Alkyl diazoacetates

The change in selectivity is not credited to the catalyst alone In general, the bulkier the alkyl residue of the diazoacetate is, the more of the m-permethric acid ester results 77). Alternatively, cyclopropanation of 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene instead of l,l-dichloro-4-methyl-l,3-pentadiene leads to a preference for the thermodynamically favored trans-chrysanthemic add ester for most eatalyst/alkyl diazoacetate combinations77 . The reasons for these discrepandes are not yet clear, the interplay between steric, electronic and lipophilic factors is considered to determine the stereochemical outcome of an individual reaction77 . This seems to be true also for the cyclopropanation of isoprene with different combinations of alkyl diazoacetates and rhodium catalysts77 . 

Diverging results have been reported for the carbenoid reaction between alkyl diazoacetates and silyl enol ethers 49a-c. Whereas Reissig and coworkers 60) observed successful cyclopropanation with methyl diazoacetate/Cu(acac)2, Le Goaller and Pierre, in a note without experimental details u8), reported the isolation of 4-oxo-carboxylic esters for the copper-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate. According to this communication, both cyclopropane and ring-opened y-keto ester are obtained from 49 c but the cyclopropane suffers ring-opening under the reaction conditions. 

Diazomalonic esters, in their behavior towards enol ethers, fit neither into the general reactivity pattern of 2-diazo-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds nor into that of alkyl diazoacetates. With the enol ethers in Scheme 17, no dihydrofurans are obtained as was the case with 2-diazo-l,3-dicarbonyl compounds. Rather, copper-induced cyclo-propanation yielding 70 occurs with ethoxymethylene cyclohexane u4). However,... 

Alkyl diazoacetates undergo little or no allylic C/H insertion when decomposed catalytically in the presence of appropriate olefins 6,13,I4). In contrast, such insertions occur with diazomalonates or ot-diazoketones. From the available facts, the conclusion can be drawn that different pathways may lead to what finally looks like the direct or rearranged allylic insertion product, but convincing evidence for one or the other mechanism is available only in a few cases. As Scheme 22 shows, the C/H insertion products 98-100 may arise from one of three major sources ... 

Enantioselective carbenoid cyclopropanation can be expected to occur when either an olefin bearing a chiral substituent, or such a diazo compound or a chiral catalyst is present. Only the latter alternative has been widely applied in practice. All efficient chiral catalysts which are known at present are copper or cobalt(II) chelates, whereas palladium complexes 86) proved to be uneflective. The carbenoid reactions between alkyl diazoacetates and styrene or 1,1 -diphenylethylene (Scheme 27) are usually chosen to test the efficiency of a chiral catalyst. As will be seen in the following, the extent to which optical induction is brought about by enantioselection either at a prochiral olefin or at a prochiral carbenoid center, varies widely with the chiral catalyst used. 

In the presence of catalytic amounts of 207a and at moderate temperatures (—15 to +30 °C), the cyclopropanes derived from styrene and various alkyl diazoacetates were obtained in good yields (80-95 %) with remarkably high enantiomeric excess for both the cis(lS, 2R) and the transilS, 2S) isomer. With increasing steric bulk of the rater substituent (methyl -> neopentyl), both the trans/cis ratio (0.69 - 2.34) and the optical yield (61 ->88% for the /raws-cyclopropane at 0 ° ) became higher 88,95). 

It has already been mentioned that prochirality of the olefin is not necessary for successful enantioselective cyclopropanation with an alkyl diazoacetate in the presence of catalysts 207. What happens if a prochiral olefin and a non-prochiral diazo compound are combined Only one result provides an answer to date The cyclopropane derived from styrene and dicyanodiazomethane shows only very low optical induction (4.6 % e.e. of the (25) enantiomer, catalyst 207a) 9S). Thus, it can be concluded that with the cobalt chelate catalysts 207, enantioface selectivity at the olefin is generally unimportant and that a prochiral diazo compound is needed for efficient optical induction. As the results with chiral copper 1,3-diketonates 205 and 2-diazodi-medone show, such a statement can not be generalized, of course. 

Transition-metal catalyzed decomposition of alkyl diazoacetates in the presence of acetylenes offers direct access to cyclopropene carboxylates 224 in some cases, the bicyclobutane derivatives 225 were isolated as minor by-products. It seems justified to state that the traditional copper catalysts have been superseded meanwhile by Rh2(OAc)4, because of higher yields and milder reaction conditions217,218) (Table 17). [(n3-C3H5)PdCl]2 has been shown to promote cyclopropenation of 2-butyne with ethyl diazoacetate under very mild conditions, too 2l9), but obviously, this variant did not achieve general usage. Moreover, Rh2(OAc)4 proved to be the much more efficient catalyst in this special case (see Table 17). 

