Allylation of Soft Carbon Nucleophiles

The intramolecular allylation of soft carbon nucleophiles with allylic acetates as a good cyclization method has been extensively applied to syntheses of various three, four, five and six-membered rings, and medium and macrocyclic compounds[44]. Only a few typical examples of the cyclizations are treated among numerous applications. 

In addition to allylation of soft carbon nucleophiles, aoss-coupling of rr-allylpalla-dium intermediates with hard carbon nucleophiles of organometaUic compounds of main group metals is possible. Cross-couphng of allyhc compounds occurs by transmetallation between 7r-allylpalladium intermediates and organometaUic compounds of Mg, Zn, B, Al, Si, Sn, and Hg, and subsequent reductive elimination. These carbon-carbon bondforming reactions are discussed in Sect JIL2. 

Progress has also been made in the use of other metals. For example, iridium-catalyzed processes have been developed for AAA reactions. The regioselectivity of this reaction is analogous to molybdenum. Allylation of soft carbon nucleophiles has been reported using chiral iridium complexes, with the products isolated in high enantiomeric purity (> 91%... 

The stereochemistry of the Pd-catalyzed allylation of nucleophiles has been studied extensively[5,l8-20]. In the first step, 7r-allylpalladium complex formation by the attack of Pd(0) on an allylic part proceeds by inversion (anti attack). Then subsequent reaction of soft carbon nucleophiles, N- and 0-nucleophiles proceeds by inversion to give 1. Thus overall retention is observed. On the other hand, the reaction of hard carbon nucleophiles of organometallic compounds proceeds via transmetallation, which affords 2 by retention, and reductive elimination affords the final product 3. Thus the overall inversion is observed in this case[21,22]. 

Loss of stereospecificity in the addition of soft carbon nucleophiles can occur if the rate of nucleophilic attack is slow, due, for example, to extreme steric bulk, e.g. NaCH(SChPh>2,167 of the nucleophile (equation 154). In this case, the initially displaced OAc has sufficient time to return and attack the ir-allyl complex. Acetate anions (vide infra) are capable of either ligand or metal addition, thus scrambling the stereochemistry of the starting allyl acetate. 

Addition of MeMgl158 or PhLi160 to ir-allylpalladium complexes derived from methylenenoibomane exhibits selective C—C bond formation at die more hindered allyl terminus. Soft carbon nucleophiles with the same allyl species show the opposite regioselectivity (equation 252).158,160... 

The palladium(O) catalysed allylic alkylation of soft carbon nucleophiles represents a very useful tool for organic synthesis. The reaction conditions often involve heating a mixture of stabilised carbanions together with the substrate and the catalyst mixture in THF. 

Type III reaction proceeds by an attack of a nucleophile at the central sp carbon of the allenylpalladium. In contrast to facile Pd(0)-catalyzed reactions of allylic esters with soft carbon nucleophiles via TT-allylpalladium intermediates, propargylic esters are less reactive towards soft carbon nucleophiles. No reaction of soft carbon nucleophiles occurs with propargylic acetates. However, soft carbon nucleophiles such as -keto esters and malonates react with propargylic carbonates under neutral conditions using dppe as a ligand [43]. 

Reactions of soft carbon nucleophiles derived from active methylene compounds such as /3-keto esters or malonates proceed by attack of the nucleophiles at the central sp carbon of the allenyl complexes. The attack of the nucleophiles generates cr-allyl anion intermediates, which are regarded as palladium-carbene complexes. These intermediates pick up a proton from the active methylene compound to form 7r-allylpalladium complexes, which undergo further reaction with the nucleophile as expected, and hence the alkenes are formed by introduction of two molecules of the carbon nucleophiles (Scheme 21). 

Formation of a Tr-allylpalladium complex 29 takes place by the oxidative addition of allylic compounds, typically allylic esters, to Pd(0). The rr-allylpal-ladium complex is a resonance form of ir-allylpalladium and a coordinated tt-bond. TT-Allylpalladium complex formation involves inversion of stereochemistry, and the attack of the soft carbon nucleophile on the 7r-allylpalladium complex is also inversion, resulting in overall retention of the stereochemistry. On the other hand, the attack of hard carbon nucleophiles is retention, and hence Overall inversion takes place by the reaction of the hard carbon nucleophiles. 

TT-Aliylpalladium chloride reacts with a soft carbon nucleophile such as mal-onate and acetoacetate in DMSO as a coordinating solvent, and facile carbon-carbon bond formation takes place[l2,265], This reaction constitutes the basis of both stoichiometric and catalytic 7r-allylpalladium chemistry. Depending on the way in which 7r-allylpalladium complexes are prepared, the reaction becomes stoichiometric or catalytic. Preparation of the 7r-allylpalladium complexes 298 by the oxidative addition of Pd(0) to various allylic compounds (esters, carbonates etc.), and their reactions with nucleophiles, are catalytic, because Pd(0) is regenerated after the reaction with the nucleophile, and reacts again with allylic compounds. These catalytic reactions are treated in Chapter 4, Section 2. On the other hand, the preparation of the 7r-allyl complexes 299 from alkenes requires Pd(II) salts. The subsequent reaction with the nucleophile forms Pd(0). The whole process consumes Pd(ll), and ends as a stoichiometric process, because the in situ reoxidation of Pd(0) is hardly attainable. These stoichiometric reactions are treated in this section. 

