Allenyl ions

Allenyl ions 372 undergo [4+2] cycloaddition reactions. For example, from allenyl cations, formed in the reaction of propargyl halides with zinc chloride at —30 to —50 °C and cyclopentadiene the [4+2] cycloadducts 373 (R = alkyl) or the [4+2] cycloadducts... 

The equilibrium between propargyl- and allenyl-tin compounds is not spontaneous, but it occurs in the presence of Lewis acids or coordinating solvents, and an ion-pair mechanism has been proposed (159). Substitution by iodine, or addition to chloral, occurs with propargyl/al-lenyl rearrangement (160, 161), analogous to the allylic rearrangement already mentioned. 

The vinyl cation analog of an allylic carbonium ion is an allenyl cation 242, where the empty p orbital on the unsaturated carbon overlaps with the perpendicular n bond of the allenyl system. Allenyl cation 242 is of course a resonance form of the well known alkynylcarbonium ion,... 

TTie solvolysis of propargylic substrates (199) and formation of alkynylcarbonium ions (200) has been extensively investigated. Particularly good evidence for the formation of alkynylcarbonium ions comes from the nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of alkynyl alcohols in strong acid media (200, 201). The downfield shifts of 4ppm for the proton of HC=C— and 1 ppm for CH3C=C- relative to their neutral precursors is indicative of carbonium-ion formation and shows the importance of the allenyl resonance contribution. 

Jacobs and Fenton (202) were the first to suggest the possible intermediacy of ion 242 in the hydrolysis of trisubstituted allenyl halides to give the corresponding propargyl alcohols as products. A detailed and elegant study of the solvolysis of a series of triarylchloroallenes, 243, has recently been carried out by Schiavelli and co-workers (203). Excellent first-order kinetics... 

Allenyl cations 1 are a stabilized form of vinyl cations1-3 in which the /1-carbon atom of the vinylic structure is part of the substituent which effects the stabilization of the ion via its electron-donating ability. This leads to a resonance hybrid having formally the alkynyl cation structure 2. Allenyl cations should be distinguished from the allenyl substituted carbenium ions 3 formulated as the mesomeric structures of the vinyl cations 4 (dienyl cations) stabilized by an w-vinyl group (equation 1). 

Recently, the solvolyses of l-chloro-l,3,3-triarylallenes 10 (andof 1-butyl-3,3-diphenyl-allenyl chloride) were carried out in the presence of thiocyanate and o-ethyl dithiocar-bonate anions as nucleophiles and found to give the corresponding allenyl derivatives 11 and 12 in good yield (equation 3)18. However, when potassium cyanate was used as a nucleophile, the cyanate ion attacked at the /-position to give the propargyl amines 14 after decarboxylation of the unstable intermediate 13 (equation 4). 

Ferrocenyl-substituted allenyl cations 28 were generated when 1,3-diferrocenyl-substituted secondary and ferrocenyl-substituted tertiary alcohols 29 were treated with trifluoroacetic acid27. These were rapidly converted into trifluoroacetoxyallylic ions by solvent addition the ions gave ferrocenyl-substituted enones by reaction with water (equation 8). 

Substituted allenyl cations 47 have been generated from propargyl alcohols 48 under stable carbocation conditions (Sbf s/f SOsII in SO2CIF) (equation 17). On the basis of 13C-NMR chemical shifts, the positive charge has been found to be extensively delocalized with the mesomeric allenyl cations contributing highly to the total ion structure36,37. 

The latter mode of reaction has even been reported to proceed in presence of sil-ver(I) ions [127], which is not easy to understand in the context of Marshall s silver-catalyzed cycloisomerization of allenyl ketones (see Chapter 15). 

Allenyl alcohols 10 react with lithium bromide in the presence of a palladium(II) catalyst to afford tetrahydrofurans and tetrahydropyrans 11 in good yield (Scheme 17.6) [7]. The mechanism of the reaction is similar to that discussed in Sect 17.2.1. i.e. it proceeds via a 2-bromo(jt-allyl)palladium(II) complex. In this case, however, the second nucleophile is not bromide ion but the alcohol moiety. As stoichiometric oxidant p-benzoquinonc (BQ) or copper(II) together with oxygen can be used. 

Hiemstra and co-workers reported the first example of an iodine-promoted allenyl N-acyliminium ion cyclization for the total synthesis of (+)-gelsedine, the enantiomer of the naturally occurring (-)-gelsedine [72], Compound 341 was prepared from (S)-malic acid. When 341 was dissolved in formic acid with a large excess of Nal and heated at 85 °C for 18 h, 343 was found to be the major product isolated in 42% yield. The latter was then successfully converted to (+)-gelsedine in a multi-step manner. Other routes without the allene moiety failed to provide the desired stereoisomer. The successful one-step transformation of 341 to 343 was key to the success of this synthesis. 

The additional double bond in the corresponding allenyl 2-nitrophenyl sulphides causes a significant preference of the oxygen transfer to carbon88. The dominant ions correspond to the radical cations of 2[3//]-benzothiazolone and protonated benzothiazole, respectively88. Both ions require the transfer of two oxygens to carbon in the side-chain as well as extensive rearrangements of the molecules see Scheme 22. The transfer of... 

Imidates, rearrangement of, 14, 1 Imines, additions of allyl, allenyl, propargyl stannanes, 64, 1 additions of cyanide, 70, 1 as dienophiles, 65, 2 synthesis, 70, 1 Iminium ions, 39, 2 65, 2 Imino Diels-Alder reactions, 65, 2 Indoles, by Nenitzescu reaction, 20, 3 by reaction with TosMIC, 57, 3 Ionic hydrogenation, 71, 1 Isocyanides, in the Passerini reaction, 65, 1... 

Richey [8], and then Pittman and Olah [9], observed the NMR spectra of acidic solutions of tertiary ethynyl carbinols, and their data support the idea that allenyl carbonium ions contribute significantly to the following ion structure ... 

The structure of the propargyl-allenyl anion is still uncertain but by analogy to the carbonium ion above it may be that shown in Eq. (2). 

When the alcohol adduct from the allenylzinc reagent and diisopropyl ketone was treated with 80 mol% of allenylzinc bromide in HMPA, a mixture containing 12% of diisopropyl ketone and 88% of recovered alcohol was obtained after 7 days at ambient temperatures (equation 1). Thus, it may be deduced that the allenylzinc additions are reversible. Presumably, the propargyl adducts are intrinsically favored, but steric interactions between the R1 and R2 substituents in the propargyl product favors an increased proportion of allenyl adducts in a reversible process (see Table 1). HMPA would expectedly facilitate reversal of the addition by decreasing the ion pairing between the alkoxide anion and ZnBr cation of the adducts. This expectation was subsequently confirmed by a study of solvent effects. 

It was hypothesized that propargyl allenyl isomerization produces an allenic intermediate 246 first which cycloisome-rized to the major product 246 (path a, Scheme 68). Alternatively, an intermolecular nucleophilic attack of the sulfur atom at the central carbon atom of the allene can transform it into the thiirenium ion 247, which then is transformed into the minor product 245 via Ad -E 247 —> 248 or through a direct SN2-Vin-type of process (path b. Scheme 68). This reaction was successfully applied for synthesis of furans and pyrroles (from thiopropargylimines) (Scheme 69 Table 10). 

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