Carbenes, nucleophilic with aldehydes

Abstract The photoinduced reactions of metal carbene complexes, particularly Group 6 Fischer carbenes, are comprehensively presented in this chapter with a complete listing of published examples. A majority of these processes involve CO insertion to produce species that have ketene-like reactivity. Cyclo addition reactions presented include reaction with imines to form /1-lactams, with alkenes to form cyclobutanones, with aldehydes to form /1-lactones, and with azoarenes to form diazetidinones. Photoinduced benzannulation processes are included. Reactions involving nucleophilic attack to form esters, amino acids, peptides, allenes, acylated arenes, and aza-Cope rearrangement products are detailed. A number of photoinduced reactions of carbenes do not involve CO insertion. These include reactions with sulfur ylides and sulfilimines, cyclopropanation, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, and acyl migrations. 

Isonitrile complexes, having a similar electronic structure to carbonyl complexes, can also react with nucleophiles. Amino-substituted carbene complexes can be prepared in this way (Figure 2.6) [109-112]. Complexes of acceptor-substituted isonitriles can undergo 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions with aldehydes, electron-poor olefins [113], isocyanates [114,115], carbon disulfide [115], etc., to yield heterocycloalkylidene complexes (Figure 2.6). 

The proposed catalytic cycle starts from the nucleophilic addition of carbene 17 to aldehyde 18 (Scheme 14.4) to afford acyl azolium intermediate 19, which takes part in an acyl transfer event with co-catalyst HOAt to deliver the activated car-... 

The preparative value of this compound lies in the surprising fact that bis(l,3-diphenylimidazolidinylidene-2) behaves in many reactions e.g., with aromatic aldehydes,2, and with carbon acids 2 7 °) as if it dissociated to form a nucleophilic carbene. The hydrolytic cleavage of these derived imidazolidine derivatives makes possible the preparation of formyl compounds, so that the amino olefin can be considered as a potential carbonyla-tion reagent. In many reactions it is not necessary to isolate the reagent, as it may be produced in situ.10 It should be pointed out, however, that the reaction of the amino olefin with aldehydes and carbon acids does not actually involve prior dissociation to... 

The observed absolute configuration of the products is in compliance with a simple transition state model where the phenyl group of the diox-ane moiety shields the Re face of the intermediate formed by addition of the nucleophilic carbene to the aldehyde, therefore, directing the attack of the enoate Michael acceptor to occur with the less hindered face, that is the Si face of the enamine (Fig. 16). The electrophilic part of the intermediate bearing the activated C=C double bond is approached by... 

The reaction starts with the nucleophilic addition of the carbene to the aldehyde followed by [3+2] cycloaddition with the allenoate to furnish spirodihydrofuran intermediates 19/111. In the presence of a base, opening of the imidazole ring and rearranganent of the exocyclic to endocyclic carbon-carbon double bond afford carbanions I10/I12. Finally, protonadon of these intermediates yields furans 20 and 21 (Schane 5.15). 

Reactions with Carbonyl Compounds and Utilization of 2-Diazo-2-(trimethyIsiIyI)ethanoIs. Diazo(trimethylsilyl)-methyllithium (TMSC(Li)N2) reacts with aldehydes and ketones to give lithium 2-diazo-2-(trimethylsilyl)ethoxides by nucleophilic addition, which produce alkylidene carbenes by expulsion of TMSOLi and nitrogen (eq 12). 

With a similar strategy of combined diarylprolinol silyl ether and N-heterocyclic carbene catalysts, j0rgensen and coworkers [21] examined the cascade reaction of easily accessible i-keto heteroaryl-sulfones as nucleophiles with a,P-unsaturated aldehydes (Scheme 43.11). In this cascade reaction, following the initial iminium ion-catalyzed Michael reaction of nucleophiles to a,(i-unsaturated aldehydes, the subsequent step was then promoted by carbene catalyst 57 to afford 2,4-disubstituted cyclopentenones 55 via an intramolecular benzoin condensation initiated Smiles rearrangement. The superiority of combinational use of two catalysts in the similar Michael/benzoin cascade reaction was also independently demonstrated by Enders et al. (Scheme 43.12) [22]. 

The triazole 76, which is more accurately portrayed as the nucleophilic carbene structure 76a, acts as a formyl anion equivalent by reaction with alkyl halides and subsequent reductive cleavage to give aldehydes as shown (75TL1889). The benzoin reaction may be considered as resulting in the net addition of a benzoyl anion to a benzaldehyde, and the chiral triazolium salt 77 has been reported to be an efficient asymmetric catalyst for this, giving the products (/ )-ArCH(OH)COAr, in up to 86% e.e. (96HCA1217). In the closely related intramolecular Stetter reaction e.e.s of up to 74% were obtained (96HCA1899). 

Breslow and co-workers elucidated the currently accepted mechanism of the benzoin reaction in 1958 using thiamin 8. The mechanism is closely related to Lapworth s mechanism for cyanide anion catalyzed benzoin reaction (Scheme 2) [28, 29], The carbene, formed in situ by deprotonation of the corresponding thiazolium salt, undergoes nucleophilic addition to the aldehyde. A subsequent proton transfer generates a nucleophilic acyl anion equivalent known as the Breslow intermediate IX. Subsequent attack of the acyl anion equivalent into another molecule of aldehyde generates a new carbon - carbon bond XI. A proton transfer forms tetrahedral intermediate XII, allowing for collapse to produce the a-hydroxy ketone accompanied by liberation of the active catalyst. As with the cyanide catalyzed benzoin reaction, the thiazolylidene catalyzed benzoin reaction is reversible [30]. 

Stetter expanded Umpolung reactivity to include the addition of acyl anion equivalents to a,P-unsaturated acceptors to afford 1,4-dicarbonyls Eq. 5a [57-60]. Utilizing cyanide or thiazolylidene carbenes as catalysts, Stetter showed that a variety of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes act as competent nucleophilic coupling partners with a wide range of a,p-unsaturated ketones, esters, and nitriles [61]. The ability to bring two different electrophilic partners... 

When 2,2-dichloro-3-phenylpropanal 203 is subjected to standard reaction conditions with chiral triazolium salt 75c, the desired amide is produced in 80% ee and 62% yield Eq. 20. This experiment suggests that the catalyst is involved in an enantioselec-tive protonation event. With this evidence in hand, the proposed mechanism begins with carbene addition to the a-reducible aldehyde followed by formation of activated car-boxylate XLII (Scheme 32). Acyl transfer occurs with HOAt, presumably due to its higher kinetic nucleophilicity under these conditions, thus regenerating the carbene. In turn, intermediate XLin then undergoes nucleophilic attack by the amine and releases the co-catalyst back into the catalytic cycle. 

DiazotriazoIe 28 (R = Ph) reacted with /-butyl alcohol and 2-propanol to give compounds 148 and 149 (Scheme 40) in comparable yields by carbenic C—H insertion and nucleophilic substitution, respectively [81DIS(B)(42)1892]. In the case of 2-propanol, an oxidation-reduction process, to give the parent triazole and acetone, was also observed to a smaller extent. Also, it was previously reported that 3-diazotriazole 28 (R = COOH) oxidizes primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones (1898LA33). 

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