Benzyl halides, reactions with nickel

The development of the Grignard-type addition to carbonyl compounds mediated by transition metals would be of interest as the compatibility with a variety of functionality would be expected under the reaction conditions employed. One example has been reported on the addition of allyl halides to aldehydes in the presence of cobalt or nickel metal however, yields were low (up to 22%). Benzylic nickel halides prepared in situ by the oxidative addition of benzyl halides to metallic nickel were found to add to benzil and give the corresponding 3-hydroxyketones in high yields(46). The reaction appears to be quite general and will tolerate a wide range of functionality. 

In the presence of a Lewis acid, silyl enol ethers can be alkylated with reactive secondary halides, such as substituted benzyl halides, and with chloromethylphenyl sulfide (ClCH2SPh), an activated primary halide. Thus, reaction of the benzyl chloride 10 in the presence of zinc bromide with the trimethylsilyl enol ether derived from mesityl oxide allowed a short and efficient route to the sesquiterpene ( )-ar-turmerone (1.22). Reaction of ClCH2SPh with the trimethylsilyl enol ethers of lactones in the presence of zinc bromide, followed by 5-oxidation and pyrolytic ehmination of the resulting sulfoxide (see Section 2.2), provides a good route to the a-methylene lactone unit common in many cytotoxic sesquiterpenes (1.23). Desulfurization with Raney nickel, instead of oxidation and elimination, affords the a-methyl (or a-alkyl starting with RCH(Cl)SPh) derivatives. ... 

Table 7.5 3-Arylpropanenitriles (3) prepared by the reaction of benzyl halides (1) with bromoacetonitrile (2 = nickel). ... 

In spite of the usefulness of these complexes, it is generally not possible to cause the satisfactory reaction with transition metals in the metallic state [86] under mild conditions due to their poor reactivity. We have reported that activated metallic nickel, prepared by the reduction of nickel halide with lithium, underwent oxidative addition of benzylic halides to give homocoupled products [45]. We reported that carbonylation of the oxidative adducts of benzylic halides to the nickel proceeded smoothly to afford symmetrical 1,3-diarylpro-pan-2-ones in moderate yields, in which the carbonyl groups of alkyl oxalyl chlorides served as a source of carbon monoxide [43] see Equation 7.5. 

One possible mechanistic sequence for the present reaction is shown in Scheme 7.1. The carbon monoxide insertion into the carbon-metal o bond of alkyltransition metal complexes is well known [88]. Thus, the oxidative addition of benzyl halide to metallic nickel gives benzylnickel (II) halide 4, and the insertion of carbon monoxide, which is formed by decarbonylation of alkyl oxalyl chloride into the benzyl-nickel bond of complex 4, would afford arylacetyl (II) complex 5. The metathesis of complexes 4 and 5 seems to give (arylacetyl)benzylnickel complex 6, which undergoes reductive elimination to yield l,3-diarylpropan-2-one, 3. The formation of 1,2-diarylethane may be explained by the reductive elimination of bisbenzylnickel complex 7 formed by metathesis of benzylnickel complex 4 [89]. It is also possible that the reaction of benzyl halide with complex 4 or 5 gives homocoupled product or ketone, respectively. 

Palladium complexes also catalyze the carbonylation of halides. Aryl (see 13-13), vinylic, benzylic, and allylic halides (especially iodides) can be converted to carboxylic esters with CO, an alcohol or alkoxide, and a palladium complex. Similar reactivity was reported with vinyl triflates. Use of an amine instead of the alcohol or alkoxide leads to an amide. Reaction with an amine, AJBN, CO, and a tetraalkyltin catalyst also leads to an amide. Similar reaction with an alcohol, under Xe irradiation, leads to the ester. Benzylic and allylic halides were converted to carboxylic acids electrocatalytically, with CO and a cobalt imine complex. Vinylic halides were similarly converted with CO and nickel cyanide, under phase-transfer conditions. ... 

The electrochemistry of cobalt-salen complexes in the presence of alkyl halides has been studied thoroughly.252,263-266 The reaction mechanism is similar to that for the nickel complexes, with the intermediate formation of an alkylcobalt(III) complex. Co -salen reacts with 1,8-diiodo-octane to afford an alkyl-bridged bis[Co" (salen)] complex.267 Electrosynthetic applications of the cobalt-salen catalyst are homo- and heterocoupling reactions with mixtures of alkylchlorides and bromides,268 conversion of benzal chloride to stilbene with the intermediate formation of l,2-dichloro-l,2-diphenylethane,269 reductive coupling of bromoalkanes with an activated alkenes,270 or carboxylation of benzylic and allylic chlorides by C02.271,272 Efficient electroreduc-tive dimerization of benzyl bromide to bibenzyl is catalyzed by the dicobalt complex (15).273 The proposed mechanism involves an intermediate bis[alkylcobalt(III)] complex. 

