Carbenes addition with

The majority of preparative methods which have been used for obtaining cyclopropane derivatives involve carbene addition to an olefmic bond, if acetylenes are used in the reaction, cyclopropenes are obtained. Heteroatom-substituted or vinyl cydopropanes come from alkenyl bromides or enol acetates (A. de Meijere, 1979 E. J. Corey, 1975 B E. Wenkert, 1970 A). The carbenes needed for cyclopropane syntheses can be obtained in situ by a-elimination of hydrogen halides with strong bases (R. Kdstcr, 1971 E.J. Corey, 1975 B), by copper catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds (E. Wenkert, 1970 A S.D. Burke, 1979 N.J. Turro, 1966), or by reductive elimination of iodine from gem-diiodides (J. Nishimura, 1969 D. Wen-disch, 1971 J.M. Denis, 1972 H.E. Simmons, 1973 C. Girard, 1974),... 

More useful for synthetic purposes, however, is the combination of the zinc-copper couple with methylene iodide to generate carbene-zinc iodide complex, which undergoes addition to double bonds exclusively to form cyclopropanes (7). The base-catalyzed generation of halocarbenes from haloforms (2) also provides a general route to 1,1-dihalocyclopropanes via carbene addition, as does the nonbasic generation of dihalocarbenes from phenyl(trihalomethyl)mercury compounds. Details of these reactions are given below. 

Diamino-substituted complexes of type 37 were first obtained by Fischer et al. [12] in two steps via the 1,2-addition-elimination product 34 from di-methylamine and 35 (Scheme 6). The (3-aminoallenylidene)chromium complexes 36, which can be prepared either from 33 [47,48] or directly from 35 [33], can also be transformed to l,3-bis(dialkylamino)-substituted complexes of type 37 (e.g., R2=z Pr) by treatment with dimethylamine in excellent yields [33]. Although the complex 37 is accessible by further reaction of the complex 34 with dimethylamine, and 34 itself stems from the reaction of 35 with dimethylamine, the direct transformation of 33 to 37 could not be achieved [12]. In spite of this, heterocyclic carbene complexes with two nitrogens were obtained by reactions of alkynylcarbene complexes 35 with hydrazine [49] and 1,3-diamines [50]. 

The reactions of Fischer carbene complexes with 1,3-dienes (carbodienes or heterodienes) lead to the formation of cyclic products with different ring sizes depending upon both the nature of the reaction partners and the reaction conditions. Between these synthetically useful transformations are found [2c+2s], [3C+2S], [4S+1C], [3S+3C], [4S+2C], [4S+3C] and [2S+1C+1C0] cycloaddition reactions which will be summarised further on, in addition to the [2S+1C] cycloaddition processes here described. 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions are a powerful kind of reaction for the preparation of functionalised five-membered heterocycles [42]. In the field of Fischer carbene complexes, the a,/ -unsaturated derivatives have been scarcely used in cyclo additions with 1,3-dipoles in contrast with other types of cyclo additions [43]. These complexes have low energy LUMOs, due to the electron-acceptor character of the pentacarbonyl metal fragment, and hence, they react with electron-rich dipoles with high energy HOMOs. 

As a final example in this section, a contribution by Grubbs et al. is discussed. The chloride-free ruthenium hydride complex [RuH2(H2)2(PCy3)2] (37) is believed to react, in the presence of alkenes, to form an unidentified ruthenium(O) species which undergoes oxidative additions with dihalo compounds, e.g., 38, to give the corresponding ruthenium carbene complex 9 (Eq. 4) [20]. 

Aziridines can be prepared directly from double-bond compounds by photolysis or thermolysis of a mixture of the substrate and an azide. The reaction has been carried out with R = aryl, cyano, EtOOC, and RSO2, as well as other groups. The reaction can take place by at least two pathways. In one, the azide is converted to a nitrene, which adds to the double bond in a manner analogous to that of carbene addition (15-62). Reaction of NsONHC02Et/ CuO [Ns = A(/7-toluenesulfonyl-inimo)] and a conjugated ketone, for example, leads to the A-carboethoxy aziridine derivative.Calcium oxide has also been used to generate the nitrene.Other specialized reagents have also been used." ... 

