Metal hydride reaction with alkynes

The following discussion deals not only with this reaction, but related reactions in which a transition metal complex achieves the addition of carbon monoxide to an alkene or alkyne to yield carboxylic acids and their derivatives. These reactions take place either by the insertion of an alkene (or alkyne) into a metal-hydride bond (equation 1) or into a metal-carboxylate bond (equation 2) as the initial key step. Subsequent steps include carbonyl insertion reactions, metal-acyl hydrogenolysis or solvolysis and metal-carbon bond protonolysis. 

Addition reactions of three kinds of main group metal compounds, namely R—M X (carbometallation, when R are alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or allyl groups), H—M X (hydrometallation with metal hydrides) and R—M —M"—R (dimetallation with dimetal compounds) to alkenes and alkynes, are important synthetic routes to useful organometallic compounds. Some reactions proceed without a catalyst, but many are catalysed by transition metal complexes. 

All of the proposed mechanisms for the reduction of alkynes with metal hydride-transition metal halide combinations involve an initial hydrometallation of the ir-system by the transition metal hydride, formed by the reaction of the original metal hydride with the transition metal halide, to form the vi-nylmetallic intermediate (99 equation 38). For the reduction of alkenes, similar alkylmetallic intermediates are implied to be formed. In the case of the reduction of alkenes with NaBH4 in the presence of Co" in alcohol solution, the hydrometallation reaction appears to be reversible as evidenced by the incorporation of an excess of deuterium when NaBD4 was used in the reduction. ... 

Alkynes show the same reaction and again the product obtained is the anti isomer. After a suitable elimination from the metal the alkene obtained is the product of the anti addition. Earlier we have seen that insertion into a metal hydride bond and subsequent hydrogenation will afford the syn product. If we use BH4 as the nucleophile we can accomplish anti addition of a hydride. Thus, with the borohydride methodology and the hydrogenation route either isomer can be prepared selectively. 

The following compounds with H—C and II—M bonds undergo oxidative addition to form metal hydrides. This is examplified by the reaction of 6, which is often called ortho-metallation, and occurs on the aromatic C—H bond at the ortho position of such donar atoms as N, S, 0 and P. Reactions of terminal alkynes and aldehydes are known to start by the oxidative addition of their C—H bonds. Some reactions of carboxylic acids and active methylene compounds are explained as starting with oxidative addition of their O—H and C—H bonds. 

The reactions of type II proceed by transmetallation of the complex 5. The transmetallation of 5 with hard carbon nucleophiles M R (M = main group metals) such as Grignard reagents and metal hydrides MH generates 8. Subsequent reductive elimination gives rise to an allene derivative as the final product. Coupling reactions of terminal alkynes in the presence of Cul belong to Type II. 

Most of the reported reactions between tetranuclear clusters and alkynes involve mixed-metal cluster species. In these systems hydride and carbon monoxide substitution generally occurs [Eq. (11)] (194-200), although in some cases Me3NO has been used to activate the starting material (201, 202), and in still others cluster breakdown takes place even under mild reaction conditions (203). Rh4(CO)12 (204) and Ir4(CO)12 (205) retain their nuclearity in reactions with alkynes, but in the latter case the metal framework geometry is altered (Fig. 7). The use of [Ir4(CO)11Br] instead of Ir4(CO)12 in reactions with alkenes produces alkene-substituted tetranuclear complexes (189), as shown in Fig. 7. Few other homonuclear clusters have been found to react with alkynes (206-208). In the reaction between the tetranuclear cluster Cp2W2Ir2(CO) 0 and diphenylacetylene two independent processes... 

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