Alkynes insertions into metal-carbon bonds

Many examples of alkene and alkyne insertion into metal-carbon bonds can also be found in the section on homogeneous catalysis. Other recent examples include the insertion of conjugated dienes into palladium-allyl bonds, olefin arylation in the presence of palladium acetate, and the reaction of ethylene with arylmagnesium halides in the presence of nickel chloride. Reaction of isocyanates with nickel-ethynyl compounds... 

C(OMe)C6H4-o-C=CPh (CO)j leads directly to the formation of a chrysene derivative via the formal dimerization of the carbene ligand. A plausible explanation for the formation of the final product involves a doubly alkyne-bridged dinuclear complex, alkyne insertions into metal-carbene bonds, and coupling of the carbene carbons. 

Oligomerization of alkynes probably occurs by multiple insertions of acetylene into metal-carbon bonds. An insertion reaction of alkynes is shown as follows ... 

Catalysis of the [2+2+2] cycloaddition of alkynes by transition metal complexes has been extensively exploited for the synthesis of complex organic molecules [30-34]. The accepted mechanism for this transformation, shown in Scheme 10, involves coordination of two alkyne molecules to the metal centre followed by oxidative coupling to form the coordinatively unsaturated metallocyclo-pentadiene 49, which can coordinate a third molecule of alkyne to afford 50. Insertion of the alkyne in a metal-carbon bond of this complex leads to met-allocycloheptadiene 51, and reductive elimination then affords cyclotrimer 52 and regenerates the catalytic species. Alternatively, the transformation of 49 into 52 might involve a Diels-Alder reaction giving intermediate 53, followed by reductive elimination [35]. 

Insertions of Alkynes into Metal-Carbon Bonds... 

The insertions of alk5mes into metal-carbon o-bonds are less common than either the insertions of olefins into metal-carbon bonds or the insertions of alkynes into metal-hydride bonds. Nevertheless, several examples of this reaction have been studied, and many examples are part of catalytic processes. Most of the insertions of alkynes into metal-carbon bonds occur by concerted migratory insertion pathivays and provide products from cis addition of the metal and hydrocarbyl group across the carbon-carbon multiple bond, as predicted on theoretical groimds by Thom and Hoffmann. In some cases, the products from trans addition are observed, but these kinetic products are thought to result from isomerization of the vinyl group in reaction intermediates formed by cis addition. 

The insertions of alkynes into metal-carbon bonds are thermodynamically more favored than the insertions of olefins into metal-carbon bonds because the cleavage of one carbon-carbon TT-bond in an alk3me requires less energy than the cleavage of the C-C n-bond in an olefin and the sp -C-M bond in the product of alkyne insertion is stronger than the sp -C-M bond in the product of alkene insertion. The insertions of alkynes into the vinyl complexes that result from alkyne insertion are also favored thermodynamically. Thus, multiple insertions of alkynes to form polyacetylenes, just like the multiple insertions of alkenes to form polyolefins, are knoivn. Because of the conducting properties of polyacetylenes, the transition-metal-catalyzed polymerization of alkynes to form polyacetylenes has been studied. ... 

In the process of olefin insertion, also known as carbometalation, the 1,2 migratory insertion of the coordinated carbon-carbon multiple bond into the metal-carbon bond results in the formation of a metal-alkyl or metal-alkenyl complex. The reaction, in which the bond order of the inserted C-C bond is decreased by one unit, proceeds stereoselectively ( -addition) and usually also regioselectively (the more bulky metal is preferentially attached to the less substituted carbon atom. The willingness of alkenes and alkynes to undergo carbometalation is usually in correlation with the ease of their coordination to the metal centre. In the process of insertion a vacant coordination site is also produced on the metal, where further reagents might be attached. Of the metals covered in this book palladium is by far the most frequently utilized in such transformations. 

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. 

The mechanism of the Dotz benzannulation reaction has not been fully elucidated. The first step is the ratedetermining dissociation of one carbonyl ligand from the Fischer carbene complex, which is cis to the carbene moiety. Subsequently, the alkyne component coordinates to the coordinatively unsaturated carbene complex, and then it inserts into the metal-carbon bond. After the alkyne insertion, a vinylcarbene is formed that can lead to the product by two different pathways (Path A or Path b). ... 

Insertion of alkynes into metal-carbon single bonds occurs with both anti [reactions (a)-(b)] and syn [reactions (c)-(g)] stereochemistry however, there are more examples of syn addition. 

Iron complex (55) also reacts with H2 to produce methane and ethene to afford propene <80JA1752>. Both reactions appear to involve insertion into a metal-carbon bond followed by elimination. When osmium complex (56) adds ethene, the diosmacyclopentane which results from ethene addition is isolated. When terminal alkynes react with (55), an alkene-substituted ring carbon results... 

The many reactions that involve insertion of alkenes or alkynes into metal-carbon or metal-hydrogen bonds provide further examples of hypercoordination of carbon atoms during reactions. For example, an alkene may coordinate to the coordinatively unsaturated metal atom of a metal hydride complex prior to inserting into the metal-hydrogen bond [Eq. (1.9)] ... 

Alkyne polymerization in organic media has been reviewed [131]. A large variety of catalysts has been reported to polymerize alkynes in organic media. Similar to the polymerization of olefins, early transition metal as well as late transition metal catalysts are effective for this polymerization. Depending on the nature of the metal, two different mechanisms of polymerization have been suggested polymerization via a metal alkyl intermediate, or via a metal carbene (Scheme 7.9). With metal alkyl complexes, polymerization proceeds via migratory insertion of the alkyne into the metal-carbon bond [path (a) in Scheme 7.9] whereas with metal carbenes the mechanism is equivalent to that of metathesis [path (b)]. 

