Copper catalysis, photochem

The products formed in these reactions are very sensitive to the functionality on the carbenoid. A study of Schechter and coworkers132 using 2-diazo-1,3-indandione (152) nicely illustrates this point. The resulting carbenoid would be expected to be more electrophilic than the one generated from alkyl diazoacetate and consequently ihodium(II) acetate could be used as catalyst. The alkylation products (153) were formed in high yields without any evidence of cycloheptatrienes (Scheme 33). As can be seen in the case for anisole, the reaction was much more selective than the rhodium(II)-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 31), resulting in the exclusive formation of the para product. Application of this alkylation process to the synthesis of a novel p-quinodimethane has been reported.133 Similar alkylation products were formed when dimethyl diazomalonate was decomposed in the presence of aromatic systems, but as these earlier studies134 were carried out either photochemically or by copper catalysis, side reactions also occurred, as can be seen in the reaction with toluene (equation 36). 

The main products of the thermolysis of the isomeric oxadiazolinones (642) and (644) are the benzimidazole (643) and the rearranged compound (645), respectively. The rates of the oxadiazole - triazole rearrangement (646) - (647) have been measured. Oxadiazoline-thiones (648 R R = alkyl or Ph) rearrange photochemically or by copper catalysis to thiadiazolinones (649). ... 

The thermal [1] or photochemical [5] isomerization of N-silylated allylamine in the presence of Fe(CO)5 provides the corresponding N-silylated enamines 7a and 7b. Z-enamine 7b does not react in any of the examined cycloadditions. The cyclopropanation of E-enamine 7a with methyl diazoacetate under copper(I) catalysis provides the donor-acceptor-substituted cyclopropane 9 [1], which can be converted in good yield into the interesting dipeptide 10 [6]. 

The reaction of a-diazocarbonyl compounds with nitriles produces 1,3-oxazoles under thermal (362,363) and photochemical (363) conditions. Catalysis by Lewis acids (364,365), or copper salts (366), and rhodium complexes (367) is usually much more effective. This latter transformation can be regarded as a formal [3 + 2] cycloaddition of the ketocarbene dipole across the C=N bond. More than likely, the reaction occurs in a stepwise manner. A nitrilium ylide (319) (Scheme 8.79) that undergoes 1,5-cyclization to form the 1,3-oxazole ring has been proposed as the key intermediate. 

Transfer of carbene 3a from 19 to a variety of alkenes and cycloalkenes has been achieved under catalysis by copper(I) chloride74,79 - 82. However, with the exception of cyclohexene69,70 (72% yield), only moderate yields could be obtained. In all cases, the cyclopropanation was stereospecific with respect to the double bond configuration of the alkene and gave the sterically less crowded cyclopropane diastereomer in excess. As in the photochemical cyclopropanation, the formal carbene dimer trans-1,2-bis(trimethylsilyl)ethene is often formed as the major by-product. Cyclopropanation of fraws-but-2-ene with 19 with copper(II) chloride as catalyst was found to be even less... 

Cycloaddition of the carbene derived from 205 to bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene yields the expected cyclopropene in low yield both photochemically (20%) and under catalysis by copper triflate at 80 °C (10-13%)119. The latter version of the reaction is accompanied by [3 + 2] cycloaddition of the diazo compound to the alkyne, and the photochemical route yields a by-product which obviously comes from carbenic C,H insertion at a SiMe3 group of the alkyne. 

Copper(I) catalysis is very well established to promote intramolecular [2+2] photocycloaddition reactions of l,n-dienes (review [351]). The methodology recently enjoyed a number of applications [352-354], It is assumed that CuOTf, which is commonly applied as the catalyst, coordinates the diene and in this way mediates a preorganization. The Ghosh group recently reported a number of CuOTf-catalyzed photochemical [2+2] cycloaddition reactions, in which an organocopper radical complex was proposed as a cyclization intermediate (which should, however, have a formal Cu(II) oxidation state) (selected references [355-357]). A radical complex must, however, not be invoked, since the process may either proceed by a [2+2] photocycloaddition in the coordination sphere of copper without changing the oxidation state or according to a cycloisomerization/reductive elimination process. 

Redox catalysis is the catalysis of redox reactions and constitutes a broad area of chemistry embracing biochemistry (cytochromes, iron-sulfur proteins, copper proteins, flavodoxins and quinones), photochemical processes (energy conversion), electrochemistry (modified electrodes, organic synthesis) and chemical processes (Wacker-type reactions). It has been reviewed altogether relatively recently [2]. We will essentially review here the redox catalysis by electron reservoir complexes and give a few examples of the use of ferrocenium derivatives. 

The C-S bond of a sulfonium ylide can be cleaved thermally, photochemically, or by transition-metal catalysis, however, a number of acyl-substituted sulfonium ylides are not decomposed thermally at 70-80 C or catalytically with copper(II) sulfate (40-80°C). The so-formed oxocarbene (or metal complexes thereof) can, in principle, undergo 1,2-addition to... 

Starting from (2-oxoalkylidene)sulfur-Slv, triacylcyclopropanes are often the dominant products, regardless of the decomposition mode of the sulfonium ylide.56-59. In fact, no example of an efficient alkene cyclopropanation using these synthetic equivalents of oxocar-benes is yet known. The photochemical decomposition (A > 300 nm) of (2-oxo-2-phenylethylidene)sulfur-SIV in cyclohexene yielded only a minor amount of 7-benzoyl-bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (2, 5%) in addition to frm -l,2,3-tribenzoylcyclopropane (3, 40%), acetophenone (37%), bicyclohex-2-enyl (38%), and propiophenone (3%). In an inert solvent (benzene, chloroform) without an additional trapping reagent, trans-1,2,3-tribenzoylcyclo-propane (3) was obtained in > 90% yield both photochemically and by copper(II) sulfate catalysis at reflux temperature.57... 

Ylide generation from diazo compounds by reaction of carbenoids is a better method than photochemical or thermal dediazoniation in the presence of organic substrates containing heteroatoms, because these dediazoniations without metal catalysis yield, in most cases, not very selective carbenes. Here again, the copper-catalyzed route is in most cases inferior to that with rhodium catalysts. The diazoketo ester with a terminal thioalkyl group (8.145) can be obtained from the... 

Homogeneous catalysts may fulfill the role of the surface metal catalytic sites in the above systems (for example, copper). Homogeneous catalysis is important in electrochemical reductions systems, as well as photochemical systems. Indeed the two approaches share many features, as discussed later. 

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