Carbenes carbon-hydrogen bond formation

Among typical carbon-carbon bond (C-C) formation reactions with carbenes, the cyclopropanation reaction with olefins has been well studied including its application to industrial processes. The second typical reaction of carbenes is the insertion reaction into the carbon-hydrogen bond (C-H) which seems to be a direct and efficient C-C bond forming reaction. However, its use for synthetic purpose has often been limited due to low selectivity of the reactions.3... 

Elimination of trimethylchlorosilane and nitrogen occurs when the (phos-phino)(silyl)diazomethane la is reacted with para-toluenesulfinyl chloride at low temperature. The formation of the four-membered heterocycle 92, obtained in 87% yield, can be rationalized by a multiple-step mechanism involving the formation of the (phosphino)(sulfinyl)carbene 2v. The insertion of the (phosphoryl)(sulfenyl)carbene 91, resulting from a 1,3-oxygen shift from sulfur to phosphorus in 2v, into a carbon-hydrogen bond of a diisopropylamino group readily accounts for the formation of 92.84... 

Products which can be ascribed to the intermediate formation of radicals have long been observed in carbene reactions. In the gas phase these products could arise by homolytic decomposition of excited primary products before collisional deactivation rather than from radicals generated in the course of insertion. This is not so in solution. It is found that, in the thermal decomposition of diphenyldiazomethane (Bethell et al., 1965) or photolysis of diphenylketene (Nozaki et al., 1966) in toluene solution, the product of insertion of diphenylmethylene into the benzylic carbon-hydrogen bonds, 1,1,2-triphenylethane, is accompanied by substantial amounts of 1,1,2,2-tetraphenylethane and bibenzyl. This is a strong indication that discrete diphenylmethyl and benzyl radicals are formed, and, taken in conjunction with EPR (Section IIB) and other evidence (Etter et al., 1959) that diphenylmethylene is a ground-state triplet, would support the view that equation (20) is an adequate representation of triplet insertion. 

The formation of dihalocarbene is one of the most useful phase-transfer processes developed in organic chemistry. The dihalocarbenes, once generated from haloform and base, can undergo addition or insertion reactions (3, 11, 12). If the double bond is complexed to a metal, addition by the carbene will not occur, but rather insertion into a saturated carbon-hydrogen bond will take place. 

Whether carbene, germylene, and silylene are justifiable terms for stabilized versions of the reactive species is a very debatable question [28], However, for synthetic chemists, the most important issue is to know whether these stable species feature the reactivity of transient carbenes. Formation of azaphospholidines upon thermolysis (intramolecular carbene insertion into a carbon-hydrogen bond), cyclopropanation reactions, and [l + l]-addition to isocyanides giving keteneimines... 

Intramolecular carbon-hydrogen insertion reactions have well known to be elTectively promoted by dirhodium(ll) catalysts [19-23]. Insertion into the y-position to form five-membered ring compounds is virtually exclusive, and in competitive experiments the expected reactivity for electrophilic carbene insertion (3°>2° 1°) is observed [49], as is heteroatom activation [50]. A recent theoretical treatment [51] confirmed the mechanistic proposal (Scheme 15.4) that C-C and C-H bond formation with the carbene carbon proceeds in a concerted fashion as the ligated metal dissociates [52]. Chemoselectivity is dependent on the catalyst ligands [53]. 

The differences in deuterium and carbon isotope effects indicate the asymmetric transition state with more advanced carbon-carbon bond formation to the terminal Cl atom. The difference between deuterium isotope effects for HCI-S and Htmns hydrogens probably originates from experimental uncertainty. Theoretical calculations (B3LYP/6-31G, B3LYP/6-311+G ) for carbene addition to 1-butene were carried out for two modes with carbene approaching carbon atom Cl or C2. The best agreement for experimental isotope effects is for carbene attack on terminal carbon atom and the carbene-alkene separation in the transition state of 2.5 A. 

Intramolecular carbo-hydrogen insertion of carbenes generated by catalytic diazo decomposition is a facile method for carbon-carbon bond formation. Furans and derivatives thereof can be prepared by... 

The ionic addition of unsymmetrical addends to alkenes obeys the Markov-nikov rule. For the addition of HX, the Markovnikov transition state of C-H bond formation is encouraged by symbiosis. The creation of a more highly substituted carbocation is favored because the central carbon carries fewer soft hydrogen atoms. The carbenium ion may also be considered as an acid-base complex of a carbene-cation in which the carbene is a donor. Thus, the secondary carbenium ion RjCH is made up of a resonance hybrid HRCi R R CHR, and the primary ion RCHf is... 

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