Coordinated nucleophiles

Ferrocen-l,l -diylbismetallacycles are conceptually attractive for the development of bimetal-catalyzed processes for one particular reason the distance between the reactive centers in a coordinated electrophile and a coordinated nucleophile is self-adjustable for specific tasks, because the activation energy for Cp ligand rotation is very low. In 2008, Peters and Jautze reported the application of the bis-palladacycle complex 56a to the enantioselective conjugate addition of a-cyanoacetates to enones (Fig. 31) [74—76] based on the idea that a soft bimetallic complex capable of simultaneously activating both Michael donor and acceptor would not only lead to superior catalytic activity, but also to an enhanced level of stereocontrol due to a highly organized transition state [77]. An a-cyanoacetate should be activated by enolization promoted by coordination of the nitrile moiety to one Pd(II)-center, while the enone should be activated as an electrophile by coordination of the olefinic double bond to the carbophilic Lewis acid [78],... 

Two further unsaturated cages. Each of the systems discussed so far involves reaction of an electrophilic reagent with non-coordinated nucleophiles appended to metal-bound ligands. In contrast, in the following synthesis, cage formation occurs via an internal rearrangement of an Fe(u) complex of type (151) (Herron et al., 1982). Complexes of type (151) have already been discussed in Section 3.5. Treatment of these... 

However, unlike most conventional solvents, many ionic liquids combine high solvating power for polar catalyst complexes (polarity) with weak coordination (nucleophilicity) [38], It is this combination that enables a biphasic reaction mode with these ionic liquids even for catalyst systems which are deactivated by water or polar organic solvents. 

Some other reactions of metal nitrosyls LxM(NO) with various nucleophiles (Nuc) are summarized in Table III. The pattern indicated by the studies described above is repeated simple adduct formation occurs when the coordinated nitrosyls are sufficiently electrophilic and the nucleophiles sufficiently basic. The first species formed is probably the N-coordinated nucleophile nitrosyl adduct LrM(N(O)Nuc), e.g. Eq. (27). Subsequent reactions depend on the substitution lability of these species, as well as on the redox stability of the complex and of the ligand. 

Since non-bound or non-coordinated nucleophiles are even more reactive, crown-ethers [138] and cryptands (polyaminoethers) [139,140] have been used to chelate the alkali metal cations, notably the potassium ion of K[ F]F. This allows the [ F]fluoride anion to be less tightly paired with the cation and therefore to be more reactive, which has been coined the naked ion effect. In practice, the crown-ether (e.g. 18-crown-6) or better the polyaminoether Kryptofix-222 (4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo[8.8.8]hexacosane) is added to the aqueous K[ F]F/K2C03 solution which is then concentrated to dryness [139,140]. The complex (KP FIF-K ) can be further dried, if needed, by one or more cycles of addition of dry acetonitrile and azeotropic evaporation. 

Polyethers are prepared by the ring opening polymerization of three, four, five, seven, and higher member cyclic ethers. Polyalkylene oxides from ethylene or propylene oxide and from epichlorohydrin are the most common commercial materials. They seem to be the most reactive alkylene oxides and can be polymerized by cationic, anionic, and coordinated nucleophilic mechanisms. For example, ethylene oxide is polymerized by an alkaline catalyst to generate a living polymer in Figure 1.1. Upon addition of a second alkylene oxide monomer, it is possible to produce a block copolymer (Fig. 1.2). 

Cationic polymerization of alkylene oxides generally produces low molecular weight polymers, although some work [26] seems to indicate that this difficulty can be overcome by the presence of an alcohol (Fig. 1.3). Higher molecular weight polyethylene oxides can be prepared by a coordinated nucleophilic mechanism that employs such catalysts as alkoxides, oxides, carbonates, and carboxylates, or chelates of alkaline earth metals (Fig. 1.4). An aluminum-porphyrin complex is claimed to generate immortal polymers from alkylene oxides that are totally free from termination reaction [27]. 

Insertion. The insertion reaction is one of the most important ways in which new bonds between the reactants are created by the catalyst. Two common forms of this reaction are illustrated by the insertion of carbon monoxide (equation 4) and ethylene (equation 5). The ligand X here may be generally described as a coordinated nucleophile. Insertion reactions are common to very many catalytic reactions. 

Most of the reactions listed in Table 6 involve prior activation of the substrate by coordination to palladium in the form of a v-, a 77-ally lie, a 77-benzylic, or an alkyl or aryl complex. Once coordinated to the metal, the substrate becomes an electron acceptor and can react with a variety of different nucleophiles. The addition of nucleophiles (Nu) to the coordinated substrate may occur in two different ways, as shown by Scheme 9 for 7r-alkene complexes 397"399 (a) external attack leading to trans addition of palladium and nucleophile across the 77-system (path A) or (b) internal addition of the coordinated nucleophile to the complexed alkene resulting in cis addition of palladium and nucleophile to the double bond. The cis and trans adducts (120) and (121) may then undergo /3-hydride elimination (/3-H), producing the vinylic oxidation product... 

The commonest reactions involve the displacement of halide by hydroxide or cyanide ion to yield co-ordinated phenols or nitriles. Once again, the metal may play a variety of different functions. The polarisation of the C-Cl bond is the most obvious, but stabilisation of the product may be of equal importance, as could the involvement of a metal coordinated nucleophile. The availability of a one-electron redox inter-conversion between copper(n) and copper(i) also opens up the possibilities of radical mechanisms involving homolytic cleavage of the C-Cl bond. All of these different processes are known to be operative in various reaction conditions. In other cases, organocopper intermediates are thought to be involved. 

In low-water conditions, it is proposed that the promotional effects of iodide and acetate involve two competitive pathways between four-coordinate and five-coordinate nucleophilic intermediates for rate-determining reactions with CH3I (Scheme 2). 

Enantioselective conjugate addition reactions of strongly coordinating nucleophiles with the use of chiral 4,6-dibenzofurandiyl-2,2 -6A(4-phenyloxazoline)-based aqua complexes as catalysts 03YGK1073. 

The efficacy of coordinated nucleophiles has been established for the intramolecular hydrolysis of numerous substrates for example, coordinated amino acid esters (5), amino nitriles (jj,7)... 

Transition metal complexes can promote reactions by organizing and binding substrates. We have already seen this in terms of metal-directed reactions. Another important function is the supply of a coordinated nucleophile for the reaction, which is incorporated in the product. We have already seen a coordinated nucleophile at work in the reaction discussed above of Co— OH with NO+ nucleophiles, which are electron-rich entities, are best represented in coordination chemistry by coordinated hydroxide ion, formed by proton loss from a water molecule this is a common ligand in metal complexes. Normally, water dissociates only to a very limited extent, via... 

Although the most important, hydroxide is not the sole example of a coordinated nucleophile met in coordination chemistry. The next most important, as a result of the prevalence of ammonia as a ligand, is the amide ion. Ammonia is usually thought of simply as a base,... 

---