In addition, a catalytic version of Tt-allylpalladium chemistry has been devel-oped[6,7]. Formation of the Tr-allylpalladium complexes by the oxidative addition of various allylic compounds to Pd(0) and subsequent reaction of the complex with soft carbon nucleophiles are the basis of catalytic allylation. After the reaction, Pd(0) is reformed, and undergoes oxidative addition to the allylic compounds again, making the reaction catalytic.-In addition to the soft carbon nucleophiles, hard carbon nucleophiles of organometallic compounds of main group metals are allylated with 7r-allylpalladium complexes. The reaction proceeds via transmetallation. These catalytic reactions are treated in this chapter. 

Addition of carbon nucleophiles to vinylepoxides is of particular importance, since a new carbon-carbon bond is formed. It is of considerable tactical value that conditions allowing for regiocontrolled opening of vinyloxiranes with this type of nucleophiles have been developed. Reactions that proceed through fonnation of a rr-allyl metal intermediate with subsequent external delivery of the nucleophile, or that make use of a soft carbon nucleophile, generally deliver the SN2 product. In contrast, the Sn2 variant is often the major reaction pathway when hard nucleophiles are employed. In some methods a nucleophile can be delivered selectively at either the Sn2 or SN2 positions by changing the reaction conditions. 

Additions of carbon nucleophiles to vinylepoxides are well documented and can be accomplished by several different techniques. Palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation of these substrates with soft carbon nucleophiles (pKa 10-20) proceeds under neutral conditions and with excellent regioselectivities [103, 104]. The sul-fone 51, for example, was cyclized through the use of catalytic amounts of Pd(PPh3)4 and bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) under high-dilution conditions to give macrocycle 52, an intermediate in a total synthesis of the antitumor agent roseophilin, in excellent yield (Scheme 9.26) [115, 116]. 

The nature of the ligands on the palladium in ir-allyl complexes can influence the regioselectivity exhibited by soft carbon nucleophiles. ir-Allylpalladium complexes generated from methylenecycloalkanes provide an example of the effect of ligands on regiochemistry. The complexes derived from methylene-cyclopentane and methylenecycloheptane both exhibit exclusive exocyclic addition by the anion of methyl(methylsulfonyl) acetate with triphenylphosphine ligands on the Pd (equation 223). In contrast, the complex derived from methylenecyclohexane yields a 62 38 ratio of exocyclic endocyclic addition (equation 226). 

The addition of Grignards and organolithium reagents proceeds by attack at the metal center in ir-allylpalladium complexes. The regiochemical selectivity exhibited by these hard carbon nucleophiles with ir-allyl complexes substituted at the termini with alkyl or aryl groups is comparable to the soft carbon nucleophiles (ligand attack) in most cases, with addition occurring predominantly at the less substituted terminus (equations 248 and 249).1591387... 

Regiodirection by remote oxygen functionality in the addition of Grignards parallels that observed by soft carbon nucleophiles, showing predominant attack at the more remote allyl terminus (equation 253).397... 

An inherent difficulty in achieving high optical yields in ir-allylpalladium reactions is that with the soft carbon nucleophiles employed, attack occurs on the allyl ligand on the face opposite the palladium. This places the source of the chirality (the phosphine ligand) remote from where C—C bond formation is taking place. Despite these limitations, considerable success has been achieved in these reactions. 

For Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions the organopalladium complex is generated from an organic electrophile RX and a Pd(0) complex in the presence of a carbon nucleophile. Not only organic halides but also sulfonium salts [38], iodonium salts [39], diazonium salts [40], or thiol esters (to yield acylpalladium complexes) [41] can be used as electrophiles. With allylic electrophiles (allyl halides, esters, or carbonates, or strained allylic ethers and related compounds) Pd-i73-jt-allyl complexes are formed these react as soft, electrophilic allylating reagents. 

Substitution reactions of allylic substrates with nucleophiles have been shown to be catalyzed by certain palladium complexes [2, 42], The catalytic cycle of the reactions involves Jt-allylpalladium as a key intermediate (Scheme 2-22). Oxidative addition of the allylic substrate to a palladium(o) species forms a rr-allylpal-ladium(n) complex, which undergoes attack of a nucleophile on the rr-allyl moiety to give an allylic substitution product. The substitution reactions proceed in an Sn or Sn- manner depending on catalysts, nucleophiles, and substituents on the substrates. Studies on the stereochemistry of the allylic substitution have revealed that soft carbon nucleophiles represented by sodium dimethyl malonate attack the TT-allyl carbon directly from the side opposite to the palladium (Scheme 2-23). 

The palladium catalyst generally used is Pd(PPhj)4, which can be formed in situ from Pd(OAc)2 and PPhj. The most often used allylic substrates are those having an ester or a carbonate as a leaving group, although -OPO(OR)2, -OPh, -Cl, or -Br will also work. Soft nucleophiles of the malonate-type generally give the best results for carbon-carbon bond formation. The reaction is usually in eversible and thus proceeds under kinetic control. Other soft carbon nucleophiles are anions from nitromethane, enolates, and enamines. 

On the other hand, linear products rather than branched isomers were obtained in the allylic alkylation of l-aryl-2-propenyl acetates and 3-phenyl-2-propenyl acetate with soft carbon nucleophiles catalyzed by the Pd/PPh3 system when a catalytic amount of Lil was used [38]. 

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