 672]. Benzene homologues are oxidized to aldehydes [667, 668] or ketones [666, 668, 673], Primary alcohols are converted into aldehydes [674, 675], and trimethylsilyl ethers of enols are transformed into a-hydroxy ketones [676]. 

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