Carbene, chromium

Annelation of chromium carbene complexes in synthesis of heterocycles 99CSR187. 

Silylketenes in formation of (3-lactones and (3-lactams 98JCS(P1)2105. Syntheses of (3-lactams, (3-lactones, and 1,3- and 1,4-diazetidinediones by pho-tochemically induced cycloaddition reactions of chromium carbene complexes with imines, aldehydes, and azo compounds 97T4105. 

The coupling reaction of an a ,/3-unsaturated chromium carbene complex, e.g. 1, and an alkyne 2, through coordination to the chromium center, is called the Dotz reaction. The initial product is the chromium tricarbonyl complex of a hydroquinone derivative 3, which can easily be converted to a free hydroquinone or quinone. 

By a photochemically induced elimination of CO, a chromium carbene complex with a free coordination site is generated. That species can coordinate to an alkyne, to give the alkyne-chromium carbonyl complex 4. The next step is likely to be a cycloaddition reaction leading to a four-membered ring compound 5. A subsequent electrocyclic ring opening and the insertion of CO leads to the vinylketene complex 6 ... 

The synthetic value of the Dotz reaction has for example been demonstrated by the synthesis of vitamin Ki(20) 10 (simplified structure). This natural product has been prepared synthetically from the chromium carbene complex 8 and the alkyne 9 in two steps the second step being the oxidative decomplexation to yield the free product 10 ... 

Chromium carbene complexes like 13, which are called Fischer carbene complexes, can conveniently be prepared from chromium hexacarbonyl 11 and an organolithium compound 12, followed by an O-alkylation step ... 

The [3S+1C] cycloaddition reaction with Fischer carbene complexes is a very unusual reaction pathway. In fact, only one example has been reported. This process involves the insertion of alkyl-derived chromium carbene complexes into the carbon-carbon a-bond of diphenylcyclopropenone to generate cyclobutenone derivatives [41] (Scheme 13). The mechanism of this transformation involves a CO dissociation followed by oxidative addition into the cyclopropenone carbon-carbon a-bond, affording a metalacyclopentenone derivative which undergoes reductive elimination to produce the final cyclobutenone derivatives. 

The reaction of alkoxyarylcarbene complexes with alkynes mainly affords Dotz benzannulated [3C+2S+1C0] cycloadducts. However, uncommon reaction pathways of some alkoxyarylcarbene complexes in their reaction with alkynes leading to indene derivatives in a formal [3C+2S] cycloaddition process have been reported. For example, the reaction of methoxy(2,6-dimethylphenyl)chromium carbene complex with 1,2-diphenylacetylene at 100 °C gives rise to an unusual indene derivative where a sigmatropic 1,5-methyl shift is observed [60]. Moreover, a related (4-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)carbene complex reacts in benzene at 100 °C with 3-hexyne to produce an indene derivative. However, the expected Dotz cycloadduct is obtained when the solvent is changed to acetonitrile [61] (Scheme 19). Also, Dotz et al. have shown that the introduction of an isocyanide ligand into the coordination sphere of the metal induces the preferential formation of indene derivatives [62]. 

At this point the catalytic process developed by Dotz et al. using diazoalkanes and electron-rich dienes in the presence of catalytic amounts of pentacar-bonyl(r]2-ds-cyclooctene)chromium should be mentioned. This reaction leads to cyclopentene derivatives in a process which can be considered as a formal [4S+1C] cycloaddition reaction. A Fischer-type non-heteroatom-stabilised chromium carbene complex has been observed as an intermediate in this reaction [23a]. 

Scheme 32 Benzannulation with glucal-derived chromium carbenes...

The convergent approach comprises, among other reaction steps, a regio-specific intermolecular benzannulation reaction between the alkyne 88 and the chromium carbene complex 89 for AB ring construction (Scheme 43). It is noteworthy that the regioselectivity of this reaction is attributed to the bulky TBDMS ether in the alkyne a-substituent, that dictates the incorporation of the large substituent ortho to the phenol. Another curiosity is the fact that the reaction failed to provide 90 in the absence of acetic anhydride. 

Other miscellaneous imines that underwent photoreaction with chromium alkoxycarbenes include iminodithiocarbonates [33],the mono-N-phenylimine of benzil and the bis-JV-phenyl imine of acetoin [20]. By preparing the chromium carbene complex from 13CO-labeled chromium hexacarbonyl, /J-lactams with two adjacent 13C labels were synthesized [34]. 

Although the photodriven reactions of chromium carbene complexes with imines superficially resemble those of free ketenes, there are major differences. The optically active oxazolidine carbene (Table 5) gave excellent yields and high ee values when allowed to react with imidates, oxazines, thiazines, and... 

Of perhaps greater use for organic synthesis was the observation that photo-driven reactions of alkoxycarbenes with unsubstituted optically active ene carbamates [65] produced aminocyclobutanones in fair yield with high dia-stereoselectivity (Table 12) [66]. In contrast, with a gem-disubstituted ene carbamate, the syn-anti selectivity was low but high asymmetric induction a to nitrogen was observed (Eq. 16). Trans-monosubstituted ene carbamates failed to react, as did a,/J-unsaturated chromium carbene complexes. 

The thermal benzannulation of Group 6 carbene complexes with alkynes (the Dotz reaction) is highly developed and has been used extensively in synthesis [90,91]. It is thought to proceed through a chromium vinylketene intermediate generated by sequential insertion of the alkyne followed by carbon monoxide into the chromium-carbene-carbon double bond [92]. The realization that photodriven CO insertion into Z-dienylcarbene complexes should generate the same vinylketene intermediate led to the development of a photochemical variant of the Dotz reaction (Table 14). 

