Diazomethane cyclopropanation

Some straightforward, efficient cyclopentanellation procedures were developed recently. Addition of a malonic ester anion to a cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylic ester followed by a Dieckmann condensation (S. Danishefsky, 1974) or addition of iJ-ketoester anions to a (l-phenylthiocyclopropyl)phosphonium cation followed by intramolecular Wittig reaction (J.P, Marino. 1975) produced cyclopentanones. Another procedure starts with a (2 + 21-cycloaddition of dichloroketene to alkenes followed by regioselective ring expansion with diazomethane. The resulting 2,2-dichlorocyclopentanones can be converted to a large variety of cyclopentane derivatives (A.E. Greene. 1979 J.-P. Deprds, 1980). 

From Multiring Systems Containing Pyrazoles. The pyrazolopyrimidine (65) on treatment with diazomethane forms the cyclopropane (66), which undergoes a ring-opening reaction with potassium hydroxide to yield the pyrazole (67) (eq. 16) (44). 

Furan and thiophene undergo addition reactions with carbenes. Thus cyclopropane derivatives are obtained from these heterocycles on copper(I) bromide-catalyzed reaction with diazomethane and light-promoted reaction with diazoacetic acid ester (Scheme 41). The copper-catalyzed reaction of pyrrole with diazoacetic acid ester, however, gives a 2-substituted product (Scheme 42). 

The photolysis of a-diazosulfones dissolved in alkenes provides sulfonyl-substituted cyclopropanes in high yields. This is exemplified by the preparation of l-(p-methoxyphenylsulfonyl)-2,2,3,3-tetra-methylcyclopropane in 75% yield from -methoxybenzenesulfonyl-diazomethane and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene. A similar addition to [Pg.101]

The addition of diazomethane to a,/l-unsaturated ketones, e.g., benzalace-tone and benzalacetophenone, results in A -pyrazolines (16) which decompose thermally to the conjugated ketones (17). Cyclopropane formation is not observed in this instance. 

The above procedure was used for the preparation of all compounds except 104p, which was obtained from 104r by palladium-catalyzed coupling with tributylvinyl-stannane followed by palladium-catalyzed cyclopropanation of the resulting vinyl intermediate with diazomethane (Scheme 32) (99BMC3187). 

Whereas the utility of these methods has been amply documented, they are limited in the structures they can provide because of their dependence on the diazoacetate functionality and its unique chemical properties. Transfer of a simple, unsubstituted methylene would allow access to a more general subset of chiral cyclopropanes. However, attempts to utilize simple diazo compounds, such as diazomethane, have never approached the high selectivities observed with the related diazoacetates (Scheme 3.2) [4]. Traditional strategies involving rhodium [3a,c], copper [ 3b, 5] and palladium have yet to provide a solution to this synthetic problem. The most promising results to date involve the use of zinc carbenoids albeit with selectivities less than those obtained using the diazoacetates. 

More recently, Carreira reported a [Fe(TPP)Cl]-catalyzed diastereoselective synthesis of trifluoromethyl-substituted cyclopropane in aqueous media [56]. The carbene precursor trifluoromethyl diazomethane is difficult to be handled, generated in situ from trifluoroethyl amine hydrochloride, and reacts with styrene in the presence of [Fe(TPP)Cl] to give the corresponding cyclopropanes in high yields and with excellent diastereoselectivities (Scheme 12). 

Section B gives some examples of metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations. In Entries 7 and 8, Cu(I) salts are used as catalysts for intermolecular cyclopropanation by ethyl diazoacetate. The exo approach to norbornene is anticipated on steric grounds. In both cases, the Cu(I) salts were used at a rather high ratio to the reactants. Entry 9 illustrates use of Rh2(02CCH3)4 as the catalyst at a much lower ratio. Entry 10 involves ethyl diazopyruvate, with copper acetylacetonate as the catalyst. The stereoselectivity of this reaction was not determined. Entry 11 shows that Pd(02CCH3) is also an active catalyst for cyclopropanation by diazomethane. 

