Diazoalkanes metal-catalyzed

The transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes is one of the most efficient methods for the preparation of cyclopropanes. In 1959 Dull and Abend reported [617] their finding that treatment of ketene diethylacetal with diazomethane in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper(I) bromide leads to the formation of cyclopropanone diethylacetal. The same year Wittig described the cyclopropanation of cyclohexene with diazomethane and zinc(II) iodide [494]. Since then many variations and improvements of this reaction have been reported. Today a large number of transition metal complexes are known which react with diazoalkanes or other carbene precursors to yield intermediates capable of cyclopropanating olefins (Figure 3.32). However, from the commonly used catalysts of this type (rhodium(II) or palladium(II) carboxylates, copper salts) no carbene complexes have yet been identified spectroscopically. 

The transition metal-catalyzed reaction of diazoalkanes with acceptor-substituted alkenes is far more intricate than reaction with simple alkenes. With acceptor-substituted alkenes the diazoalkane can undergo (transition metal-catalyzed) 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to the olefin [651-654]. The resulting 3//-pyrazolines can either be stable or can isomerize to l//-pyrazolines. 3//-Pyrazolines can also eliminate nitrogen and collapse to cyclopropanes, even at low temperatures. Despite these potential side-reactions, several examples of catalyzed cyclopropanations of acceptor-substituted alkenes with diazoalkanes have been reported [648,655]. Substituted 2-cyclohexenones or cinnamates [642,656] have been cyclopropanated in excellent yields by treatment with diazomethane/palladium(II) acetate. Maleates, fumarates, or acrylates [642,657], on the other hand, cannot, however, be cyclopropanated under these conditions. 

Most electrophilic carbene complexes with hydrogen at Cjj will undergo fast 1,2-proton migration with subsequent elimination of the metal and formation of an alkene. For this reason, transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations with non-acceptor-substituted diazoalkanes have mainly been limited to the use of diazomethane, aryl-, and diaryldiazomethanes (Tables 3.4 and 3.5). 

Table 3.5. Transition-metal-catalyzed cyclopropanations with diazoalkanes.

The normal byproducts formed during the transition metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes are carbene dimers and azines [496,1023,1329], These products result from the reaction of carbene complexes with the carbene precursor. Their formation can be suppressed by slow addition (e.g. with a syringe motor) of a dilute solution of the diazo compound to the mixture of substrate and catalyst. Carbene dimerization can, however, also be a synthetically useful process. If, e.g., diazoacetone is treated with 0.1% RuClCpIPPhjij at 65 °C in toluene, cw-3-hexene-2,5-dione is obtained in 81% yield with high stereoselectivity [1038]. 

Reaction of diazo compounds with a variety of transition metal compounds leads to evolution of nitrogen and formation of products of the same general type as those formed by thermal and photochemical decomposition of diazoalkanes. These transition metal-catalyzed reactions in general appear to involve carbenoid intermediates in which the carbene becomes bound to the metal.83 The metals which have been used most frequently in synthesis are copper and rhodium. 

SCHEME 92. Transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of olefins with diazoalkanes. 

The use of metal catalysts for the addition of diazoalkanes to alkenes has become increasingly common,lh,8 8e 8i,8k 8m-8° while the use of thermal and photochemical reactions has waned. Many generalizations have been made to describe several different aspects of the metal-catalyzed reactions, but one must bear in mind that many of the detailed studies of these reactions have involved primarily diazocarbonyl compounds and not necessarily the simpler diazoalkanes that pertain to the general topic of the present chapter. 

The range of alkenes that may be used as substrates in these reactions is vast Suitable catalysts may be chosen to permit use of ordinary alkenes, electron deficient alkenes such as a,(3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, and very electron rich alkenes such as enol ethers. These reactions are generally stereospecific, and they often exhibit syn stereoselectivity, as was also mentioned for the photochemical reactions earlier. Several optically active catalysts and several types of chiral auxiliaries contained in either the al-kene substrates or the diazo compounds have been studied in asymmetric cyclopropanation reactions, but diazocarbonyl compounds, rather than simple diazoalkanes, have been used in most of these studies. When more than one possible site of cyclopropanation exists, reactions of less highly substituted alkenes are often seen, whereas the photochemical reactions often occur predominantly at more highly substituted double bonds. However, the regioselectivity of the metal-catalyzed reactions can be very dependent upon the particular catalyst chosen for the reaction. 

Table 3 Metal-catalyzed Reactions of Diazoalkanes with Alkenes... 

Very common Cl fragments bound to a polymeric support are carbenoids. The simplest carbenoid is CO itself, which can be used in transition metal-catalyzed insertions between benzofuran-3yl palladium and a nucleophile such as trifluoroethanol [161]. One of the most common carbenoids is isonitrile, which is used in a large number of multicomponent reactions. Diazoalkanes have often been used as carbene precursors, since they can be readily obtained from support-bound anions and sulfonyl azides [252]. Commonly, diazoalkanes are converted transi-... 

