Diazo compounds carbon atom generation

C6 and C9 are at opposite ends of a four-carbon unit, but since one of these atoms (C7) is saturated and quaternary, a Diels-Alder reaction is unlikely (can t make diene). The combination of a diazo compound with Rh(II) generates a carbenoid at C9. The nucleophile 06 can add to the empty orbital at C9, generating the 06-C9 bond and a carbonyl ylide at C6-06-C9. Carbonyl ylides are 1,3-dipoles (negative charge on C9, formal positive charge on 06, electron deficiency at C6), so a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition can now occur to join C2 to C6 and Cl to C9, giving the product. Note how a relatively simple tricyclic starting material is transformed into a complex hexacyclic product in just one step ... 

A potential problem in the use of diazo compounds as C atom precursors is the fact that intermediates in these reactions may act as C donors with the free atoms not involved. Indeed, the timing of the reactions in Eq. 6 is unknown and some of these intermediates may be bypassed in the thermolysis of 8. However, a comparison of the reactions of carbon from 8 with those of nucleogenic and arc generated carbon reveals quite similar products from many different substrates and provides circumstantial evidence for free C atoms in the decomposition of 8. 

Diazo-compounds can in turn be generated photochemically from sodium salts of toluenesulphonyl hydrazones. Irradiation of the cyclobutane tosylhydrazone (44) gave trans-tricyclo[5.1.0.0 ]-octane (45 R=Me) by the pathway shown in Scheme 4 44 the tricycle (45 R=H) can also be obtained by photoelimination of nitrogen from the diazatricyclo[ 5.2.1.0 4]decene (46). The unexpected conversion of the anthracenocycloheptatriene derivative (47) into triptycene with loss of one carbon atom was observed on irradiation in tetrahydrofuran 4 the mechanism of this unusual reaction remains obscure and merits further investigation, but neither 1-triptycenyl nor 2-triptycenyl carbene appears to be an intermediate in this transformation. 

Carbene complexes, generated by the reaction between metal salts and diazo compounds can insert into C-H bonds in a form of CH activation (see Chapter 3 for other CH activation reactions). While early reactions involved the use of copper salts as catalysts (Schemes 8.143 and 8.144), rhodium complexes are now more widely used. In molecules such as cyclohexane, there is no issue of regioselectivity, but this issue is critical for the use of the reaction in synthesis. Both steric and electronic factors influence selectivity. Carbon atoms where a build up of some positive charge can be stabilized are favoured. Hence, allylic positions and positions a- to a heteroatom such as oxygen or nitrogen, are favoured. The reaction at tertiary C-H bonds, rather than primary C-H bonds is also favoured for the same reason, but, in this case, are also disfavoured by steric effects. Reactivity and selectivity are also influenced by both the structure of the catalyst, and the... 

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