Perhaps the most characteristic property of the carbon-carbon double bond is its ability readily to undergo addition reactions with a wide range of reagent types. It will be useful to consider addition reactions in terms of several categories (a) electrophilic additions (b) nucleophilic additions (c) radical additions (d) carbene additions (e) Diels-Alder cycloadditions and (f) 1,3-dipolar additions. 

An important synthetic application of this reaction is in dehalogenation of dichloro- and dibromocyclopropanes. The dihalocyclopropanes are accessible via carbene addition reactions (see Section 10.2.3). Reductive dehalogenation can also be used to introduce deuterium at a specific site. The mechanism of the reaction involves electron transfer to form a radical anion, which then fragments with loss of a halide ion. The resulting radical is reduced to a carbanion by a second electron transfer and subsequently protonated. 

Metal-Catalyzed. Cyclopropanation. Carbene addition reactions can be catalyzed by several transition metal complexes. Most of the synthetic work has been done using copper or rhodium complexes and we focus on these. The copper-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds is a useful reaction for formation of substituted cyclopropanes.188 The reaction has been carried out with several copper salts,189 and both Cu(I) and Cu(II) triflate are useful.190 Several Cu(II)salen complexes, such as the (V-f-butyl derivative, which is called Cu(TBS)2, have become popular catalysts.191... 

The key cyclization in Step B-2 was followed by a sequence of steps that effected a ring expansion via a carbene addition and cyclopropyl halide solvolysis. The products of Steps E and F are interesting in that the tricyclic structures are largely converted to tetracyclic derivatives by intramolecular aldol reactions. The extraneous bond was broken in Step G. First a diol was formed by NaBH4 reduction and this was converted via the lithium alkoxide to a monomesylate. The resulting (3-hydroxy mesylate is capable of a concerted fragmentation, which occurred on treatment with potassium f-butoxide. 

The ratio of isomeric ethers is strongly affected by polar substituents which induce an asymmetric distribution of charge in allylic cations. Photolysis of methyl 2-diazo-4-phenyl-3-butenoate (20) in methanol produced 24 in large excess over 25 as the positive charge of 22 resides mainly a to phenyl (Scheme 8).19 As would be expected, proton transfer to the electron-poor carbene 21 proceeds reluctantly intramolecular addition with formation of the cyclopropene... 

Alkenes are scavengers that are able to differentiate between carbenes (cycloaddition) and carbocations (electrophilic addition). The reactions of phenyl-carbene (117) with equimolar mixtures of methanol and alkenes afforded phenylcyclopropanes (120) and benzyl methyl ether (121) as the major products (Scheme 24).51 Electrophilic addition of the benzyl cation (118) to alkenes, leading to 122 and 123 by way of 119, was a minor route (ca. 6%). Isobutene and enol ethers gave similar results. The overall contribution of 118 must be more than 6% as (part of) the ether 121 also originates from 118. Alcohols and enol ethers react with diarylcarbenium ions at about the same rates (ca. 109 M-1 s-1), somewhat faster than alkenes (ca. 108 M-1 s-1).52 By extrapolation, diffusion-controlled rates and indiscriminate reactions are expected for the free (solvated) benzyl cation (118). In support of this notion, the product distributions in Scheme 24 only respond slightly to the nature of the n bond (alkene vs. enol ether). The formation of free benzyl cations from phenylcarbene and methanol is thus estimated to be in the range of 10-15%. However, the major route to the benzyl ether 121, whether by ion-pair collapse or by way of an ylide, cannot be identified. 

Spectroscopically invisible carbenes can be monitored by the ylide method .92 Here, the carbene reacts with a nucleophile Y to form a strongly absorbing and long-lived ylide, competitively with all other routes of decay. Although pyridine (Py) stands out as the most popular probe, nitriles and thiones have also been used. In the presence of an additional quencher, the observed pseudo-first-order rate constant for ylide formation is given by Eq. 2.92,93 A plot of obs vs. [Q] at constant [Y ] will provide kq. With Q = HX, complications can arise from protonation of Y and/or the derived ylides. The available data indicate that alcohols are compatible with the pyridine-ylide probe technique. 

