Carbenes and Cyclopropane Synthesis

Diazomethane, Carbenes, and Cyclopropane Synthesis Preparing three-membered rings. 

Chapter 10 considers the role of reactive intermediates—carbocations, carbenes, and radicals—in synthesis. The carbocation reactions covered include the carbonyl-ene reaction, polyolefin cyclization, and carbocation rearrangements. In the carbene section, addition (cyclopropanation) and insertion reactions are emphasized. Recent development of catalysts that provide both selectivity and enantioselectivity are discussed, and both intermolecular and intramolecular (cyclization) addition reactions of radicals are dealt with. The use of atom transfer steps and tandem sequences in synthesis is also illustrated. 

The rational synthesis of 11 started from 4,5-benzocycloheptenone ethylene ketal 16 which was reduced to the dihydrocompound 17 with lithium in liquid ammonia. Cyclopropanation of the latter with dichlorocarbene then gave the adduct 18, the ketal oxygens of 7 7 presumably coordinating with the carbene and directing it... 

The discovery of carbene and carbenoid additions to olefins was the major breakthrough that initiated the tapping of this structural resource for synthetic purposes. Even so, designed applications of cyclopropane chemistry in total syntheses remain limited. Most revolve around electrophilic type reactions such as acid induced ring opening or solvolysis of cyclopropyl carbinyl alcohol derivatives. One notable application apart from these electrophilic reactions is the excellent synthesis of allenes from dibromocyclopropanes 2). 

In contrast to considerations of 50 years ago, today carbene and nitrene chemistries are integral to synthetic design and applications. Always a unique methodology for the synthesis of cyclopropane and cyclopropene compounds, applications of carbene chemistry have been extended with notable success to insertion reactions, aromatic cycloaddition and substitution, and ylide generation and reactions. And metathesis is in the lexicon of everyone planning the synthesis of an organic compound. Intramolecular reactions now extend to ring sizes well beyond 20, and insertion reactions can be effectively and selectively implemented even for intermolecular processes. 

These complexes can be isolated in some cases in others they are generated in situ from appropriate precursers, of which diazo compounds are among the most important. These compounds, including CH2N2 and others, react with metals or metal salts (copper, palladium, and rhodium are most commonly used) to give the carbene complexes that add CRR to double bonds.1063 Optically active complexes have been used for enantioselective cyclopropane synthesis.1064... 

The introduction of carbenes and carbenoids into synthetic organic chemistry revolutionized the synthesis of cyclopropane derivatives21. In particular, cyclopropanation of methylenecycloalkanes became a very useful method for the preparation of SPC. Moreover, since cycloaddition of carbenes to olefins involves a very fast concerted process (i.e. it eliminates any intermediates during the formation of the three-membered ring)21, the method is equally efficient for the preparation of both unstrained and highly strained compounds. 

Carbenes, as synthetic species, are fascinating chemicals, and the synthesis of cyclopropanes by a [2 +1] cycloaddition of alkenes with carbenes represents an extremely fruitful approach. Recently, highly effective intramolecular [2 + 1] cycloadditions, novel triplet sensitizers, metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations, and novel precursors of carbenes have been developed. 

Metal aUcylidene complexes (see Schrock-type Carbene Complexes) have been proposed as intermediates in many catalytic reactions, including alkene metathesis (see Organic Synthesis Using Metal-mediated Metathesis Reactions), alkene and aUcyne polymerization, methylenation of carbonyl compounds, and cyclopropanation of alkenes. ... 

Although the reaction of dihalocarbenes with alkenes gives good yields of halogenated cyclopropanes, this is not usually the case with methylene, tCH2, the simplest carbene. Methylene is readily formed by heating diazomethane, CH2N2, which decomposes and loses N2, but the reaction of CH2 with alkenes often affords a complex mixture of products. Thus, this reaction cannot be reliably used for cyclopropane synthesis. 

This asymmetric carbene reaction has been extended successfully, but in an unexpected direction [37]. Thus, as illustrated in Scheme 10, the cyclopropane synthesis is now used for the industrial synthesis of Cilastatin (36), which acts as an excellent in vivo stabilizer of the antibiotic Imipenem (37) (Merck Co., USA, and Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., Japan). Chiral bisoxazolidine-Cu complexes (Structures 38 and 39) also exhibit high efficiency in asymmetric cyclopropanation [38]. 

The results of a series of reactions of Fischer carbene complexes with enynes are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. Cyclopropane synthesis is accomplished in the alkoxy series (Y = OMe) by the generation of a mixture of geometric isomers of enol ethers, whereas in the dialkyl-amino series, ketones are directly obtained after hydrolysis of the enamines. Higher yields have been obtained using the amino analog pentacarbonyl(l-pyrrolidinoethylidene)chromium [Y = N(CH2)J. - ... 

Due to the high reaction temperature and long reaction times, this method is less suited for the synthesis of thermally labile cyclopropanes. In such cases, the corresponding diazo esters are a better source of alkoxycarbonyl(chloro)carbene and alkoxycarbonyl(bromo)car-bene (see Section 1.2.1.2.4.2.6.2.). However, no alternative exists for transfer of alkoxycarbo-nyl(fluoro)carbenes here, [bromo(ethoxycarbonyl)fluoromethyl]phenylmercury is a more reactive precursor than [chloro(ethoxycarbonyl)fluoromethyl]phenylmercury. Typical examples are shown for the formation of 1, 2, and 3. Further examples are given in Houben-Weyl, Vol.E19b, pl044ff. 

The base-induced monodehydrochlorination reaction was originally introduced as the second step of a convenient two-step synthesis of methylenecyclopropanes from alkenes. The first step involves carbene-type cyclopropanation of the alkene with a 1,1-dichloroalkane and either butyllithium or sodium bishexamethyldisilazanide as the base. The dehydrochlorination is then carried out by reacting the intermediate 1-alkyl-1-chlorocyclopropane with potassium tert-butoxide in dimethyl sulfoxide. For ordinary unhindered chlorocyclopropanes this procedure gives from about 60% to nearly quantitative yields of products (Table 1). The ready availability of the starting materials and reagents makes the base-induced dehydrochlorination a most useful 1,2-elimination reaction for preparation of methylenecyclopropanes. The procedure is illustrated by the synthesis of l,l-dimethyl-2-methylenecyclopropane (3) from 2-methylpropene ( ) ... 

Cyclopropyl-substituted transition-metal carbene and carbyne complexes, especially as cyclo-propylidene- or as cyclopropylcarbene complexes, have been used as synthetic building blocks with or without ring opening. Examples of cyclopropane synthesis via decomplexation are described in Section 1.A.5.2.6. 

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