Cyclopropanation Lewis acids

Keywords Cyclopropane Lewis acid Metallacycles Zirconium... 

The formulation of an additive for zinc carbenoid cyclopropanation that meets these criteria is severely compromised by the by the inherent Lewis acidity of the zinc atom. This Lewis acidity is required for methylene transfer and plays a major... 

The next step in the calculations involves consideration of the allylic alcohol-carbe-noid complexes (Fig. 3.28). The simple alkoxide is represented by RT3. Coordination of this zinc alkoxide with any number of other molecules can be envisioned. The complexation of ZnCl2 to the oxygen of the alkoxide yields RT4. Due to the Lewis acidic nature of the zinc atom, dimerization of the zinc alkoxide cannot be ruled out. Hence, a simplified dimeric structure is represented in RTS. The remaining structures, RT6 and RT7 (Fig. 3.29), represent alternative zinc chloride complexes of RT3 differing from RT4. Analysis of the energetics of the cyclopropanation from each of these encounter complexes should yield information regarding the structure of the methylene transfer transition state. 

This study suggests a radically new explanation for the nature of Lewis acid activation in the Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation. The five-centered migration of the halide ion from the chloromethylzinc group to zinc chloride as shown in TS2 and TS4 has never been considered in the discussion of a mechanism for this reaction. It remains to be seen if some experimental support can be found for this unconventional hypothesis. The small energy differences between all these competing transition states demand caution in declaring any concrete conclusions. 

The /lomo-Diels-Alder reaction is a [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition of a 1,4-diene with a dienophile which produces two new bonds and a cyclopropane ring. This reaction is an example of a multi-ring-forming reaction that to date has found few applications in synthesis, since the use of 1,4-dienes has been limited mainly to bridged cyclohexa-1,4-dienes and almost exclusively to norbornadiene. Lewis-acid catalysts accelerate /lowo-Diels-Alder reactions and increase the selectivity for the [2 + 2 + 2] vs. [2 + 2] cycloaddition. 

If, however, the reaction is run in the presence of a Lewis acid, particularly SbF5, the reaction takes a different course, giving a diacyl cyclopropane. 

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. 

The ring-opening of the cyclopropane nitrosourea 233 with silver trifiate followed by stereospecific [4 + 2] cycloaddition yields 234 [129]. (Scheme 93) Oxovanadium(V) compounds, VO(OR)X2, are revealed to be Lewis acids with one-electron oxidation capability. These properties permit versatile oxidative transformations of carbonyl and organosilicon compounds as exemplified by ring-opening oxygenation of cyclic ketones [130], dehydrogenative aroma-tization of 2-eyclohexen-l-ones [131], allylic oxidation of oc,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds [132], decarboxylative oxidation of a-amino acids [133], oxidative desilylation of silyl enol ethers [134], allylic silanes, and benzylic silanes [135]. 

Related halomethylzinc alkoxides, which are monomeric in solution, were studied for their effectiveness in cyclopropanation reactions. The Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction is the only reaction pathway at low temperature and... 

The product possesses a homoallylic stannane moiety, which can be utilized as a useful synthon for cyclopropane formation (Scheme 68). Upon treatment of the homoallylstannane with HI, destannative cyclization takes place to give cyclopropylmethylsilane.271,272 A Lewis acid-catalyzed reaction with benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal affords vinylcyclopropane.273... 

The analogous process involving allylic epoxides is more complex, as issues such as the stereochemistry of substituents on the ring and on the alkene play major roles in determining the course of the reaction [38]. Addition of the Schwartz reagent to the alkene only occurs when an unsubstituted vinyl moiety is present and, in the absence of a Lewis acid, intramolecular attack in an anti fashion leads to cyclopropane formation as the major pathway (Scheme 4.10). cis-Epoxides 13 afford cis-cyclopropyl carbinols, while trans-oxiranes 14 give mixtures of anti-trans and anti-cis isomers. The product of (S-elimi-... 

Protonated cyclopropane has been considered to be a real intermediate since the work of Aboderin and Baird (1964), and protonated alkylcyclopropanes have also recently come to be considered intermediates as opposed to transition states in many rearrangements occurring in strong acid media where SbFs is the Lewis acid. Thus Brouwer and Oelderik (1968a) suggested that protonated methyl-cyclopropane is an intermediate in the isomerization of sec-butyl-1- C to sec-butyl-2- cations in the HF-SbFj system, and Saunders et al. (1968) implicated this species in the rearrangement of... 

The reactions of vinyl ethers with vinyldiazoacetates unsubstituted at the vinyl terminus result in a very interesting outcome because either regioisomer of the [3 + 2] cycloadduct can be obtained (Scheme 14.16) [104]. An example is the reaction with 2,3-dihydrofuran where regioisomer 122 is formed via the established ring-opening reaction of the donor/acceptor-substituted vinylcyclopropane 121 under Lewis acidic conditions (Scheme 14.14) [104, 105]. The cyclopropanation step has been optimized to... 

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