Isolable pyrazolines (183) are obtained from the (1,3-butadiene)phosphonic acid esters (182 X=S02Me, COOalkyl R "=H or Me R2=Me or Ph) (products from (182 X=CN) are thermo-labile) and diazomethane. Pyrolysis of the phosphorylated pyrazolines affords phosphonopentadienes rather than phosphono-cyclopropanes (contrast (184)) and with NaH give pyrazoles or pyrazolephbsphonic acid esters. 

The nature of the photochemically produced methylene has been the subject of considerable study. Evidence tends to indicate that this species is produced in its singlet state photochemically. Photolysis of diazomethane in the gas phase or in solution in the presence of excess cis- or trans-2-butene produces cyclopropane products due to methylene insertion in which the... 

Smooth and efficient cyclopropanation also occurs with copper(II) triflate and diazomethane. Intra- and intermolecular competition experiments show that, in this case, the less substituted double bond reacts preferentially251. The same is true for CuOTf and Cu(BF4)2, whereas with CuX P(OMe)3 (X = Cl, I), CuS04 and cop-per(II) acetylacetonate, cyclopropanation of the more substituted double bond predominates. An example is given for cyclopropanation of 1. 

Diazomethane is also decomposed by N O)40 -43 and Pd(0) complexes43 . Electron-poor alkenes such as methyl acrylate are cyclopropanated efficiently with Ni(0) catalysts, whereas with Pd(0) yields were much lower (Scheme 1)43). Cyclopropanes derived from styrene, cyclohexene or 1-hexene were formed only in trace yields. In the uncatalyzed reaction between diazomethane and methyl acrylate, methyl 2-pyrazoline-3-carboxylate and methyl crotonate are formed competitively, but the yield of the latter can be largely reduced by adding an appropriate amount of catalyst. It has been verified that cyclopropane formation does not result from metal-catalyzed ring contraction of the 2-pyrazoline, Instead, a nickel(0)-carbene complex is assumed to be involved in the direct cyclopropanation of the olefin. The preference of such an intermediate for an electron-poor alkene is in agreement with the view that nickel carbenoids are nucleophilic 44). 

Palladium(II) acetate was found to be a good catalyst for such cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 19) by analogy with the same transformation using diazomethane (see Sect. 2.1). The best yields were obtained with monosubstituted alkenes such as acrylic esters and methyl vinyl ketone (64-85 %), whereas they dropped to 10-30% for a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds bearing alkyl groups in a- or p-position such as ethyl crotonate, isophorone and methyl methacrylate 141). In none of these reactions was formation of carbene dimers observed. 7>ms-benzalaceto-phenone was cyclopropanated stereospecifically in about 50% yield PdCl2 and palladium(II) acetylacetonate were less efficient catalysts 34 >. Diazoketones may be used instead of diazoesters, as the cyclopropanation of acrylonitrile by diazoacenaph-thenone/Pd(OAc)2 (75 % yield) shows142). 

The Lewis acid-Lewis base interaction outlined in Scheme 43 also explains the formation of alkylrhodium complexes 414 from iodorhodium(III) meso-tetraphenyl-porphyrin 409 and various diazo compounds (Scheme 42)398), It seems reasonable to assume that intermediates 418 or 419 (corresponding to 415 and 417 in Scheme 43) are trapped by an added nucleophile in the reaction with ethyl diazoacetate, and that similar intermediates, by proton loss, give rise to vinylrhodium complexes from ethyl 2-diazopropionate or dimethyl diazosuccinate. As the rhodium porphyrin 409 is also an efficient catalyst for cyclopropanation of olefins with ethyl diazoacetate 87,1°°), stj bene formation from aryl diazomethanes 358 and carbene insertion into aliphatic C—H bonds 287, intermediates 418 or 419 are likely to be part of the mechanistic scheme of these reactions, too. 