Although the addition of carbene to a double bond to make a cyclopropane is well known, it is not particularly useful synthetically because of the tendency for extensive side reactions and lack of selectivity for thermally or photochemically generated carbenes. Similar processes involving carbenoids (species that are not free carbenes) are much more useful from the preparative standpoint [91,92]. For example, metal catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes usually results in addition to double bonds without the interference of side reactions such as C-H insertions. Consider the possible retrosynthetic approaches to a 1,2-disubstituted cyclopropane shown in Figure 6.8. Disconnection a entails the addition of a methylene across a double bond, a conversion that is often stereospecific e.g., the Simmons-Smith reaction [93]). Disconnections b and c are more problematic, since the issue of cis/trans product isomers (simple diastereoselection) arises. 

Scheme 6.30. Catalytic cycle for the transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of olefins by diazoalkanes (after [112] and [113]).

The copper-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes with diazoalkanes is a particularly important synthetic reaction (277). The reaction of styrene and ethyl diazoacetate catalyzed by bis[/V-(7 )- or (5)-a-phenyl-ethylsalicylaldiminato]Cu(II), reported in 1966, gives the cyclopropane adducts in less than 10% ee and was the first example of transition metal-catalyzed enantioselective reaction of prochiral compounds in homogeneous phase (Scheme 90) (272). Later systematic screening of the chiral Schiff base-Cu catalysts resulted in the innovative synthesis of a series of important cyclopropane derivatives such as chrysanthemic acid, which was produced in greater than 90% ee (Scheme 90) (273). The catalyst precursor has a dimeric Cu(II) structure, but the actual catalyst is in the Cu(I) oxidation state (274). (S)-2,2-Dimethylcyclopropanecar-boxylic acid thus formed is now used for commercial synthesis of ci-lastatin, an excellent inhibitor of dehydropeptidase-I that increases the in vivo stability of the caibapenem antibiotic imipenem (Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Merck Sharp Dohme Co.). Attempted enantioselective cyclopropanation using 1,1-diphenylethylene and ethyl diazoacetate has met with limited success (211b). A related Schiff base ligand achieved the best result, 66% optical yield, in the reaction of 1,1-diphenylethylene and ethyl diazoacetate (275). 

There are three leading reviews on metal carbenoid transformation, written by Doyle (1986), by Brookhart and Studabaker (1987), and by Maas (1987). They include aspects of synthesis and of mechanism. The more recent reviews in Trost and Fleming s Comprehensive Organic Synthesis were written by Helquist (1991, use of diazoalkanes) and by Davies (1991, diazo carbonyl compounds). The review of Ye and McKervey (1994) on a-diazocarbonyl compounds also contains examples of metal carbenoid transformations. The book of Hegedus (1994) contains representative syntheses of complex organic molecules obtained by transition metal-catalyzed reactions of diazo compounds. 

Most commonly, photolytic, thermal, or transition metal catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes is used to create carbene molecules. A variation on catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes is the Bamford-Stevens reaction, which gives carbenes in aprotic solvents and carbenium ions in protic solvents. Another method is induced elimination of halogen from gem-dihalides or HX from a CHXj moiety, employing organoHthium reagents (or another strong base). It is not certain that in these reactions actual free carbenes are formed. In some cases there is evidence that completely free carbene is never present instead, it is likely that a metal-carbene complex forms. Nevertheless, these metallocarbenes (or carbenoids) give the expected products. 

The metallocarbene intermediates are most often formed from thermal, photolytic, or metal-catalyzed deconposition of diazocarbonyl compounds, with concomitant loss of dinitrogen. Under transition metal catalysis, the initially formed species is a metallocarbene rather than a free carbene, and this is usually desirable due to the moderated reactivity (and, hence, fewer undesired side reactions) of the metal-complexed carbene. The two most common methods for introduction of the diazo group are acylation of diazoalkanes with suitably activated carboxylic acid derivatives and diazo transfer reactions in the case of more acidic active methylene substrates fScheme 16.12T... 

The asymmetric synthesis of cyclopropanes has attracted continual efforts in organic synthesis, due to their relevance in natural products and biologically active compounds. The prevalent methods employed include halomethylmetal mediated processes in the presence of chiral auxiliaries/catalysts (Simmons-Smith-type reactions), transition-metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazoalkanes, Michael-induced ring closures, or asymmetric metalations [8-10,46], However, the asymmetric preparation of unfunctionahzed cyclopropanes remains relatively undisclosed. The enantioselective activation of unactivated C-H bonds via transition-metal catalysis is an area of active research in organic chemistry [47-49]. Recently, a few groups investigated the enantioselective synthesis of cyclopropanes by direct functionalization reactions. 