The formation of reactive intermediates provides possible opportunities for new reaction design. An attractive highly reactive intermediate, carbenes, which demonstrate numerous useful synthetic pathways, most notably by addition to alkenes and alkynes and also insertion into X-H bonds, where X is both carbon and heteroatoms, suffers from problems associated with their accessibility. Undoubtedly, the most useful class of precursor is the diazo compounds, whose safety problems restrict their use. For the specific case of vinylidenes, an attractive possibility is a terminal alkyne which is isomeric with a vinylidene. Although the thermolysis appears to effect this transformation (Equation 1.1, path a), the extraordinarily high temperatures required make the prospect of a transition metal-catalyzed version (Equation 1.1, path b) attractive. The early studies of Werner [6] using Rh and Bruce and co-workers [7] using Ru proved the facility with which such species would form however, the studies focused on the formation and isolation of the vinylidene-metal complexes and their stoichiometric reactions. 

Bridging alkylidene complexes similarly react with alkynes to afford isolatable derivatives arising from the formal insertion into one metal-carbon bond. So, UV irradiation of M2(CO)2(/t-CO)( U-CHCH3)(>j -Cp), in the presence of acetylene results in the fomation of a new carbene and a three-carbon bridging system, XXII ... 

The photochemistry of metal carbyne complexes is in many ways similar to the photochemistry of metal carbene complexes, but the reactions have not been developed or become as synthetically useful as the photochemistry of metal carbene complexes. Among reported reactions are couplings with ancillary CO ligands to form ketenyl complexes, protonation of the carbyne carbon, insertions into C-H bonds, addition of the carbyne carbon to an alkyne to produce a cyclopropenyl complex, and electron-transfer reactions. ... 

Sulphur Dioxide. The observed products and high rates of insertion of sulphur dioxide into tin-carbon bonds in organotin allenes and alkynes have been interpreted in terms of an electrophilic cleavage mechanism. Such a mechanism is also proposed for sulphur dioxide insertion into mercury-carbon and into lead-carbon bonds. The mechanism of sulphur dioxide insertion into transition metal (Mo, W, or Mn)-carbon bonds is again similar. ... 

Scheme 7.3 One-pot synthesis of heterocyclic compounds through two types of insertions of an alkyne and two alkynes into the metal-carbon bond of activated cyclometalated benzyl methyl sulfide [67]...

Metallabenzenes have been invoked as possible intermediates in several other reaction types. Schrock, " for example, proposed tungstenabenzenes as possible intermediates in certain alkyne metathesis reactions that proceed by associative mechanisms. Shown in Scheme 32 is a proposed sequence for the metathesis of 3-heptyne to 3-hejQTie and 4-octyne using a tungstenacyclobutadiene complex as catalyst. The postulated metallabenzenes are formed by alkyne insertion into the metal carbon bonds of the metallacyclobutadienes. Of course, it is also possible to envisage a catalytic cycle based on Dewar metallabenzene intermediates. 

Some metal alkyne complexes react with SO2 by insertion into the metal-carbon bond to give 24 . 

Several examples of the insertion of alkenes and alkynes into metal-carbon and metal-hydrogen bonds have been mentioned incidentally in the previous chapter, on homogeneous catalysis. In this section we concentrate on reactions in which the mechanistic interest centres on the insertion process. 

The simplest bonding mode found in trinuclear hydrocarbon-substituted clusters of osmium and ruthenium is the 7 -vinyl coordination in which one carbon center is formally cr-bound to one metal atom in the triangular core and the alkene/alkyne unit is formally vr-bound to an adjacent metal, so that the ligand donates three electrons to the cluster. Vinyl complexes are generally prepared by alkyne insertion into [Os3(/U-H)2(GO)io] or by the oxidative addition of an alkene to [Os3(GO)io(NGMe)2l or [Os3(GO)i2], and may be considered to be intermediates in reactions to other hydrocarbon-containing cluster products. A list of reported 77 -vinyl- and the related 77 -acetylide-substituted complexes is presented in Table 1. The related 77 -vinylidene-substituted clusters, in which one carbon atom of the ligand is cr-bonded to two metal centers and the alkene unit is formally vr-bound to the third metal center, can be prepared by the thermal conversion of an 77 -vinyl cluster (Scheme 3). The 77 -vinylidene formally donates four electrons to the cluster core. 

When the reaction of zirconacyclopentadiene 4 with DMAD proceeded in the presence of CuCl at -78 °C, the linear triene 20 was obtained in 78% yield after hydrolysis. When this mixture was wanned to room temperature, benzene derivative 6 was formed as a single product. This clearly indicates that benzene formation involves the insertion reaction of the third alkyne (DMAD) into the metal-carbon bond (path B). As shown in Scheme 11.7, the alkenyl copper moiety added to the carbon-carbon triple bond of DMAD and elimination of Cu metal led to the benzene derivatives 6. Indeed, a copper mirror was observed on the wall of the reaction vessel. However, benzene derivatives were also obtained by using only a catalytic amount of CuCl. In this case, copper metal deposition was obviously not observed. This means that path A cannot be ruled out. 

Insertion of an alkyne into a metal-hydrogen or metal-carbon bond is usually thought to occur via prior co-ordination of the alkyne into a vacant co-ordination site on the metal. Thus the reaction of hexafluorobut-2-yne with complexes of the type / -[PtClMeLa] (L = tertiary phosphine or arsine) can lead to insertion products, e.g. (8), and complexes which may be intermediates in the insertion, e.g. (9), can be isolated and characterized. Similarly, the reaction of dicyanoacetylene with [IrH(CO)2(PPh3)2] gives (10), > which is... 

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