Diazoalkanes reactions with Lewis acids

A diazo ester or alkane will react with a ketone, under Lewis acid catalysis, to give the homologated product. This reaction is most often used for one-carhon ring expansion, as illustrated hy the conversion of (166) to (167 equation 69). The regioselectivity of the (166) to (167) transformation, 98 2 in the example illustrated, was found to depend on both the diazoalkane and the Lewis acid used. With diazomethane and boron trifluoride, a 1 1 mixture of regioisomeric products was observed. 

The vast majority of diazoalkane reactions are based on the ambident nucleophilic character of diazoalkanes, as shown by the mesomeric structures of diazomethane 4.32 a and 4.32 b. Bronsted and Lewis acids can be added at the C- and the N()8)-atoms. The reaction with Bronsted acids is particularly important. Alkanediazonium ions are obtained by proton addition at the C-atom giving rise to dediazoniation and various reactions of carbocations (see Chapt. 7). 

Diazoalkanes alkylate acidic and enolic groups rapidly and other groups with replaceable hydrogens slowly. Carboxylic and sulfonic acids, phenols and enols are alkylated virtually instantaneously when treated with this reagent. Lewis acid catalysts (e.g., BF3.Et20) are used to promote the reaction of... 

The first effective enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of diazoalkanes catalyzed by chiral Lewis acids was reported in the year 20(X) (139). Under catalysis using zinc or magnesium complexes and the chiral ligand (R,/ )-DBFOX/Ph, the reaction of diazo(trimethylsilyl)methane with 3-alkenoyl-2-oxazolidin-2-one 75 (R = H) gave the desilylated A -pyrazolines (4S,5R)-76 (R =Me 87% yield, 99% ee at 40 °C) (Scheme 8.18). Simple replacement of the oxazohdinone with the 4,4-dimethyloxazolidinone ring resulted in the formation of (4R,5S)-77 (R = Me 75% yield, 97% ee at -78 °C). 

The reactions of diazoalkanes and imines occur in generally low yields, but Lewis acid catalysis is of some help (equation 40). The reaction involves a 1,3-dipolar mechanism which proceeds through an isolable triazoline intermediate (Scheme 21). Treatment of the latter with acid affords aziridine in modest yield. 

Three-membered heterocycles. Decomposition of diazo compounds by the iron complex in the presence of imines leads to aziridines. An analogous reaction of diazoalkanes with aldehydes gives some epoxides and the rearrangement products (ketones) owing to the Lewis acidic nature of the catalyst. Ethyl diazoacetate behaves differently, as 1,2-aryl shift occurs during the reaction. ... 

The reaction of diazomethane with a,p-xmsaturated carbonyl compounds under classical protic conditions has been shown to produce pyrazoline products arising from 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition [3, 4]. Limited examples of a,p-xmsaturated carbonyl substrates undergoing ring expansion in the presence of Lewis acid promoters have been reported. It was not until the introduction of Lewis acids for diazoalkane ring expansion that these types of substrates were even reactive. In Drege s... 

Diazoalkanes have also been widely utilized in 1,3-DC reactions with various olefins to construct pyrazolines and pyrazoles, which are easily converted to various types of nitrogen-containing molecules. Maruoka and coworkers developed the unprecedented enantioselective 1,3-DC of diazoacetates 46 and a-substituted acroleins 45 by using certain chiral titanium BINOLate Lewis acids as catalysts (Scheme 2.13) [24], Furthermore, Sibi evaluated a,p-unsaturated pyrazolidinone... 

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