Carbonylation allyl acetate

Heterogeneous palladium catalysts proved to be active in the conversion of simple alkenes to the corresponding allylic acetates, carbonyl compounds, and carboxylic acids.694 704 Allyl acetate or acrylic acid from propylene was selectively produced on a palladium on charcoal catalyst depending on catalyst pretreatment and reaction conditions.694 Allylic oxidation with singlet oxygen to yield allylic hydroperoxides is discussed in Section 9.2.2. 

It is known that tr-allylpalladium acetate is converted into allyl acetate by reductive elimination when it is treated with CO[242,243]. For this reason, the carbonylation of allylic acetates themselves is difficult. The allylic acetate 386 is carbonylated in the presence of NaBr (20-50 mol%) under severe conditions, probably via allylic bromides[244]. However, the carbonylation of 5-phenyl-2,4-pentadienyl acetate (387) was carried out in the presence of EtiN without using NaBr at 100 °C to yield methyl 6-phenyl-3,5-hexadienoate (388)[245J. The dicarbonylation of l,4-diacetoxy-2-butene to form the 3-hexenedioate also proceeds by using tetrabutylphosphonium chloride as a ligand in 49% yield[246]. 

Unusual cyclocarbonylation of allylic acetates proceeds in the presence of acetic anhydride and an amine to afford acetates of phenol derivatives. The cinnamyl acetate derivative 408 undergoes carbonylation and Friedel-Crafts-type cyclization to form the a-naphthyl acetate 410 under severe condi-tions[263,264]. The reaction proceeds at 140-170 under 50-70 atm of CO in the presence of acetic anhydride and Et N. Addition of acetic anhydride is essential for the cyclization. The key step seems to be the Friedel-Crafts-type cyclization of an acylpalladium complex as shown by 409. When MeOH is added instead of acetic anhydride, /3,7-unsaturated esters such as 388 are... 

The reaction of the allylic acetate with a diene system 784 affords the poly-fused ring system 785 by three repeated alkene insertions[487]. An even more strained molecule of the [5.5.5.5] fenestrane 788 has been constructed by a one-pot reaction in a satisfactory yield by the Pd-catalyzed carbonylation-cycliza-tion of 786 without undergoing elimination of /3-hydrogen in the cr-alkylpalla-dium intermediate 787 owing to unfavorable stereochemistry for syn elimination[488]. 

The production of 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BDO) from propylene via the carbonylation of allyl acetate is noted in Chapter 8. 1,4-Butanediol from maleic anhydride is discussed later in this chapter. An alternative route for the diol is through the acetoxylation of butadiene with acetic acid followed by hydrogenation and hydrolysis. 

Allylic acetates and phosphates can be readily carbonylated.248 Carbonylation usually occurs at the less-substituted end of the allylic system and with inversion of configuration in cyclic systems. 

Mediated by Tin. In 1983, Nokami et al. observed an acceleration of the reaction rate during the allylation of carbonyl compounds with diallyltin dibromide in ether through the addition of water to the reaction mixture.74 In one case, by the use of a 1 1 mixture of ether/water as solvent, benzaldehyde was allylated in 75% yield in 1.5 h, while the same reaction gave only less than 50% yield in a variety of other organic solvents such as ether, benzene, or ethyl acetate, even after a reaction time of 10 h. The reaction was equally successful with a combination of allyl bromide, tin metal, and a catalytic amount of hydrobromic acid. In the latter case, the addition of metallic aluminum powder or foil to the reaction mixture dramatically improved the yield of the product. The use of allyl chloride for such a reaction,... 

Another route to the diol monomer is provided by hydroformylation of allyl alcohol or allyl acetate. Allyl acetate can be produced easily by the palladium-catalyzed oxidation of propylene in the presence of acetic acid in a process similar to commercial vinyl acetate production. Both cobalt-and rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylations have received much attention in recent patent literature (83-86). Hydroformylation with cobalt carbonyl at 140°C and 180-200 atm H2/CO (83) gave a mixture of three aldehydes in 85-99% total yield. 

An allene moiety can serve as a nucleophile vis-a-vis a 7r-allylpalladium species generated from an allylic acetate moiety in substrates such as 495 (Scheme 124). The cyclization involving these two moieties generates another 7r-allyl intermediate, and the stage is set for the subsequent carbonylative cascade process as demonstrated by the transformation of 495 to 496.402... 

Durandetti et al. have described iron-catalyzed electrochemical allylation of carbonyl compounds with allylic acetates (Equation (27)).333 In the case of aldehydes, slow addition of the corresponding aldehyde is required in order to avoid pinacol formation. With crotyl acetate (R3 = Me), the reaction proved to be highly regioselective, providing almost exclusively branched homoallylic alcohols 150. 

