Cyclization reactions carbene complexes

Alkenes and alkynes coordinate to transition metals and undergo a variety of reactions, and are very important substrates for transition metal-catalysed reactions. Their reactions with halides, cyclization via carbene complexes, hydrogenation, and oxidative reactions with Pd(II) are treated in Sections 3.2, 8.2, 10.1 and 11.1, respectively. The many other reactions of alkenes and alkynes as main reactants are treated in this chapter. 

Scheme 4 Access to various a,/ -unsaturated carbene complexes from alkynylcarbene complexes 23. A 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition. B Diels-Alder reaction. C Ene reaction. D [2+2] Cycloaddition. E Michael-type addition followed by cyclization. F Michael-type additions...

Rearrangement of the ruthenium (diaminocarbene) isocyanide complex 28 has been noted above. Migration of the carbene substituent group is thought to occur via an intramolecular cyclization reaction (57,58) ... 

Imidazolines are also formed in silver cyanide-catalyzed cyclization of alkyl isocyanides with aliphatic diamines (Scheme 103).169 This simple synthesis can be applied in a general way with difunctional nucleophiles and has been used to prepare benzimidazoles, oxazoles, thiazoles, and oxazines.169 It is suggested that transient carbene complexes are formed in these reactions (cf. 87 in Scheme 103) but further work is required to ascertain the mechanism and scope of these processes. 

Hypothetical (carbene)gold(i) structures of intermediates and reaction coordinates have been calculated (B3LYP/ 6-31G and LAN2DZ levels) for (H3P)Au+-catalyzed cyclization reactions of terminal enynes. The endocyclic skeletal rearrangement reactions were found to proceed exclusively via cyclopropylcarbene complexes.240... 

The first rhodium-catalyzed reductive cyclization of enynes was reported in I992.61,61a As demonstrated by the cyclization of 1,6-enyne 37a to vinylsilane 37b, the rhodium-catalyzed reaction is a hydrosilylative transformation and, hence, complements its palladium-catalyzed counterpart, which is a formal hydrogenative process mediated by silane. Following this seminal report, improved catalyst systems were developed enabling cyclization at progressively lower temperatures and shorter reaction times. For example, it was found that A-heterocyclic carbene complexes of rhodium catalyze the reaction at 40°C,62 and through the use of immobilized cobalt-rhodium bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts, the hydrosilylative cyclization proceeds at ambient temperature.6... 

Enyne metathesis is unique and interesting in synthetic organic chemistry. Since it is difficult to control intermolecular enyne metathesis, this reaction is used as intramolecular enyne metathesis. There are two types of enyne metathesis one is caused by [2+2] cycloaddition of a multiple bond and transition metal carbene complex, and the other is an oxidative cyclization reaction caused by low-valent transition metals. In these cases, the alkyli-dene part migrates from alkene to alkyne carbon. Thus, this reaction is called an alkylidene migration reaction or a skeletal reorganization reaction. Many cyclized products having a diene moiety were obtained using intramolecular enyne metathesis. Very recently, intermolecular enyne metathesis has been developed between alkyne and ethylene as novel diene synthesis. 

In addition to reactions characteristic of carbonyl compounds, Fischer-type carbene complexes undergo a series of transformations which are unique to this class of compounds. These include olefin metathesis [206,265-267] (for the use as metathesis catalysts, see Section 3.2.5.3), alkyne insertion, benzannulation and other types of cyclization reaction. Generally, in most of these reactions electron-rich substrates (e.g. ynamines, enol ethers) react more readily than electron-poor compounds. Because many preparations with this type of complex take place under mild conditions, Fischer-type carbene complexes are being increasingly used for the synthesis [268-272] and modification [103,140,148,273] of sensitive natural products. 

Five-membered carbo- or heterocycles can be prepared with the aid of heteroatom-substituted carbene complexes in several different ways. In the following sections the focus will be on cyclization reactions in which the carbon-metal double bond plays a decisive role. 

Depending on the types of substituents and the precise reaction conditions (l,3-butadien-l-yl)carbene complexes can undergo direct cyclization to yield cyclo-pentadienes [337,350]. As mentioned in Section 2.2.5.1, cyclopentadiene formation occurs particularly easily with aminocarbene complexes [351]. Alternatively, in particular at higher reaction temperatures, CO-insertion can lead to the formation of a vinylketene complex, which, again depending on the electronic properties of the substituents and the reaction conditions, can cyclize to yield cyclobutenones, furans [91,352], cyclopentenones, furanones [91], or phenols (Dotz benzannulation) [207,251,353]. 

Fig. 2.30. Intramolecular acylation reactions with carbene-derived vinylketene complexes. Table 2.20. Preparation of five-membered rings by cyclization of vinylketene complexes.

Particularly interesting is the reaction of enynes with catalytic amounts of carbene complexes (Figure 3.50). If the chain-length between olefin and alkyne enables the formation of a five-membered or larger ring, then RCM can lead to the formation of vinyl-substituted cycloalkenes [866] or heterocycles. Examples of such reactions are given in Tables 3.18-3.20. It should, though, be taken into account that this reaction can also proceed by non-carbene-mediated pathways. Also Fischer-type carbene complexes and other complexes [867] can catalyze enyne cyclizations [267]. Trost [868] proposed that palladium-catalyzed enyne cyclizations proceed via metallacyclopentenes, which upon reductive elimination yield an intermediate cyclobutene. Also a Lewis acid-catalyzed, intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition of, e.g., acceptor-substituted alkynes to an alkene to yield a cyclobutene can be considered as a possible mechanism of enyne cyclization. 

Balme G, Bouyssi D, Monteiro N (2006) The Virtue of Michael-Type Addition Processes in the Design of Transition Metal-Promoted Cyclizative Cascade Reactions. 19 115-148 Barluenga J, Rodriguez F, Fanands FJ, Fldrez J (2004) Cycloaddition Reaction of Group 6 Fischer Carbene Complexes. 23 59-121 Basset J-M, see Candy J-P (2005) 16 151-210... 

Related reactions have also been performed starting directly from M(CO)6 precursors, via decar bony lation (UV irradation) of the corresponding intermediate [M =C(0Li)C=CCR20Li] and subsequent treatment with COCI2 [43, 90, 93]. However, these reactions are not always straightforward and, in some cases, different types of products derived from subsequent cyclization or addition reactions have been obtained. As an example, reaction of the intermediate chromium complex obtained from Cr(CO)6 and [C=CCMe20] with MeCOCl led to the bicyclic dinuclear allenylidene-carbene complex 3 (see Fig. 3) [94]. 

ROM-RCM of cycloalkene-yne 119 having a substituent at the 3-position of the cycloalkene would give a polymer because ruthenium carbene complex XVlll generated in this reaction could react with the starting alkyne. If this reaction is carried out under ethylene gas, the cyclized compound 120 should be formed by the reaction of XVlll with ethylene [Eq. (6.88)]. On the basis of this idea, ROM-RCM-CM of cycloalkene-yne 119 was carried out under ethylene gas " ... 

However, the reaction was shown to be catalyzed by a methylidene tungsten-carbene complex rather than the Fischer tungsten carbene complex. They proposed that the reaction would proceed by [2 + 2] cycloaddition of the tungsten carbene complex with the alkyne in Equation (3), ring opening, and another [2 + 2] cycloaddition with the alkene moiety to finally give the cyclized product. 

---