Diazoacetates, reactions

The structure of the carbenoid has considerable effect on the outcome of the reaction with vinyl ethers. Unlike the case with diazoacetate, reaction with diazopyruvate resulted in the formation of a dihydrofu-ran (17) rather than a cyclopropane (equation 8).26d The reaction is a formal [2 + 3] cycloaddition but it... 

Over the last few years it has become clear that rhodium(II) acetate is more effective than the copper catalysts in generating cyclopropenes.12 126 As shown in Scheme 28,12S a range of functionality, including terminal alkynes, can be tolerated in the reaction with methyl diazoacetate. Reactions with phenyl-acetylene and ethoxyacetylene were unsuccessful, however, because the alkyne polymerized under the reaction conditions. 

J. M. Tedder, Advan. Heterocyclic Chem. 8 (1966) in press. Diazoacetate, reactions with heterocyclic systems ... 

Compared with results obtained for ethyl diazoacetate, reactions of diazomethane with allyl bromide produce a dramatic reversal in the relative reactivities of the carbenoid species towards the nucleophilic bromide and the carbon-carbon double bond. These results are in accord with a greater electrophilic selectivity of the dialkoxycarbonyl carbenoid intermediate relative to the ethoxycarbonyl carbenoid. That increasing the electrophilicity of the carbenoid intermediate can reverse its reactivity towards the nucleophilic heteroatom relative to the olefin is consistent with the nature of this... 

Alkylation of acetylacctone chelates is generally unsuccessful, but carbon—methylene bonds can be formed by chloromethylation, reaction with ethyl diazoacetate,reaction with thioacetals (equations 64, 65 and 66) and by the Mannich reaction (Scheme 73). The Mannich base can be quatemized with methyl iodide and converted by cyanide ion into a cyanomethyl-substituted chelate. 

Analysis The carbene synthon is easy it can be ethyl diazoacetate NiCHCOiEt. The diene can be made by the Wittig reaction from a familiar aUylic bromide (TM 31). 

The reaction of cyclohexene with the diazopyruvate 25 gives unexpectedly ethyl 3-cyclohexenyl malonate (26), involving Wolff rearrangement. No cyclo-propanation takes place[28]. 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition takes place by the reaction of acrylonitrile with diazoacetate to afford the oxazole derivative 27[29]. Bis(trimethylstannyl)diazomethane (28) undergoes Pd(0)-catalyzed rearrangement to give the A -stannylcarbodiimide 29 under mild conditions[30]. 

From Diazo Compounds via 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition. This method has been utilized widely in heterocychc chemistry. Pyrazohne (57) has been synthesized by reaction of ethyl diazoacetate (58) with a,P-unsaturated ester in the presence of pyridine (eq. 12) (42). 

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). 

Since 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of diazomethane are HOMO (diazomethane)-LUMO (dipolarophile) controlled, enamines and ynamines with their high LUMO energies do not react (79JA3647). However, introduction of carbonyl functions into diazomethane makes the reaction feasible in these cases. Thus methyl diazoacetate and 1-diethylaminopropyne furnished the aminopyrazole (620) in high yield. 

In addition to the reactions descubed m the prcpaiation diazoacetic ester unites with misaturatecl acids andfoims cyclic compounds. Fumaric cstei, for example, combines in the following way —... 

In this review an attempt is made to discuss all the important interactions of highly reactive divalent carbon derivatives (carbenes, methylenes) and heterocyclic compounds and the accompanying molecular rearrangements. The most widely studied reactions have been those of dihalocarbenes, particularly dichlorocarbene, and the a-ketocarbenes obtained by photolytic or copper-catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds such as diazoacetic ester or diazoacetone. The reactions of diazomethane with heterocyclic compounds have already been reviewed in this series. ... 

Jackson and Manske described the decomposition of diazoacetic ester with indoles to give, after hydrolysis, the 3-acetic acid and some 1,3-diacetic acid no product of 2-substitution was found (see also ref. 49). Diazoacetone and diazopyruvic ester similarly gave the 3-sub-stituted indoles.Badger et al. have also examined the reaction of iV -methylindole, as well as of indole, with diazoacetic ester. Again only the 3-substituted product resulted and no evidence was obtained for addition. 

What evidence is there for the individual reaction steps The add-base reaction (Eq, 2) has the characteristics of a Broensted equilibrium, as has been shown in the case of diazomethane-benzoic acid (in toluene). Further evidence for this is provided by the reactions of diazoacetic ester and diazo ketones. The occurrence of free, mobile diazonium cations is also supported by the fact that solutions of diazomethane in methanol show greater conductivity than solutions of pure solvent. ... 

From a historical perspective it is interesting to note that the Nozaki experiment was, in fact, a mechanistic probe to establish the intermediacy of a copper carbe-noid complex rather than an attempt to make enantiopure compounds for synthetic purposes. To achieve synthetically useful selectivities would require an extensive exploration of metals, ligands and reaction conditions along with a deeper understanding of the reaction mechanism. Modern methods for asymmetric cyclopropanation now encompass the use of countless metal complexes [2], but for the most part, the importance of diazoacetates as the carbenoid precursors still dominates the design of new catalytic systems. Highly effective catalysts developed in... 

The normal electron-demand principle of activation of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones has also been tested for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of alkenes with diazoalkanes [71]. The reaction of ethyl diazoacetate 33 with 19b in the presence of a TiCl2-TADDOLate catalyst 23a afforded the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition product 34 in good yield and with 30-40% ee (Scheme 6.26). 

The catalytic asymmetric cyclopropanation of an alkene, a reaction which was studied as early as 1966 by Nozaki and Noyori,63 is used in a commercial synthesis of ethyl (+)-(lS)-2,2-dimethylcyclo-propanecarboxylate (18) by the Sumitomo Chemical Company (see Scheme 5).64 In Aratani s Sumitomo Process, ethyl diazoacetate is decomposed in the presence of isobutene (16) and a catalytic amount of the dimeric chiral copper complex 17. Compound 18, produced in 92 % ee, is a key intermediate in Merck s commercial synthesis of cilastatin (19). The latter compound is a reversible... 

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