In contrast to the aforementioned diazoalkanes and aryldiazomethanes, whose instability and high explosiveness have diminished their general utility as a monomer for polymer synthesis, diazocarbonyl compounds have been known to be rather stable and frequently used as a reagent for organic synthesis [35, 36], In particular, transition metal catalyzed cyclopropanation of diazocarbonyl compounds with C=C double bonds has been extensively investigated and established as a very useful method for the formation of cyclopropane frameworks, where application for asymmetric synthesis using various optically active ligands has been successfully achieved. 

The EfZ ratio of stilbenes obtained in the Rh2(OAc)4-catalyzed reaction was independent of catalyst concentration in the range given in Table 22 357). This fact differs from the copper-catalyzed decomposition of ethyl diazoacetate, where the ratio diethyl fumarate diethyl maleate was found to depend on the concentration of the catalyst, requiring two competing mechanistic pathways to be taken into account 365), The preference for the Z-stilbene upon C ClO -or rhodium-catalyzed decomposition of aryldiazomethanes may be explained by the mechanism given in Scheme 39. Nucleophilic attack of the diazoalkane at the presumed metal carbene leads to two epimeric diazonium intermediates 385, the sterically less encumbered of which yields the Z-stilbene after C/C rotation 357,358). Thus, steric effects, favoring 385a over 385 b, ultimately cause the preferred formation of the thermodynamically less stable cis-stilbene. 

It has been known for a long time that the decomposition of diazoalkanes can be catalyzed by transition metal complexes [493-496]. Carbene complexes were proposed as possible intermediates by Yates in 1952 [497]. However, because reactions of diazoalkanes with metal complexes tend to be difficult to control, it was not until 1975 [498] that stable carbene complexes could be directly obtained from diazoalkanes (Figure 3.19). 

Transition metal complexes which react with diazoalkanes to yield carbene complexes can be catalysts for diazodecomposition (see Section 4.1). In addition to the requirements mentioned above (free coordination site, electrophi-licity), transition metal complexes can catalyze the decomposition of diazoalkanes if the corresponding carbene complexes are capable of transferring the carbene fragment to a substrate with simultaneous regeneration of the original complex. Metal carbonyls of chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel, molybdenum, and tungsten all catalyze the decomposition of diazomethane [493]. Other related catalysts are (CO)5W=C(OMe)Ph [509], [Cp(CO)2Fe(THF)][BF4] [510,511], and (CO)5Cr(COD) [52,512]. These compounds are sufficiently electrophilic to catalyze the decomposition of weakly nucleophilic, acceptor-substituted diazoalkanes. 

The 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of diazoalkanes with alkenes has also been reported (395). Kanemasa and Kanai (395) used the chiral DBFOX-Ph ligand with various metals such as Ni, Zn, and Mg for the preparation of 255a-c. The reaction of TMS-diazomethane 171 with alkene 241 was catalyzed by 10 mol% of 255b to afford the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition product 296 in good yields and enantioselectivities of up to 99% ee (Scheme 12.96). Also, the Ni-catalyst 255a and the Mg-catalyst 255c were excellent catalysts for the reaction, resulting in >90% ee in both cases. 

Diazocarbonyl compounds, especially diazo ketones and diazo esters [19], are the most suitable substrates for metal carbene transformations catalyzed by Cu or Rh compounds. Diazoalkanes are less useful owing to more pronounced carbene dimer formation that competes with, for example, cyclopropanation [7]. This competing reaction occurs by electrophilic addition of the metal-stabilized carbocation to the diazo compound followed by dinitrogen loss and formation of the alkene product that occurs with regeneration of the catalytically active metal complex (Eq. 5.5) [201. 

New evidence as to the nature of the intermediates in catalytic diazoalkane decomposition comes from a comparison of olefin cyclopropanation with the electrophilic metal carbene complex (CO)jW—CHPh on one hand and Rh COAc) / NjCHCOOEt or Rh2(OAc)4 /NjCHPh on the other . For the same set of monosubstituted alkenes, a linear log-log relationship between the relative reactivities for the stoichiometric reaction with (CO)5W=CHPh and the catalytic reaction with RhjfOAc) was found (reactivity difference of 2.2 10 in the former case and 14 in the latter). No such correlation holds for di- and trisubstituted olefins, which has been attributed to steric and/or electronic differences in olefin interaction with the reactive electrophile . A linear relationship was also found between the relative reactivities of (CO)jW=CHPh and Rh2(OAc) NjCHPh. These results lead to the conclusion that the intermediates in the Rh(II)-catalyzed reaction are very similar to stable electrophilic carbenes in terms of electron demand. As far as cisjtrans stereoselectivity of cyclopropanation is concerned, no obvious relationship between Rh2(OAc) /N2CHCOOEt and Rh2(OAc),/N2CHPh was found, but the log-log plot displays an excellent linear relationship between (CO)jW=CHPh and Rh2(OAc) / N2CHPh, including mono-, 1,1-di-, 1,2-di- and trisubstituted alkenes In the phenyl-carbene transfer reactions, cis- syn-) cyclopropanes are formed preferentially, whereas trans- anti-) cyclopropanes dominate when the diazoester is involved. 

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