Table 17. Cyclopropenation with alkyl diazoacetates according to R C = CR2 + N2CHCOOR3 - 224 + 225... 

Reaction of propargylic alcohols 229 with alkyl diazoacetates entails competition between O/H insertion and cyclopropenation. 

Alkyl diazoacetates react with N,N -diisopropylcarbodiimide in the presence of Cu(OTf>2 or Rh2(OAc)4 to give 5-alkoxy-4-oxazolines 284 rather than iminoaziridines... 

Initial one-electron oxidation of the diazo compound by Ag(I), Hg(II) or Cu(II) acetates may also be responsible for the formation of Ph2C(OAc)—C(OAc)Ph2 from diazodiphenylmethane and of EtOOCCH(OAc)—CH(OAc)COOEt from ethyl diazoacetate in DMF/H20 417). Direct evidence for reduction of Cu(II) triflate to the Cu(I) salt by alkyl diazoacetates has been furnished by the disappearance of the... 

Isaacs, L., Wehrsig, A., and Diederich, F. (1993) Improved purification of C60 and formation of S- and 7i-homoaromatic methano-bridged fullerenes by reaction with alkyl diazoacetates. Helv. Chim. Acta 76, 1231-1250. 

Rhodium(n) carboxamidates are clearly superior to all other types of catalysts in effecting highly chemo-, regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselective intramolecular C-H activation reactions of carbenoids derived from diazoacetates. Specifically, Rh2(4Y-MPPIM)4 is the catalyst of choice for C-H activation reactions of simple primary and secondary alkyl diazoacetates. Likewise, Rh2(4Y-MACIM)4 thus far has been the most successful catalyst with tertiary alkyl diazoacetates, whereas for primary acceptor-substituted diazoacetates with a pendant olefin side chain, Rh2(4A-MEOX)4 has proved to be highly selective. 

In the simplest case, the reaction of allyl diazoacetate, the catalyst (iS )-198 or (f )-198 in a concentration as low as 0.1 mol% can still catalyze the formation of enantiomeric-3-oxabicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2-ones with 95% ee (Scheme 5-60). Substituted alkyl diazoacetates undergo intramolecular cyclopropanation, with similarly high enantiomeric excess (Scheme 5-61).110... 

Much effort this year has been expended on chrysanthemic acid syntheses. Aratani et al. have extended earlier work on asymmetric synthesis (Vol. 6, p. 21) by decomposing various alkyl diazoacetates in 2,5-dimethylhexa-2,4-diene in the presence of chiral copper complexes to yield up to 92% of rrans-chrysanthemic acid in 88% dextrorotatory enantiomeric excess. Mitra has used ozonolysis of (+)-a-pinene to obtain, stereospecifically, the bromo-ketone (104) which undergoes Favorskii rearrangement to yield the anticipated ester (105) from which (+)-trans-chrysanthemic acid is readily obtained a second paper reports another route from (+)-car-3-ene initially to methyl (—)-c/s-chrysanthemate or to (—)-dihydro-chrysanthemolactone (106), both of which are convertible into (+)-rra s-chrysan-... 

Cyclopropanation and Cyclopropenation. At this time, intermolecu-lar cyclopropanation with alkyl diazoacetates is best accomplished with cobalt cat-... 

Buchner reaction (1, 368-369). The reaction of benzene with an alkyl diazoacetate is catalyzed efficiently by rhodium(Il) carboxylates, particularly Rh(OCOCF3)2. Cyclohcptatricnes are formed at room lemperlure. Of more importance, the l-carboalkoxy-2,4,6-cycloheptatriene is formed in almost quantita-... 

The addition of caibenoids derived from alkyl diazoacetates to alkenes has been extensively studied. As two thorough reviews on the subject,1 2 dealing with a detailed comparison of the various catalysts, have recently appeared, only a general summary concerning regioselectivity, competing reactions, dia-stereoselectivity and enantioselectivity will be presented here. 

Rhodium(II) acetate appears to be the most generally effective catalyst, and most of this discussion will center around the use of this catalyst with occasional reference to other catalysts when significant synthetic advantages can be gained. Cyclopropanation of a wide range of alkenes is possible with alkyl diazoacetate, as is indicated with the examples shown in Table l.l6e>37 The main limitations are that the alkene must be electron rich and not too sterically crowded. Poor results were obtained with trans-alkenes. Comparison studies have been carried out with copper and palladium catalysts and commonly the yields were lower than with rhodium catalysts. Cyclopropanation of styrenes and strained alkenes, however, proceeded extremely well with palladium(ll) acetate, while copper catalysts are still often used for cyclopropanation of vinyl ethers.38-40... 

A considerable improvement in the efficiency of the reaction of alkyl diazoacetates with benzenoid systems occurred with the development of rhodium(ll) carboxylates as catalysts.166 As can be seen in the reaction with benzene, rhodium(il) salts with electron-withdrawing ligands were far superior (Scheme... 