Cross coupling between an aryl halide and an activated alkyl halide, catalysed by the nickel system, is achieved by controlling the rate of addition of the alkyl halide to the reaction mixture. When the aryl halide is present in excess, it reacts preferentially with the Ni(o) intermediate whereas the Ni(l) intermediate reacts more rapidly with an activated alkyl halide. Thus continuous slow addition of the alkyl halide to the electrochemical cell already charged with the aryl halide ensures that the alkyl-aryl coupled compound becomes the major product. Activated alkyl halides include benzyl chloride, a-chloroketones, a-chloroesters and amides, a-chloro-nitriles and vinyl chlorides [202, 203, 204], Asymmetric induction during the coupling step occurs with over 90 % distereomeric excess from reactions with amides such as 62, derived from enantiomerically pure (-)-ephedrine, even when 62 is a mixture of diastereoisomcrs prepared from a racemic a-chloroacid. Metiha-nolysis of the amide product affords the chiral ester 63 and chiral ephedrine is recoverable [205]. 

Aromatic halides are reported to give only carbonylated products with nickel tetracarbonyl. In contrast, pentafluorophenyl iodide in DMF gives decafluorobiphenyl in 70% yield (27). From the other products obtained (pentafluorobenzene, decafluorobenzophenone) it has been suggested that a radical mechanism is involved. The reactions of benzyl halides with nickel carbonyl in various solvents have been reported (28). The main reaction involves carbonylation, as discussed in Section III. Using benzene as solvent, a 33% yield of bibenzyl may be obtained. Here again a mechanism involving a 7r-allylnickel derivative should perhaps be considered, particularly since such a system is known to exist in (XVI) (29). 

Benzyl halides have been reported to react with nickel carbonyl to give both coupling and carbonylation (59). Carbonylation is the principal reaction in polar nonaromatic solvents, giving ethyl phenylacetate in ethanol, and bibenzyl ketone in DMF. The reaction course is probably similar to that of allylic halides. Pentafluorophenyl iodide gives a mixture of coupled product and decafluorobenzophenone. A radical mechanism has been proposed (60). Aromatic iodides are readily carbonylated by nickel carbonyl to give esters in alcoholic solvents or diketones in ethereal solvent (57). Mixtures of carbon monoxide and acetylene react less readily with iodobenzene, and it is only at 320° C and 30 atm pressure that a high yield of benzoyl propionate can be obtained (61). Under the reaction conditions used, the... 

Reaction with organic halides leads to coupling products (63). From benzyl chloride and lithium />-toluoyltricarbonyl nickelate, a 73% yield of a-benzyl p-toluoin is obtained. The reaction presumably involves the initial formation of p-tolyl benzyl ketone, which reacts with a further... 

Selenides are also nucleophilic and produce isolable selenonium salts (9) when treated with alkyl halides. They are easily oxidized to selenoxides (10) and further to selenones (11) under more forcing conditions (see Section 4). Reduction of selenides to the corresponding hydrocarbons is most conveniently achieved with nickel boride,or with tri-n-butyl- or triphenyltin hydride under radical conditions. " Other reagents for reductive deselenization include Raney nickel, lithium triethylborohydride, and lithium in ethylamine (Scheme 4). Benzylic selenides undergo radical extrusion reactions under thermal or photolytic conditions to produce... 

Apart from their behaviour as ligands in metal catalyst systems, studies of the reactivity of phosphites towards a wide variety of other substrates have attracted attention. New aspects and applications of the classical Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction and its variants continue to appear. Evidence of the thermal disproportionation of methyltriaryloxyphosphonium halides formed in the reactions of triarylphosphites with alkyl halides, together with the formation of P-O-P intermediates, has been reported. The Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction has been used in the synthesis of phosphonate-based styrene-divinylbenzene resins and polyphosphonated chelation therapy ligands.Treatment of electron-rich benzylic alcohols dissolved in triethylphosphite with one equivalent of iodine affords a low-temperature one-pot route to the related benzylic phosphonates, compounds which are otherwise difficult to prepare. Upper-rim chloromethylated thiacalix[4]arenes have also been shown to undergo phosphonation on treatment with a phosphite ester in chloroform at room temperature. The nickel(II)-catalysed reaction of aryl halides with phosphite esters in high boiling solvents, e.g., diphenyl ether, (the Tavs reaction), has also... 

When RX is easily reduced, as in the case of allyl iodides and benzyl bromides, the competing further reduction of the intermediate radical is suppressed and radical reactions such as dimerization, addition to double bonds and aromatic compounds or reaction with anions can be favored. The radical pathway can be also promoted by catalysis with reduced forms of vitamin Bn, cobaloximes or nickel complexes. These react with the alkyl halide by oxidative addition and release the alkyl radical by homolytic cleavage. 

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