Alkylcobalt complexes cyclizations

The cyclization reactions of organocobalt complexes are very useful, and they offer an excellent alternative to the tin hydride method when reduced products are not desired. Most cobalt cyclizations have been conducted with nucleophilic radicals. Precursors are prepared by alkylation of cobalt(I) anions, and are usually (but not always) isolated. One suspects that alkylcobalt precursors should be useful for slow cyclizations because there are no rapid competing reactions that would consume the initial radical (coupling of the initial radical with cobalt(II) regenerates the starting complex). 

Radical cyclizations in the presence of cobalt(I) species lead to alkylcobalt(III) complexes which undergo 1,2-elimination of H-Co... 

The same reaction occurs much more rapidly and without gas evolution with alkylcobalt tetracarbonyls and conjugated dienes (14). Thus, the reaction probably involves the addition of an acylcobalt tricarbonyl to the diene, perhaps by way of a w complex, either 1 2 or 1 4 and then a cyclization to the TT-allyl derivative. 

Acetylene and monosubstituted acetylenes appear to give some of the 7T-(penteno-4-lactonyl)cobalt tricarbonyl complexes on reaction with alkylcobalt or acylcobalt tetracarbonyls also but other products are formed too. These other products have not been characterized but are thought to be linear, low molecular weight polymers of the acetylene or of the acetylene and carbon monoxide with an acyl group at one end of the polymer chain and a cobalt carbonyl group at the other. The formation of cyclic products from the more-substituted compounds and cyclic and linear ones from the less-substituted compounds is explainable because substitution is known to improve many cyclization reactions. 

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