Aqua complexes

The palladium chloride process for oxidizing olefins to aldehydes in aqueous solution (Wacker process) apparendy involves an intermediate anionic complex such as dichloro(ethylene)hydroxopalladate(II) or else a neutral aqua complex PdCl2 (CH2=CH2)(H2 0). The coordinated PdCl2 is reduced to Pd during the olefin oxidation and is reoxidized by the cupric—cuprous chloride couple, which in turn is reoxidized by oxygen, and the net reaction for any olefin (RCH=CH2) is then... 

Gothelf presents in Chapter 6 a comprehensive review of metal-catalyzed 1,3-di-polar cycloaddition reactions, with the focus on the properties of different chiral Lewis-acid complexes. The general properties of a chiral aqua complex are presented in the next chapter by Kanamasa, who focuses on 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones, nitronates, and diazo compounds. The use of this complex as a highly efficient catalyst for carbo-Diels-Alder reactions and conjugate additions is also described. 

Kanemasa et al. discovered an asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction of acryloyl-oxazolidi-none and cyclopentadiene catalyzed by a chiral aqua complex of 4,6-dibenzofurani-dyl-2,2 -bis(4-phenyloxazoline) 16 (vide infra) [22]. Unlike the Diels-Alder reaction of acryloyloxazolidinone, for which NiBr2/AgC104 and Znl2/AgC104 are the most suitable sources of the central metal, the best for the Diels-Alder reaction of a-bromo-... 

I 7 Aqua Complex Lewis Acid Catalysts for Asymmetric J+2 Cycloaddition Reactions... 

The cationic aqua complexes prepared from traws-chelating tridentate ligand, R,R-DBFOX/Ph, and various transition metal(II) perchlorates induce absolute enantio-selectivity in the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene with 3-alkenoyl-2-oxazoli-dinone dienophiles. Unlike other bisoxazoline type complex catalysts [38, 43-54], the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph complex of Ni(C104)2-6H20, which has an octahedral structure with three aqua ligands, is isolable and can be stored in air for months without loss of catalytic activity. Iron(II), cobalt(II), copper(II), and zinc(II) complexes are similarly active. 

The nickel and cohalt aqua complexes were even more effective, both for catalytic activity and enantioselectivity, than the corresponding anhydrous complexes (Scheme 7.5). Addition of three equivalents of water to the anhydrous nickel complex recovered the catalytic efficiency. DBFOX/Ph complexes derived from manga-nese(II), iron(II), copper(II), and zinc(II) perchlorates, both anhydrous and vef. 

I 7 Aqua Complex Lewis Acid Catalysts for Asymmetric J+2 Cycloaddition Reactions With R,R-DBF0X/Ph Ni(CI04)2 (10 mol%) at rt... 

The three water ligands located at meridional positions of the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph aqua complexes may be replaced by another molecule of DBFOX/Ph ligand if steric hindrance is negligible. Based on molecular model inspection, the hetero-chiral enantiomer S,S-DBFOX/Ph looks like a candidate to replace the water ligands to form the heterochiral meso-2 l complex J ,J -DBFOX/Ph-S,S-DBFOX/... 

We are the first group to succeed with the highly enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of nitronates [75]. Thus, the reaction of 5,6-dihydro-4H-l,2-oxazine N-oxide as a cyclic nitronate to 3-acryloyl-2-oxazilidinone, at -40 °C in dichloro-methane in the presence of MS 4 A and l ,J -DBFOX/Ph-Ni(II) complexes, gave a diastereomeric mixture of perhydroisoxazolo[2,3-fe][l,2]oxazines as the ring-fused isoxazolidines in high yields. The J ,J -DBFOX/Ph aqua complex prepared from... 

Monodentate dipolarophiles such as acrolein, methacrolein, and a-bromoacrolein could be successfully utilized in the l ,J -DBFOX/Ph-transition metal complex-catalyzed asymmetric nitrone cycloadditions [76]. The reactions of N-benzylideneani-line N-oxide with acrolein in the presence of the nickel(II) aqua complex R,R-DBF0X/Ph-Ni(C104)2 3H20 (10mol%) and MS 4 A produced a mixture of two regioisomers (5-formyl/4-formyl regioisomers ca 3 1). However, enantio-... 

Quite a number of asymmetric thiol conjugate addition reactions are known [84], but previous examples of enantioselective thiol conjugate additions were based on the activation of thiol nucleophiles by use of chiral base catalysts such as amino alcohols [85], the lithium thiolate complex of amino bisether [86], and a lanthanide tris(binaphthoxide) [87]. No examples have been reported for the enantioselective thiol conjugate additions through the activation of acceptors by the aid of chiral Lewis acid catalysts. We therefore focussed on the potential of J ,J -DBFOX/ Ph aqua complex catalysts as highly tolerant chiral Lewis acid catalyst in thiol conjugate addition reactions. 

Enantioselectivities were found to change sharply depending upon the reaction conditions including catalyst structure, reaction temperature, solvent, and additives. Some representative examples of such selectivity dependence are listed in Scheme 7.42. The thiol adduct was formed with 79% ee (81% yield) when the reaction was catalyzed by the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph aqua nickel(II) complex at room temperature in dichloromethane. Reactions using either the anhydrous complex or the aqua complex with MS 4 A gave a racemic adduct, however, indicating that the aqua complex should be more favored than the anhydrous complex in thiol conjugate additions. Slow addition of thiophenol to the dichloromethane solution of 3-crotonoyl-2-oxazolidinone was ineffective for enantioselectivity. Enantioselectivity was dramatically lowered and reversed to -17% ee in the reaction at -78 °C. A similar tendency was observed in the reactions in diethyl ether and THF. For example, a satisfactory enantioselectivity (80% ee) was observed in the reaction in THF at room temperature, while the selectivity almost disappeared (7% ee) at 0°C. 

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