The Pd(0)-catalyzed displacement of allylic acetates (297) with various nucleophiles via the allylic Pd(II) complex (298) is a well-established procedure (Scheme 114). Through attack of electrons (+2e ) in place of nucleophiles, (298) is expected to undergo a reductive cleavage providing allylic carbanions (299) and the acetate anion along with Pd(0) complexes. The latter can then be captured by various electrophiles (polarity inversion. Scheme 114) leading to (300) [434]. This procedure is useful for the deprotection of allyl esters under neutral conditions. Recently, a mechanistic study of the Pd-catalyzed reaction of allylic acetate (297), using carbonyl compounds as an electrophile, has been reported [435]. 

The mechanism of the Zn chloride-assisted, palladium-catalyzed reaction of allyl acetate (456) with carbonyl compounds (457) has been proposed [434]. The reaction involves electroreduction of a Pd(II) complex to a Pd(0) complex, oxidative addition of the allyl acetate to the Pd(0) complex, and Zn(II)/Pd(II) transmetallation leading to an allylzinc reagent, which would react with (457) to give homoallyl alcohols (458) and (459) (Scheme 157). Substituted -lactones are electrosynthesized by the Reformatsky reaction of ketones and ethyl a-bromobutyrate, using a sacrificial Zn anode in 35 92% yield [542]. The effect of cathode materials involving Zn, C, Pt, Ni, and so on, has been investigated for the electrochemical allylation of acetone [543]. 

Scheme 157 Palladium-zinc-mediated cathodic addition of allyl acetate to carbonyl compounds.

For selected examples of carbonyl allylations employing nucleophilic 7c-allyls derived from allylic acetates and carboxylates, see Palladium [225-233], Rhodium [234, 235], Ruthenium [236-238], Iridium [239-241]. 

More recently, using the cyclometallated iridium C,(7-benzoate derived from allyl acetate, 4-methoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid and BIPHEP, catalytic carbonyl crotylation employing 1,3-butadiene from the aldehyde, or alcohol oxidation was achieved under transfer hydrogenation conditions [274]. Carbonyl addition occurs with roughly equal facility from the alcohol or aldehyde oxidation level. However, products are obtained as diastereomeric mixtures. Stereoselective variants of these processes are under development. It should be noted that under the conditions of ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation, conjugated dienes, including butadiene, couple to alcohols or aldehydes to provide either products of carbonyl crotylation or p,y-enones (Scheme 16) [275, 276]. 

Scheme 20 Carbonyl allylation from the alcohol oxidation level employing isotopically labeled allyl acetate [R = p-(C02Me)C6H4]...

Allylic acetates are usually prepared by esterification from allylic alcohols. However, the corresponding alcohols are often only accessible by the fairly expensive hydride reduction of carbonyl compounds. Consequently, direct allylic functionalization of easily available olefins has been intensively investigated. Most of these reactions involve peroxides or a variety of metal salts.However, serious drawbacks of these reactions, (e.g. toxicity of some metals, stoichiometric reaction conditions, or nongenerality) may be responsible for their infrequent use for the construction of allylic alcohols or acetates. 

The electrochemical allylation of carbonyl compounds by electroreductivc regeneration of a diallyltin reagent from allyl bromide and a Sn species leads to formation of homoallylic alcohols in yields of 70-90 % even in methanol or methanol/water (Table 7, No. 12) Bisaryl formation is possible also from aryl iodides or bromides in the presence of electro-generated Pd phosphane complexes (Table 7, No. 13) In the presence of styrenes, 1,3-butadienes, or phenyl acetylene the products of ArH addition are formed in this way (Table 7, No. 14) . The electroreductivc cleavage of allylic acetates is also possible by catalysis of an Pd°-complex (Table K No. 15)... 

Coupling with allyl acetates gives allyl boronates,14 which exhibit a high diastereoselectivity in the intramolecular allyl boration of carbonyl compounds15 (Scheme 2). 

The conversion of an a, -unsaturated aldehyde or ketone into an allylic acetal or ketal, followed by SN2 -type attack of a nucleophile, leads, after hydrolysis of an initially formed enol ether, to a fi-sub-stituted carbonyl compound. The overall sequence (Scheme 23) is equivalent to a direct conjugate addition, but has the advantage that it allows the temporary introduction of a chiral auxiliary group if a chiral (C2-symmetric) diol is used in the acetalization step, die subsequent nucleophilic addition leads to a mix-... 

Carbonylation of allylic acetates. This reaction is effected by catalysis with this and a few other Pd(0) complexes, but requires bromide ion as a cocatalyst. It provides a route to (E)-p,y-unsaturated esters in generally high yield from primary allylic acetates. 

Finally, Molander has shown that the efficiency of 8-endo carbonyl-alkene cyclisations can be significantly enhanced by the presence of a leaving group in the allylic position of the alkene.57 For example, treatment of allylic acetate 47 with Sml2 provides an excellent yield of the cyclooctenol 48 (Scheme 5.36). After the cyclisation step, the resultant secondary alkyl radical is reduced to an... 

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