Carbon nucleophiles stabilization range

Reactions of allylic electrophiles with stabilized carbon nucleophiles were shown by Helmchen and coworkers to occur in the presence of iridium-phosphoramidite catalysts containing LI (Scheme 10) [66,69], but alkylations of linear allylic acetates with salts of dimethylmalonate occurred with variable yield, branched-to-linear selectivity, and enantioselectivity. Although selectivities were improved by the addition of lithium chloride, enantioselectivities still ranged from 82-94%, and branched selectivities from 55-91%. Reactions catalyzed by complexes of phosphoramidite ligands derived from primary amines resulted in the formation of alkylation products with higher branched-to-linear ratios but lower enantioselectivities. These selectivities were improved by the development of metalacyclic iridium catalysts discussed in the next section and salt-free reaction conditions described later in this chapter. 

Once complexed to palladium(II), the alkene is generally activated towards nucleophilic attack, with nucleophiles ranging from chloride to phenyllithium undergoing reaction. The reaction is, however, quite sensitive to conditions and displacement of the alkene by the nucleophile (path a) or oxidative destruction of the nucleophile can become an important competing reaction. Nucleophilic attack occurs predominately to exclusively at the more-substituted position of the alkene (the position best able to stabilize positive charge) and from the face opposite the metal (trans attack, path b) to produce a new carbon-nucleophile bond and a new carbon-metal bond. This newly formed a-alkylmetal complex (2) is... 

The above system failed entirely when nonstabilized carbanions such as ketone or ester enolates or Grignard reagents were used as carbon nucleophiles, leading to reductive coupling of the anions rather than alkylation of the alkene. However, the fortuitous observation that the addition of HMPA to the reaction mixture prior to addition of the carbanion prevented this side reaction1 extended the range of useful carbanions substantially to include ketone and ester enolates, oxazoline anions, protected cyanohydrin anions, nitrile-stabilized anions3 and even phenyllithium (Scheme 3).s... 

A wide range of transition metal-allyl complexes are known to react with many types of nucleophiles. In most cases, these reactions occur between cationic allyl complexes and amines or stabilized, anionic carbon nucleophiles. The reaction typically occurs between the nucleophile and the form of the allyl complex, and attack usually occurs at the face of the allyl ligand opposite the metal. However, there are exceptions to these trends. For example, several experiments suggest that unstabilized carbon nucleophiles react first at the metal center, and C-C bond formation occurs between the alkyl and the allyl group by reductive elimination. In addition, a recent study has shown through deuterium labeling that attack of malonate anion on a molybdenum-allyl complex occurs with retention of configuration. ... 

The direct, Pd(II)-catalyzed addition of heteroatom and stabilized carbon nucleophiles to alkenes is generally not a successful reaction. An exception is the addition of water, which gives carbonyl compounds and has been developed into an important indnstrial process, the Wacker process. This has been reviewed extensively.By contrast, the stoichiometric addition of nucleophiles such as amines is facile. - However, if alkenes could be converted catalytically into Tr-allylpalladium complexes, the problems with nucleophilic addition to alkenes could be circumvented and amines and other heteroatom nucleophiles could be employed. A range of alkenes have been converted into rr-allyl complexes in a stoichiometric fashion,t "t but catalytic reactions have proved more difficult. However, aUyl acetates and similar compounds readily exchange the acetate group for heteroatom nucleophiles in a Pd(0)-catalyzed reaction, which proceeds via 7T-allylpalladinm(ll) intermediates (Scheme 1). Since this reaction has been developed into a very important synthetic reaction, an efficient procedure for catalytic conversion of alkenes into aUyl acetates would have great synthetic potential. 

A wide range of nucleophiles have been used. Nitrogen derivatives of various kinds, including simple amines (Scheme 9.15), have proven to be very effective. Stabilized carbon nucleophiles, such as the anions of malonates (Scheme 9.16), 3-ketoesters, a-sulfonyl esters, have been widely employed. Oxygen nucleophiles have been less widely used, but are known (Scheme 9.17). ... 

These results are not inconsistent with literature precedents for the SnAt reaction of 2,4-difluoronitrobenzene. There are several examples of displacement with oxygen, (5) nitrogen, (P) and carbon (malonate) (10) nucleophiles. With oxygen nucleophiles, regioselectivity ranges from non-selective (1 1) to modest ortho selectivity (2-3 1). With nitrogen nucleophiles the regioselectivity varies more widely, from pura-selective (Pa) to non-selective, 9b) to ort/io-selective.(Pc,d) With stabilized carbon nucleophiles (malonate), there are reports of both para 10a) and ortho 10b) selectivity. 

Stereodefined alkenes are ubiquitous structural motifs in many natural products and pharmaceutics, and, moreover, they serve as a foundation for a broad range of chemical transformations. Nowadays, carbonyl olefination, elimination, alkyne addition, alkenylation, and alkene metathesis constitute the most widely used methods for the stereoselective synthesis of various alkenes [1-3]. Whereas no single method provides a universal solution to stereoselective alkene synthesis, the olefination reactions of aldehydes and ketones with phosphorus-stabilized carbon nucleophiles have enjoyed widespread prominence and recognition owing to their simplicity, convenience, complete positional selectivity, and generally high levels of geometrical control [4-9]. 

Ketone and ester enolates have historically proven problematic as nucleophiles for the transition metal-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction, which can be attributed, at least in part, to their less stabilized and more basic nature. In Hght of these limitations, Tsuji demonstrated the first rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reaction using the trimethly-silyl enol ether derived from cyclohexanone, albeit in modest yield (Eq. 4) [9]. Matsuda and co-workers also examined rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation, using trimethylsilyl enol ethers with a wide range of aUyhc carbonates [22]. However, this study was problematic as exemplified by the poor regio- and diastereocontrol, which clearly delineates the limitations in terms of the synthetic utihty of this particular reaction. 

Substitution of the central carbon of RX may induce significant mechanistic variations within the range of nucleophilic substitution reactions. For example, introduction of electron-releasing substituents on R will lead to a stabilization of the carbocation configuration [22]. An excellent illustration of this type of process is the reaction of methoxymethyl derivatives (83) taken from Jencks work (Knier and Jencks, 1980). The carbocation within [22] is stabilized by the resonance interaction (84). Thus the configuration diagram... 

Many newer methods for generating cyclohexane derivatives from carbohydrates still depend on the intramolecular attack of nucleophilic carbon species at electrophilic centers, and the range of options is now extensive. Thus, the nucleophiles may be carb-anions stabilized by carbonyl, phosphonate, nitro, or dithio groups, and they may bond to carbonyl carbon atoms, or to those that carry appropriate leaving groups or are contained in epoxide rings, or as jj-centers of a,p-unsaturated carbonyl systems. Otherwise, the nucleophilic activity at the 7-centers of allylsilanes or a-positions of vinyl silanes may be used to react with electrophilic carbon atoms. 

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