Diazo compounds effects

Medic CA, Zechman AL. Selectivity in rhodium(II) catalyzed reactions of diazo compounds effects of catalyst electrophiKcity, diazo substitution, and substrate substitution. From chemoselectivity to enantioselectivity. Synthesis. 2003 35 1137-1156. 

In the case of the reaction between 2-diazopropane and diphenyldiacetylene, the reverse (as compared with other diynes) orientation of addition of the first molecule of the diazo compound with a predominant formation of 4-phenylethynylpyrazole is observed. Therefore, it is noteworthy that whereas the regioselectivity of the addition of diazoalkanes to alkenes is well studied audits products have, as a rule, the structure been predicted with respect to electron effects, the problem of orientation... 

We now know that Hammett s explanation is correct in all its aspects. This result is especially noteworthy because Hammett arrived at his conclusions not through extensive experimentation in his laboratory, but by the consistent application of the newer theories of organic chemistry to kinetic results already published by others. This is not the only example of such anticipation of views (now generally accepted) to be found in Hammett s book, and it is worth remembering that Hammett expressly postulates the diazonium ion as the reactive form of the diazo compound in coupling, in contrast to the then current opinion that the diazohydroxide was the effective species. 

Interaction of an electrophilic carbene or carbenoid with R—S—R compounds often results in the formation of sulfonium ylides. If the carbene substituents are suited to effectively stabilize a negative charge, these ylides are likely to be isolable otherwiese, their intermediary occurence may become evident from products of further transformation. Ando 152 b) has given an informative review on sulfonium ylide chemistry, including their formation by photochemical or copper-catalyzed decomposition of diazocarbonyl compounds. More recent examples, including the generation and reactions of ylides obtained by metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds in the presence of thiophenes (Sect. 4.2), allyl sulfides and allyl dithioketals (Sect. 2.3.4) have already been presented. 

Deuterium kinetic isotope effects, secondary, and transition state structure, 31,143 Diazo compounds, aliphatic, reactions with acids, 5, 331... 

Certain transition metal complexes catalyze the decomposition of diazo compounds. The metal-bonded carbene intermediates behave differently from the free species generated via photolysis or thermolysis of the corresponding carbene precursor. The first catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation reaction was reported in 1966 when Nozaki et al.93 showed that the cyclopropane compound trans- 182 was obtained as the major product from the cyclopropanation of styrene with diazoacetate with an ee value of 6% (Scheme 5-56). This reaction was effected by a copper(II) complex 181 that bears a salicyladimine ligand. 

Ylides from R N2. This reagent is more effective than bis(acetylacetonate)-copper(II) (5, 244) for generation of carbenes from diazo compounds.2 The decomposition proceeds at a lower temperature, even at room temperature. The mild conditions are particularly useful in the preparation of heat-sensitive ylides, such as those of antimony, bismuth, and tellurium. 

Dipolar cydoaddition of ethyl 2-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4,4-diphenyl-2,3-butadieno-ate 518 with CH2N2 or Ph2CN2 afforded bicyclic or monocyclic products 519 and 520, respectively. The possibility of extra cydopropanation depends on the steric effect of the diazo compound [234]. 

There are no mechanistic details known from intermediates of copper, like we have seen in the studies on metathesis, where both metal alkylidene complexes and metallacyclobutanes that are active catalysts have been isolated and characterised. The copper catalyst must fulfil two roles, first it must decompose the diazo compound in the carbene and dinitrogen and secondly it must transfer the carbene fragment to an alkene. Copper carbene species, if involved, must be rather unstable, but yet in view of the enantioselective effect of the ligands on copper, clearly the carbene fragment must be coordinated to copper. It is generally believed that the copper carbene complex is rather a copper carbenoid complex, as the highly reactive species has reactivities very similar to free carbenes. It has not the character of a metal-alkylidene complex that we have encountered on the left-hand-side of the periodic table in metathesis (Chapter 16). Carbene-copper species have been observed in situ (in a neutral copper species containing an iminophosphanamide as the anion), but they are still very rare [9],... 

Laser flash photolysis of phenylchlorodiazirine was used to measure the absolute rate constants for intermolecular insertion of phenylchlorocarbene into CH bonds of a variety of co-reactants. Selective stabilization of the carbene ground state by r-complexation to benzene was proposed to explain the slower insertions observed in this solvent in comparison with those in pentane. Insertion into the secondary CH bond of cyclohexane showed a primary kinetic isotope effect k ikY) of 3.8. l-Hydroxymethyl-9-fluorenylidene (79), generated by photolysis of the corresponding diazo compound, gave aldehyde (80) in benzene or acetonitrile via intramolecular H-transfer. In methanol, the major product was the ether, formed by insertion of the carbene into the MeO-H bond, and the aldehyde (80) was formed in minor amounts through H-transfer from the triplet carbene to give a triplet diradical which can relax to the enol. 

Diazoazoles find wide application in the preparation of azolo-triazenes, which have shown several biological activities expecially as antineoplastic agents. Triazenes are, in effect, latent diazo compounds because they decompose to give amino derivatives and diazonium salts so they can be employed as a carrier group for the diazo compounds (66JMC34). 

The metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds has broad applications in organic synthesis [1-8]. Transient metal carbenoids provide important reactive intermediates that are capable of a wide variety of useful transformations, in which the catalyst dramatically influences the product distribution [5]. Indeed, the whole field of diazo compound decomposition was revolutionized in the early 1970s with the discovery that dirhodium tetracarboxylates 1 are effective catalysts for this process [9]. Many of the reactions that were previously low-yielding using conventional copper catalysts were found to proceed with unparalleled efficiency using this particular rhodium catalysis. The field has progressed extensively and there are some excellent reviews describing the breadth of this chemistry [5, 7, 10-17]. 

In summary, the chemistry of the donor/acceptor-substituted carbenoids represents a new avenue of research for metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds. The resulting carbenoids are more chemoselective than the conventional carbenoids, which allows reactions to be achieved that were previously inaccessible. The discovery of pan-tolactone as an effective chiral auxiliary, and rhodium prolinates as exceptional chiral catalysts for this class of rhodium-carbenoid intermediate, broadens the synthetic utility of this chemistry. The successful development of the asymmetric intermolecular C-H activation process underscores the potential of this class of carbenoids for organic synthesis. 

In principle, it would appear that the presence of bulky substituents R and E should kinetically favor the formation of nitrile imines. Lithium salts have been used for much of this work and it has been shown that this is generally the case [e.g., for 151 (X = S)] bulky electrophiles favor the nitrile imine (e.g., 153) while smaller analogues favor diazo compounds (e.g., 152). Reducing the size of the substituent on the diazo compound has a similar effect (e.g., 150 from 151) (X = lone pair). 

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