Carbene and nitrene transfer

The easiest reactions are those in which the nucleophile is the gold-activated species. Examples of this are Au(I)-catalyzed carbene and nitrene transfers (equations 142 and 143) that convert olefins into cyclopropanes or aziridines, respectively. In the carbene transfer, ethyl diazoacetate is the source of carbene and the active NHC-gold cationic catalyst is generated by chloride abstraction with sodium tetrakis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)borate NaBAT4. The cyclopropanation is competitive with other carbene insertions with active C H or N H bonds present in the substrate. For the aziridinations of olefins, nitrene formation is accomplished by the oxidation of sulfonamides with PhI(OAc)2 and the catalyst of choice is a gold-(I) triflate with a terpyridine ligand. 

These iodonium ylides function as carbene and nitrene transfer agents. Carbene transfer typically requires a transition-metal catalyst. A few uncatalyzed reactions, however, have been documented, such as the following remarkably stereospecific transformations of (Z)-and ( )-hept-3-ene ... 

Diazo compounds are commonly used as a carbene source in organic chemistry. A few systems based on metals such as Ru and Rh have been reported for the transfer of carbenes from diazo compounds. P6rez and coworkers reported NHC-copper systems for carbene and nitrene transfer. In the first report, [Cu (Cl)(IPr)] was used for the transfer to olefins, amines, and alcohob [64]. The main transformation was the cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 8.24). Monitoring of the reaction showed a fast formation of the product (90% conversion in 6 h). The absence of styrene does not lead to the decomposition of EDA even after a long period of time (13 h). Decent stereoselectivity was obtained with styrene (cisitrans 32/68) and cyclooctene exolendo 73/27). 

C-H alkylation and amination reactions involving metal-carbenoid and metal-nitrenoid species have been developed for many years, most extensively with (chiral) dirhodium(ll) carboxylate and carboxamidate complexes as catalysts [45]. When performed in intramolecular settings, such reactions offer versatile methods for the (enantioselective) synthesis of hetero- and carbocy-cles. In the past decade, Zhang and coworkers had explored the catalysis of cobalt(II)-porphyrin complexes for carbene- and nitrene-transfer reactions [46] and revealed a radical nature of such processes as a distinct mechanistic feature compared with typical metal (e.g., rhodium)-catalyzed carbenoid and nitrenoid reactions [47]. Described below are examples of heterocycle synthesis via cobalt(II)-porphyrin-catalyzed intramolecular C-H amination or C-H alkylation. 

Because carbenes and nitrenes give several modifications of heterocyclic compounds,253 other reactions are likely to be reported under phase transfer conditions. Of special interest are rearrangements following addition of carbenes to heterocyclic molecules. 

A carbene or nitrene transfer reaction to a carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom double bond system leads to the formation of three-membered rings, such as a cyclopropane, an aziridine or an epoxide. These processes can be catalyzed by applying iron catalysts and the different cyclic systems are discussed here. 

Following their investigations on nitrene, carbene, and oxo transfer reactions catalyzed by fluorinated silver tris(pyrazoyl)borate (see Chapter 6 on nitrene chemistry), Lovely et al. looked for a combined carbene transfer and [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. On the basis of these mechanistic considerations, these authors showed that diazoacetates, indeed, reacted with allyl halides in the presence of this silver catalyst to give a-halo-y-unsaturated esters (Scheme 3.51).77... 

Silver can mediate oxidation reactions and has shown unique reactivity. In a few cases, namely, nitrene-, carbene-, and silylene-transfer reactions, novel reactivity was found with homogeneous silver catalysts. Some of these reactions are uniquely facilitated by silver, never having been reported with other metals. While ligand-supported silver catalysts were extensively utilized in enantioselective syntheses as Lewis acids, disappointingly few cases were reported with oxidation reactions. Silver-catalyzed oxidation reactions are still underrepresented. Silver-based catalysts are cheaper and less toxic versus other precious metal catalysts. With the input of additional effort, this field will undoubtedly give more promising results. 

In the carbene insertions to alkane C-H bonds the same concept as for the olefin cyclopropanations is applied. In that work, the gold-catalyzed carbene transfer is now used for insertions into C-H bonds (equation 150), with a selectivity that is influenced by the electronic properties of the ligand and the counterion employed. The carbene and nitrene insertion is not limited to Csp H bonds, but N H (equation 151), O H (equation 152), and aryl Csp -H bonds react as well (equation 153). ... 