Monomeric carbene complexes with 1 1 stoichiometry have now been isolated from the reaction of 4 (R = Bu, adamantyl or 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl R = H) with lithium l,2,4-tris(trimethylsilyl)cyclo-pentadienide (72). The crystal structure of one such complex (R = Bu) revealed that there is a single cr-interaction between the lithium and the carbene center (Li-C(carbene) 1.90 A) with the cyclopentadienyl ring coordinated in an if-fashion to the lithium center. A novel hyper-valent antimonide complex has also been reported (73). Thus, the nucleophilic addition of 4 (R = Mes R = Cl) to Sb(CF3)3 resulted in the isolation of the 1 1 complex with a pseudo-trigonal bipyramidal geometry at the antimony center. 

An alternative to the synthesis of epoxides is the reaction of sulfur ylide with aldehydes and ketones.107 This is a carbon-carbon bond formation reaction and may offer a method complementary to the oxidative processes described thus far. The formation of sulfur ylide involves a chiral sulfide and a carbene or carbenoid, and the general reaction procedure for epoxidation of aldehydes may involve the application of a sulfide, an aldehyde, or a carbene precursor as well as a copper salt. This reaction may also be considered as a thiol acetal-mediated carbene addition to carbonyl groups in the aldehyde. 

Metal oxides were also chirally modified and few of them showed a significant or at least useful e.s. Thus, while Al203/alkaloid [80] showed no enantiodifferentiation, Zn, Cu, and Cd tartrate salts were quite selective for a carbene addition (45% e.e.) [81] and for the nucleophilic ring opening of epoxides (up to 85% e.e.) [82], Recently, it was claimed that /(-zeolite, partially enriched in the chiral polymorph A, catalyzed the ring opening of an epoxide with low but significant e.s. (5% e.e.) [83], All these catalysts are notyet practically important but rather demonstrate that amorphous metal oxides can be modified successfully. 

Obviously, the first intermediates in the syntheses with terminal alkynols are the vinylidene complexes [Ru(bdmpza)Cl(=C= CH(CH2) +iOH)(PPhg)] (n = 1, 2), which then react further via an intramolecular addition of the alcohol functionality to the a-carbon (Scheme 22), although in none of our experiments we were able to observe or isolate any intermediate vinylidene complexes. The subsequent intramolecular ring closure provides the cyclic carbene complexes with a five-membered ring in case of the reaction with but-3-yn-l-ol and with a six-membered ring in case of pent-4-yn-l-ol. For both products type A and type B isomers 35a-I/35a-II and 35b-I/ 35b-II are observed (Scheme 22, Fig. 22). The molecular structure shows a type A isomer 35b-I with the carbene ligand and the triphenylphosphine ligand in the two trans positions to the pyrazoles and was obtained from an X-ray structure determination (Fig. 25). 

On the other hand, complexes with weak Jt interaction between the metal and the carbene will have an energetically low-lying K orbital. In addition to this, electron-transfer from the metal to C will be less efficient, thus leading to a more positively charged carbene fragment. Hence, carbene complexes with a large energy gap and poor orbital overlap between the metal d orbital and the carbene 2 p orbital will be prone to react with nucleophiles. 

The intermediate vinylketene complexes can undergo several other types or reaction, depending primarily on the substitution pattern, the metal and the solvent used (Figure 2.27). More than 15 different types of product have been obtained from the reaction of aryl(alkoxy)carbene chromium complexes with alkynes [333,334]. In addition to the formation of indenes [337], some arylcarbene complexes yield cyclobutenones [338], lactones, or furans [91] (e.g. Entry 4, Table 2.19) upon reaction with alkynes. Cyclobutenones can also be obtained by reaction of alkoxy(alkyl)carbene complexes with alkynes [339]. 

The most common byproducts encountered in cyclopropanations with diazoalkanes as carbene precursors are azines and carbene dimers , i.e. symmetric olefins resulting from the reaction of the intermediate carbene complex with the diazoalkane. The formation of these byproducts can be supressed by keeping the concentration of diazoalkane in the reaction mixture as low as possible. For this purpose, the automated, slow addition of the diazoalkane to a mixture of catalyst and substrate (e.g. by means of a pump or a syringe motor) has proven to be a very valuable technique. 

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