Chromium carbene complexes having electron-rich arenes tethered to the car-bene oxygen or carbon underwent photodriven intramolecular Friedel-Crafts acylation in the presence of zinc chloride (Eqs. 32 and 33) [118]. The process was highly regioselective, undergoing acylation exclusively para to the activating group. 

Ketenes react with tertiary allylic amines in the presence of Lewis acids to give zwitterionic intermediates which undergo [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement [119]. Photolysis of chromium carbene complexes in the presence of tertiary amines results in similar chemistry [120]. Cyclic (Table 21) and strained allylic amines (Eq. 34) work best, while acylic amines are less reactive (Eq. 35). 

Sulfur-stabilized ylides underwent photodriven reaction with chromium alkoxy-carbenes to produce 2-acyl vinyl ethers as E/Z mixtures with the E isomer predominating (Table 22) [ 121-123]. The reaction is thought to proceed by nucleophilic attack of the ylide carbon at the chromium carbene carbon followed by elimination of (CO)5CrSMe2. The same reaction occurred thermally, but at a reduced rate. Sulfilimines underwent a similar addition/elimination process to produce imidates or their hydrolysis products (Table 23) [ 124,125]. Again the reaction also proceeded thermally but much more slowly. Less basic sulfilimines having acyl or sulfonyl groups on nitrogen failed to react. 

For a review on chromium carbene complex photochemistry in organic syntheses see Hegedus LS (1997) Tetrahedron 53 4105... 

Lopez R, Sordo TL, Sordo JA, Gonzalez J (1993) J Org Chem 58 7036 Cossio F, Ugalde JM, Lopez X, Lecea B, Palomo C (1993) J Am Chem Soc 115 995 Cossio FP, Arrieta A, Lecea B, Ugalde JM (1994) J Am Chem Soc 116 2085 GerrietaA,Lecea B, Cossio FP (1998) J Org Chem 63 5869. For a theoretical treatment of the photoreaction of chromium carbene complexes with imines see Arrieta A, Cossio FP, Fernandez I, Gomez-Gallego M, Lecea B, Mancheno MJ, Sierra MA (2000) J Am Chem Soc 122 11509... 

En grosy the C insertion reactions can be classified as C3 type and as C4 type rearrangements. Furthermore, a two step C4-type process involving chromium carbene addition and a CO insertion has been reported. 

The outstanding chemoselectivity of Cp2TiCT was amply demonstrated by Merlic [50,51] and by Dotz [52] who employed a, /3-unsaluraled tungsten and chromium carbenes as radical traps for C - C bond formation. In the latter contribution the very acid sensitive glycal epoxides were used with good success. An example is shown in Scheme 8. 

In 2000, the Merlic research group reported concise total syntheses of calphostins A and D and the first total syntheses of calphostins B and C [33]. This original approach to the naphthalene fragment relied on a chromium carbene intermediate to obtain the required regioselection. The synthesis began with phosphonate 39 (three steps), followed by a Homer-Wadsworth-Emmons olefination of 39 with... 

SYNTHESIS OF 2-SUBSTITUTED NAPHTHALENEDIOL DERIVATIVES USING CHROMIUM CARBENE COMPLEXES 1-ACETOXY-2-BUTYL-4-METHOXYNAPHTHALENE (1-Naphthalenol, 2-butyl-4-methoxy-, acetate)... 

Caution All operations should be conducted in a well-ventilated hood with breathing protection. The chromium carbene complex generally is contaminated with the very volatile and toxic chromium hexacarbonyl, which is also generated as a by-product of the reaction. 

Pentacarbonyl[phenyl(methoxy)carbene]chromium was prepared by the checkers in 75% yield according to the literature Hegedus, L. S. McGuire, M. A. Schultze, L. M. Org. Synth. 1987, 65,140. This material was stored under nitrogen at -30°C and purified immediately prior to use by filtration through a plug of Celite (hexane solvent). If the chromium carbene is purchased from Aldrich Chemical Company, Inc., the submitters found it was only 65% pure based on capillary GLC analysis. 

Triethylamine (8) Ethanamine, N,N-diethyl- (9) (121-44-8) Pentacarbonyl[phenyl(methoxy)chromium]carbene Chromium, pentacarbonyl(a-methoxybenzylidene)- (8) ... 

This reaction has been performed on a scale up to a 20 times larger by the submitters (400 g of chromium carbene complex) with identical results. 

The regioselective preparation of 2-substltuted naphthalenediol derivatives having the diols differentially protected in a predictable and straightforward manner, previously not directly attainable, is readily accomplished using chromium carbene complexes. First prepared by E. O. Fischer, chromium carbene complexes react readily with alkynes (extensively investigated by K. H. D6tz, and others).3 Steric effects dictate the substitution pattern observed2-4 and the reaction mechanism has been widely studied.2... 

Merlic demonstrated the direct, non-photochemical insertion of carbon monoxide from acylamino chromium carbene complexes 14 to afford a presumed chromium-complexed ketene 15 <00JA7398>. This presumed metal-complexed ketene leads to a munchnone 16 or munchnone complex which undergo dipolar cycloaddition with alkynes to yield the pyrroles 17 upon loss of carbon dioxide. 

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