Carbyne complexes, addition reactions

In this chapter, we have considered just a few types of reactions of organometallic compounds, principally the replacement of CO by other ligands and the reactions involved in syntheses of carbene and carbyne complexes. Additional types of reactions will be discussed in Chapter 14. We conclude this chapter with two examples of how spectral data may be used in the characterization of organometallic compounds. Further examples can be found in the problems at the end of this chapter and in Chapter 14. 

It was noted in Section V,B that the chlorophenyl carbene complex 85 can be prepared by chlorine addition to carbyne complex 80. Treatment of 85 with one equivalent of PhLi does not afford 80, suggesting that the reaction sequence is reduction/substitution rather than substitution/reduc-tion. The recent report (127) of a nucleophilic displacement reaction of the molybdenum chlorocarbyne complex 87 with PhLi to generate phenylcar-byne complex 88 suggests that the intermediacy of the chlorocarbyne complex 86 in the above mechanism is not unreasonable. 

In addition to the reaction shown in Scheme 53, some other related reactions that are thought to proceed via cyclic carbometallation have also been reported (Scheme 54). In the cyclization reaction of 2-ethenyl-2 -ethynylbiphenyl, both Cr and W carbyne complexes must undergo the same cyclic carbometallation as that shown in Scheme 53 to give the corresponding metallacyclohexadiene intermediates, but the final products obtained were different.256 Some tungsten-carbyne complexes have been shown to undergo a stepwise [2 + 2 + 2]-cyclization via formal cyclic carbometallation that can be followed by reductive elimination to produce cyclopentadiene-tungsten complexes.2... 

Following the synthesis of metal carbyne complexes, the first metalladiyne derivative was prepared by treatment of W =C(OEt)C=CPh (CO>5 with BX3 (X = C1, Br, I) (pentane, -45°C) to give rranj-W(=CC=CPh)(X)(CO)4 (334 Scheme 77) in good yields (30-60%). Subsequent reactions with NHMea give W sCCH=CPh(NMc2) (X)(CO)4 by addition to the C=C triple bond, the structure of which indicates a contribution from the vinylidene resonance form. ... 

Phosphines, as nucleophiles, add to many unsaturated substrates giving metal-lated ylides. Scheme 17 collects some representative examples of the addition of phosphines to carbyne complexes, giving (57) [132], to allenylidenes (58) [133], a-alkenyls (59) [134], or a-alkynyls (60) [135]. Moreover, reaction of phosphines with 7i-alkenes [136] and 71-aIkynes (61)-(64) [137-140] have also been reported. It is not possible to explain in depth each reaction, but the variety of resulting products provides an adequate perspective about the synthetic possibihties of this type of reactions. 

Electrophilic attack at carbyne complexes may ultimately place the electrophile on either the metal or the (former) carbyne carbon, the two possibilities being related in principle by a-elimination/migratory insertion processes (Figure 5.39). The reactions of the osmium carbyne complex are suggestive of an analogy with alkynes. Each of these reactions (hydro-halogenation, chlorination, chalcogen addition, metal complexation see below) have parallels in the chemistry of alkynes. 

Following the Fischer procedure, alkynyl carbyne complexes trans-X(CO)4M=C—CPh 189 have been obtained in 30-60% yields by reaction of (l-alkynyl)carbene complexes la,b (M = Cr, W) with BX3 (X = Cl, Br, I). To date, (l-alkynyl)carbyne compounds have found application as catalysts as well as stochiometric reagents in organic synthesis.205c-206 Among the transformations reported thus far is the formation of a 4-amino-l-metalla-l-yne-3-ene (= enamino carbyne complex) 190 by addition of HNMe2 to compound 189 (Scheme 79).207... 

The synthesis of cyclopropyl carbyne complexes follows the general Fischer synthesis of carbyne complexes from alkoxycarbene complexes typical of transition metals of group 6 (Cr, Mo, W). Thus, addition of cyclopropyllithium to chromium and tungsten hexacar-bonyl followed by alkylation of the acylmetallate intermediate with triethyloxonium fluo-roborate gave cyclopropyl ethoxycarbene complexes which, upon subsequent reaction with boron tribromide at -25 °C, afforded the corresponding /ra 5 -bromotetracarbonyl cyclopropylcarbyne complexes (equation 91). However, whereas the monotungsten... 

In addition to complexes of terminal alkylidenes, many complexes containing alkylidenes bridging two metal atoms have been made these are commonly known as p-methylene complexes. A wide range of complexes containing other metal-carbon bonds are known such as the carbyne complexes (for example, Cr = CPh(CO)5) which contain metal-carbon triple bonds. While such species may well be involved in some catalytic reactions, their importance in industrially catalyzed processes still has to be evaluated. 

The molecular orbital analysis of the nucleophilic addition at the carbyne C atom infers the orbital control of the reaction since the C atom undergoing attack is the most negative one in the carbyne complex. [2 + 2] cycloadditions of [ReCp(CO)2(CPh)]+ with MeN=C(Ph)H, t-BuN=0, and ArN=NAr (Ar = aryl) but not with aUcenes or aUcynes, give the metallacycles. These reactions are driven by the nucleophilic attack of the lone pairs of the N atom at the electrophilic carbyne carbon atom. These metallacycles are... 

Carbyne complexes can be synthesized in a variety of ways in addition to Lewis acid attack on carbene complexes. Synthetic routes for carbyne complexes and the reactions of these complexes have been reviewed. ... 

The osmium carbyne complex 115 reacts with elemental sulfur, selenium, and tellurium to afford the complexes 135 in which the element atoms "bridge the metal-carbon triple bond [Eq. (123)] (56). Complex 115 also reacts with transition metal Lewis acids such as AgCl or Cul to give dinuclear compounds with bridging carbyne ligands. Reaction with elemental chlorine results in addition across the metal-carbon triple bond to generate the chlorocarbene osmium complex 136 [Eq. (124)]. 

This chapter will focus on the nucleophilic addition reactions of transiton metal carbene and carbyne complexes with Grignard reagents. The synthesis and some general reactions of these carbene and carbyne complexes will be presented. A more detailed description of the chemistry of these complexes can be found in the literature [1]. This chapter, although not exhaustive, is descriptive of the prototypical nucleophilic addition reactions of metal-carbon (M-C) multiple bonds with Grignard reagents. 

Transition metal carbyne complexes are described by the general formula L M=CR where the carbyne ligand (=CR) is bonded to the metal by a metal-carbon triple bond. Transition metal carbene complexes have found numerous applications in synthetic organic chemistry through a variety of carbene transfer and cycloaddition reactions [17]. In contrast, carbyne (L M=CR) and vinylidene (L M=C=CRR ) complexes have far fewer applications, in part because their overall chemistry is significantly less developed [18]. Addition reactions to transition metal vinylidene complexes will be discussed in Chapter 21. The first successful synthesis of a carbyne complex was reported by Fischer and co-workers in 1973 [Eq. (8) 19]. Subsequently, many other carbyne complexes have been synthesized by the classic route of Fischer or by new synthetic methods [20]. 

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