Diazo Wolff rearrangement

Photochemical Wolff rearrangement of 2-diazo-3-ketones, though not widely used as a source of A-norsteroids, is discussed in section V in connection with the mechanism of the important photochemical synthesis of D-norsteroids. Photochemical rearrangement of epoxy ketones is a source of A-nosteroids these rearrangements are discussed in chapter 13. Other photochemical routes to A-norsteroids are known." " ... 

The diazo ketone 3, when treated with silver oxide as catalyst, decomposes into ketocarbene 5 and dinitrogen Na. This decomposition reaction can also be achieved by heating or by irradiation with uv-light. The ketocarbene undergoes a Wolff rearrangement to give a ketene 6 ... 

In this section we first discuss photolytic reactions of arenediazonium salts and report on quinone diazides at the end of the section in the context of imaging technology. Diazoalkenes, non-quinonoid diazo ketones, and the Wolff rearrangement are treated in the book on aliphatic diazo compounds (Zollinger, 1995, Chap. 8). 

The diazo ketone can exist in two conformations, called s-(E) and s-(Z). Studies have shown that Wolff rearrangement takes place preferentially from the s-(Z) conformation. 

There are several reactions that are conceptually related to carbene reactions but do not involve carbene, or even carbenoid, intermediates. Usually, these are reactions in which the generation of a carbene is circumvented by a concerted rearrangement process. Important examples of this type are the thermal and photochemical reactions of a-diazo ketones. When a-diazo ketones are decomposed thermally or photochemically, they usually rearrange to ketenes, in a reaction known as the Wolff rearrangement.232... 

The overall reaction is reminiscent of the Wolff rearrangement of a-diazo carbonyl compounds which gives ketenes. Compounds 6 formally represent their phosphorus analogues and are sometimes also designated as phosphenes 11... 

Thermolysis of 58a in butanol affords, together with 17% of 60a (R = C4H9) which evidences the intermediacy of the thiophosphene 59 a, a variety of partly atypical products which seriously impede the desired rearrangement38. Photolysis of 58b in methanol is also found to give only 18 % 1,2-P/C shift to form the heterocumulene 59b, from which the thiophosphinic rater 60b (R = CH3) results 39). As already mentioned in connection with the photolysis of diazo compounds of type 36 (see Sect. 2.2), Wolff rearrangement (9%) and O/H insertion (6%) once again compete with thiophosphinic ester formation. Moreover, solvolysis of the P(S)/C(N2) bond 391 prevents a greater contribution of carbene products to the overall yield. 

Protected 6-amino-hexahydro-l,7-dioxopyrazolo[l,2-4]pyrazole-2-carboxylic acid 274 is available by a thermolytic decomposition of diazo compound 273 via the Wolff rearrangement. The starting compound is simply available by alkylation of racemic 272 with the corresponding bromoacetoacetate and subsequent diazo transfer reaction (Scheme 35) <1996TL4891>. 

Products of a so-called vinylogous Wolff rearrangement (see Sect. 9) rather than products of intramolecular cyclopropanation are generally obtained from P,y-unsaturated diazoketones I93), the formation of tricyclo[2,1.0.02 5]pentan-3-ones from 2-diazo-l-(cyclopropene-3-yl)-l-ethanones being a notable exception (see Table 10 and reference 12)). The use of Cu(OTf), does not change this situation for diazoketone 185 in the presence of an alcoholl93). With Cu(OTf)2 in nitromethane, on the other hand, A3-hydrinden-2-one 186 is formed 160). As 186 also results from the BF3 Et20-catalyzed reaction in similar yield, proton catalysis in the Cu(OTf)2-catalyzed reaction cannot be excluded, but electrophilic attack of the metal carbene on the double bond (Scheme 26) is also possible. That Rh2(OAc)4 is less efficient for the production of 186, would support the latter explanation, as the rhodium carbenes rank as less electrophilic than copper carbenes. 