The equivalence of the O-insertion step to similar reactions of carbenes and nitrenes prompted Hamilton [24] to coin the term oxenoid transfer or in general oxenold mechanism . Subsequently, cytochrome P-450 was referred to as oxene transferase [25]. These terms reflect the ability of the enzyme to abstract an O-atom from 0 and insert it... 

A 7r-bond can react with various active species, such as the electrophile oxene and its isoelec-tronic species (nitrenes and carbenes) and radicals. A 7r-bond can also react with a nucleophile, when it is conjugated with an electron-withdrawing group. In these reactions O, N, or C atom(s) are transferred from the active species to the olefins, forming two tr-bonds, such as C—O, C—N, and C—C, at the expense of the 7r-bond. If the 7r-bond is prochiral, chiral center(s) are... 

Catalytic methods are suitable for nitrene transfer," and many of those found to be effective for carbene transfer are also effective for these reactions. However, 5- to 10-times more catalyst is commonly required to take these reactions to completion, and catalysts that are sluggish in metal carbene reactions are unreactive in nitrene transfer reactions. An exception is the copper(ll) complex of a 1,4,7-triaza-cyclononane for which aziridination of styrene occurred in high yield, even with 0.5 mol% of catalyst. Both addition and insertion reactions have been developed. 

Finally, some diradicals can be made in situ by an internal hydrogen-transfer reaction from a suitable hydrogen donor to a carbene or nitrene. In benzene derivatives, this is a well-tested route to o-quinoid compounds, which are not biradicals, although a biradical valence structure probably makes a significant contribution to their electronic structure. However, if the donor and the carbene or nitrene are... 

The enol form of mandelic acid (101) has been generated by flash photolysis of phenyldiazoacetic acid in aqueous solution.101 The enol forms by hydration of the intermediate carbene (102). The reaction of chloramine-T (TsNClNa O) with methyl p-tolyl sulfide to give the corresponding sulfimide (103) appears to proceed via a nitrene-transfer mechanism in the presence of copper(I) and a second nitrogen ligand (such as acetonitrile).102... 

Silver is often used as a halophile. In the context of six-electron species, the role of silver atoms in carbene, nitrene, and silylene transfer reactions, including aziridination, CH insertion, ring expansion, and silacyclopropanation, has been reviewed.9... 

Styrene cyclopropanation continues to attract much interest. Cationic complex CpFe(CO)2(THF) BF4" mediates carbene transfer from ethyl diazoacetate with high cis selectivity cis trans = 85 15) [38]. On the other hand, Tp Cu(C2H4), where Tp is hydrotris(3,5-dimethyl-l-pyrazolyl)borate, is one of the rare catalysts to promote carbene transfer from ethyl diazoacetate to alkenes and also to alkynes. While cyclopropanes are formed in high yield, cyclopropenes are obtained only in moderate yield [39]. The same complex also catalyzes nitrene transfer from PhI=NTs to alkenes to produce aziridines in high yields. 

Aziridines. A CuOTf complex of ferrocenyldiimine is effective for nitrene transfer from TsN=IPh (and also carbene from diazoacetic esters) to alkenes. 

Given the significant existing knowledge-base in asymmetric catalytic cyclo-propanation (Chap. 16), the discovery that metal ions useful for catalysis of carbene transfer to alkenes were also effective for nitrene transfer to the same substrates opened a clear new direction for research in asymmetric aziridination. Brief mention of the asymmetric catalysis of the aziridination of styrene was made in two early reports on (bisoxazoline)copper-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropanations [20,21], and subsequently new methods for copper-catalyzed asymmetric aziridination were revealed in two independent studies published simultaneously by Jacobsen and Evans [22,23]. 

So far aziridination reactions have, in some ways, had more in common with cyclopropanation reactions (see Section 9.1) than with epoxidation reactions. Nevertheless, the aziridination reaction is more synthetically akin to epoxidation, and on that basis, is included in the present chapter. Aziridines maybe prepared by nitrene transfer to alkenes or by carbene transfer to imines and both approaches have been performed in an enantioselective sense using enantiomerically pure metal-based catalysts. 

Apart from cyclopropenation, catalytic aziridination with nitrene transfer to olefins is generally considered an analogue reaction of metal-catalyzed carbene-transferred cyclopropanation. Aziridination and cyclopropanation are proposed to share fundamental mechanistic features. Many of the catalysts that were successfully applied in aziridination are also efficient catalysts for cyclopropanation. For... 

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