In 1986, Pfaltz et al. introduced a new type of pseudo C2-symmetrical copper-semicorrin complex (68) as the catalyst (Scheme 60).227 228 The complexes (68) are reduced in situ by the diazo compound or by pretreatment with phenylhydrazine to give monomeric Cu1 species (69), which catalyze cyclopropanation. Of the semicorrin complexes, complex (68a) (R = CMe2OH) showed the best enantioselectivity in the cyclopropanation of terminal and 1,2-disubstituted olefins.227,228,17 It is noteworthy that complex (68a) catalyzes cyclopropanation, using diazomethane as a carbene source, with good enantioselectivity (70-75% ee).17... 

Cyelobutanone has been prepared by (1) reaction of diazomethane with ketene,4 (2) treatment of methylenecyclobutane with performic acid, followed by cleavage of the resulting glycol with lead tetraacetate,s (3) ozonolysis of methylenecyclobutane, (4) epoxidation of methylene-cyclopropane followed by acid-catalyzed ring expansion,7 and (5) oxidative cleavage of cyclobutane trimethylene thioketal, which in turn is prepared from 2-(co-chloropropyl)-l,3-dithiane.8... 

Even the reaction of diazomethane in the presence of cuprous chloride with cis-hexatriene at — 40° C 3delds this cyclic diene rather than the cyclopropane ... 

Photolysis of diazomethane in the gas phase produces CH2 which can add to cis-2-butene to form dimethyl-cyclopropanes 32 and 33. The insertion products 34 and 35 are also formed... 

The photolysis of diphenyl-diazomethane in cis-jS-deutero-styrene, on the other hand, can be affected by dilution with hexafluorobenzene. The amount of trans-cyclopropane 49 is slightly larger, indicating that about 12% of the singlet carbene are still present in very dilute solutions (see Table 9). 

The transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes is one of the most efficient methods for the preparation of cyclopropanes. In 1959 Dull and Abend reported [617] their finding that treatment of ketene diethylacetal with diazomethane in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper(I) bromide leads to the formation of cyclopropanone diethylacetal. The same year Wittig described the cyclopropanation of cyclohexene with diazomethane and zinc(II) iodide [494]. Since then many variations and improvements of this reaction have been reported. Today a large number of transition metal complexes are known which react with diazoalkanes or other carbene precursors to yield intermediates capable of cyclopropanating olefins (Figure 3.32). However, from the commonly used catalysts of this type (rhodium(II) or palladium(II) carboxylates, copper salts) no carbene complexes have yet been identified spectroscopically. 

The transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes with diazomethane is a valuable alternative to Simmons-Smith methodology [645]. Because of the mild reaction conditions under which this reaction takes place, diazomethane is the reagent of choice if sensitive olefins are to be cyclopropanated [646-648]. 

For cyclopropanation of alkenes devoid of base-sensitive functional groups a one-pot procedure has been developed [649]. In this procedure diazomethane is generated in a biphasic system from A-methyl-A-nitrosourea and potassium hydroxide in the presence of a palladium complex (e.g. Pd(acac)2, (PhCN)2PdCl2, or Pd[P(OPh)3]4) and the alkene. In this way the handling of diazomethane is elegantly avoided. 

The transition metal-catalyzed reaction of diazoalkanes with acceptor-substituted alkenes is far more intricate than reaction with simple alkenes. With acceptor-substituted alkenes the diazoalkane can undergo (transition metal-catalyzed) 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to the olefin [651-654]. The resulting 3//-pyrazolines can either be stable or can isomerize to l//-pyrazolines. 3//-Pyrazolines can also eliminate nitrogen and collapse to cyclopropanes, even at low temperatures. Despite these potential side-reactions, several examples of catalyzed cyclopropanations of acceptor-substituted alkenes with diazoalkanes have been reported [648,655]. Substituted 2-cyclohexenones or cinnamates [642,656] have been cyclopropanated in excellent yields by treatment with diazomethane/palladium(II) acetate. Maleates, fumarates, or acrylates [642,657], on the other hand, cannot, however, be cyclopropanated under these conditions. 