Wolff rearrangement of a-diazoketones to give ketenes or subsequent products is an often used synthetic procedure the scope and limitations of which are well established 13 390), so that only a few new features of this reaction need to be considered here. Concerning its catalytic version, one knows that copper, rhodium and palladium catalysts tend to suppress the rearrangement390). A recent case to the contrary is provided by the Rh2(OAc)4-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl -2-diazo-3-oxopent-4-enoates 404 from which the p,y-unsaturated esters 405 are ultimately obtained via a Wolff rearrangement 236). The Z-5-aryl-2-diazo-3-oxopent-4-enoates undergo intramolecular insertion into an aromatic C—H bond instead (see Sect. 4.1). 

Apart from the widely studied silver(i) A-heterocyclic carbenes, Stoltz and Beauchamp made the first report on the gas-phase synthesis of silver(i) Fischer carbenes from the loss of N2 in various diazo malonates upon electrospray ionization and subsequent collisional activation.118 The carbenes generated were capable of undergoing multiple Wolff rearrangements and loss of CO (Scheme 18). 

Figure 5.29 pNPDP reacts with amine-containing compounds by its p-nitrophenyl ester group to form amide bonds. After photoactivation of the diazo derivative with UV light, a Wolff rearrangement occurs to a highly reactive ketene intermediate. This group can couple to nucleophiles such as amines. 

In the list of diazoketones studied by us95 mostly derivatives were included which have in solution no or only a small tendency for a Wolff rearrangement. Nevertheless we found not a single diazoketone 71 which enabled us to identify a ketocarbene 72, only the corresponding ketenes 73 could be detected. The same observation was made when we studied in collaboration with Yannoni et al." the photochemically induced deazotation of l-diazo-2-propanone in an organic matrix at 77 K, using 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy as the analytical tool. 

The use of copper as a catalyst in carbenoid transfer has its roots in the Amdt-Eistert reaction, Eq. 1 (3). Although the original 1935 paper describes the Wolff rearrangement of a-diazo ketones to homologous carboxylic acids using silver, the authors mention that copper may be substituted in this reaction. In 1952, Yates (4) demonstrated that copper bronze induces insertion of diazo compounds into the X-H bond of alcohols, amines, and phenols without rearrangement, Eq. 2. Yates proposal of a distinct metal carbenoid intermediate formed the basis of the currently accepted mechanistic construct for the cyclopropanation reaction using diazo compounds. 

FORMATION AND PHOTOCHEMICAL WOLFF REARRANGEMENT OF CYCLIC a-DIAZO KETONES D-NORANDROST-5-EN-3 -0L-16-CARB0XYLIC ACIDS, 52, 53 FORMIC ACID, AZIDO—, tert-BUTYL ESTER, 50, 9 Formylation, with acetic formic anhydride, 50, 2 p-FORMYLBENZENESULFONAMIDE, ... 

The Wolff rearrangement is well known as a reaction of diazo ketones, i.e. of diazoalkanes with a carbonyl group in a-position. Reaction 34 demonstrates that diazotized aminonaphthols are mesomeric with naphthoquinone diazides (48b) and that they have therefore also the character of quinonoid diazo ketones (see also Section II.C of this chapter). Wolff rearrangements take place also thermally and catalyzed by silver ions. 

In contrast to 2-alkylarylcarbenes, triplet carbonyl carbenes do not abstract H from 5- or e-CH bonds. Photolysis of diazo compounds (7) in methanol gave products due to Wolff rearrangement (8) and 0-H insertion (9). Sensitized photolysis led, in addition, to the H-abstraction product (10). Analysis of the results indicated that a large proportion of the insertion product (9) arises from the excited diazo compound and that spin inversion of the triplet carbene is faster than H-abstraction from the solvent. Intersystem crossing to the singlet state is a major reaction of all triplet carbonyl carbenes that are not rapidly scavenged intramolecularly. 

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