The products formed in these reactions are very sensitive to the functionality on the carbenoid. A study of Schechter and coworkers132 using 2-diazo-1,3-indandione (152) nicely illustrates this point. The resulting carbenoid would be expected to be more electrophilic than the one generated from alkyl diazoacetate and consequently ihodium(II) acetate could be used as catalyst. The alkylation products (153) were formed in high yields without any evidence of cycloheptatrienes (Scheme 33). As can be seen in the case for anisole, the reaction was much more selective than the rhodium(II)-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 31), resulting in the exclusive formation of the para product. Application of this alkylation process to the synthesis of a novel p-quinodimethane has been reported.133 Similar alkylation products were formed when dimethyl diazomalonate was decomposed in the presence of aromatic systems, but as these earlier studies134 were carried out either photochemically or by copper catalysis, side reactions also occurred, as can be seen in the reaction with toluene (equation 36). 

The reaction of N-alkylated pyrroles with carbenoids leads exclusively to substitution products. Due to the pharmaceutical importance of certain pyrrolylacetates, the reaction with alkyl diazoacetates (Scheme 45) has been systematically studied using about 50 different catalysts.13 Both the 2- and 3-alkylated products (216) and (217) could be formed and the ratio was dependent on the size of the JV-alkyl group and ester and also on the type of catalyst used. This has been interpreted as evidence that transient cyclopropane intermediates were not involved because if this were the case, the catalyst should not have influenced the isomer distribution. Instead, the reaction was believed to proceed by dipolar intermediates, whereby product control is determined by the position of electrophilic attack by the carbenoid. Similar alkylations with dimethyl diazomalonate gave greater selectivity and yields.164... 

A vast array of chiral catalysts have been developed for the enantioselective reactions of diazo compounds but the majority has been applied to asymmetric cyclopropanations of alkyl diazoacetates [2]. Prominent catalysts for asymmetric intermolecular C-H insertions are the dirhodium tetraprolinate catalysts, Rh2(S-TBSP)4 (la) and Rh2(S-DOSP)4 (lb), and the bridged analogue Rh2(S-biDOSP)2 (2) [7] (Fig. 1). A related prolinate catalyst is the amide 3 [8]. Another catalyst that has been occasionally used in intermolecular C-H activations is Rh2(S-MEPY)4 (4) [9], The most notable catalysts that have been used in enantioselective ylide transformations are the valine derivative, Rh2(S-BPTV)4 (5) [10], and the binaphthylphosphate catalysts, Rh2(R-BNP)4 (6a) and Rh2(R-DDNP)4 (6b) [11]. All of the catalysts tend to be very active in the decomposition of diazo compounds and generally, carbenoid reactions are conducted with 1 mol % or less of catalyst loading [1-3]. 

BINOL-catalysed enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between a-substituted acroleins and alkyl diazoacetates yielded chiral 2-pyrazolines with 95% ee. This methodology has been used to synthesise manzacidin A.86... 

The enantioselective intramolecular C-H insertion of alkyl diazoacetates has been used to prepare a variety of pharmaceutical and natural products [1], One example is the synthesis of (-)-enterolactone (8) shown in Scheme4 [2], The Rh2(4S-MPPIM)4-catalyzed reaction of 6 favors C-H insertion to form the y-lac-tone 7 in 93 % ee, which was the readily converted to 8. Competing C-H insertion at the highly activated benzylic C-H bond to form a /3-lactone was not observed, which illustrates the strong preference for five-membered ring formation over six-membered. 

Scheme 4. Rhj(4S-MPPIM), catalyzed intramolecular C-H insertion of an alkyl diazoacetate.

Hubert and co-workers have reported that alkyl diazoacetates react with A -diisopropylcarbodiimide in the presence of transition metal salts to give 2-isopropylimino-3-isopropyl-5-alkoxy-4-oxazolines.115 For example, treatment of ethyl diazoacetate with rhodium(II) acetate in the presence of A,A -diisopropylcarbodiimide (215) produced 2-iso-propylimino-3-isopropyl-5-ethoxy-4-oxazoline (217) in good yield. The formation of oxazoline 217 was interpreted in terms of an addition of ethoxycarbonylcarbene onto one of the nitrogen atoms of the carbodi-imide to give the transient ylide 216 which then cyclized to produce the observed heterocycle. 

A. J. Hubert, A. F. Noels, A. J. Anciaux, and Ph. Teyssie (1976) Rhodium(II) carboxylates novel highly efficient catalysts for the cyclopropanation of alkenes with alkyl diazoacetates, Synthesis 9 600-602... 

Alkyl diazoacetates react with diisopropylcarbodiimide to give oxazolines. 

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