Most electrophilic carbene complexes with hydrogen at Cjj will undergo fast 1,2-proton migration with subsequent elimination of the metal and formation of an alkene. For this reason, transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations with non-acceptor-substituted diazoalkanes have mainly been limited to the use of diazomethane, aryl-, and diaryldiazomethanes (Tables 3.4 and 3.5). 

Cyclopropanations with diazomethane can proceed with surprisingly high diastereo-selectivities (Table 3.4) [643,662-664]. However, enantioselective cyclopropanations with diazomethane and enantiomerically pure, catalytically active transition metal complexes have so far furnished only low enantiomeric excesses [650,665] or racemic products [666]. These disappointing results are consistent with the results obtained in stoichiometric cyclopropanations with enantiomerically pure Cp(CO)(Ph3P)Fe=CH2 X , which also does not lead to high asymmetric induction (see Section 3.2.2.1). 

Table 3.4. Palladium- and copper-catalyzed cyclopropanations with diazomethane.

Ylides other than acceptor-substituted diazomethanes have only occasionally been used as carbene-complex precursors. lodonium ylides (PhI=CZ Z ) [1017,1050-1056], sulfonium ylides [673], sulfoxonium ylides [1057] and thiophenium ylides [1058,1059] react with electrophilic transition metal complexes to yield intermediates capable of undergoing C-H or N-H insertions and olefin cyclopropanations. 

Fig. 4.20. Complexes for asymmetric cyclopropanation with acceptor-substituted diazomethanes. 1 [1372], 2 [1373], 3 [1033], Rh2(55-MEPY>4, Rh2(55-MPPIM)4 [1001,1074], For related rhodium-based catalysts, see, e.g., [997,1000,1002].

A second example of the use of ionic chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric synthesis is found in the work of Chong et al. on the cis.trans photoisomerization of certain cyclopropane derivatives [33]. Based on the report by Zimmerman and Flechtner [34] that achiral tmns,trans-2,3-diphenyl-l-benzoylcyclopropane (35a, Scheme 7) undergoes very efficient (0=0.94) photoisomerization in solution to afford the racemic cis,trans isomer 36a, the correspondingp-carboxylic acid 35b was synthesized and treated with a variety of optically pure amines to give salts of general structure 35c (CA=chiral auxiliary). Irradiation of crystals of these salts followed by diazomethane workup yielded methyl ester 36d, which was analyzed by chiral HPLC for enantiomeric excess. The results are summarized in Table 3. 

When l,4-dihydronaphthalen-l,4-imine (2) was first obtained via the hydrobromide (113), it was shown to react with phenyl azide to give an adduct (127). The analogous phenyl azide adduct (128) from compound 103 has been better characterized. Naphthalen-l,4-imines also add diazomethane across the 2,3-double bond, forming pyrazolines, e.g., 104 -> 129, two of which have been photolyzed to give the corresponding cyclopropane derivatives (130) with extrusion of nitrogen. ... 

The addition of different types of carbenes onto bicyclopropylidene (1) is a common method for the preparation of [3]triangulane derivatives as well as branched trianguianes and normally proceeds without complications (for a review see [77]). Thus, the cyclopropanation under Gaspar-Roth [60] or modified Simmons-Smith [111] conditions gave dispiro[2.0.2.1]heptane ([3]triangulane, 97) in 80 [105] and 15% yield [5], respectively (Scheme 23). The palladium(II) acetate-catalyzed cycloprop anation of 1 with diazomethane, however, gave a number of products resulting from insertion of one or more than one methylene units into an initially formed palladacyclobutane 115 [112,113] (Scheme 23). 

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