Diiodomethane, Simmons-Smith reaction with

Optically active dialkyl tartrates and (2i ,4/ )-pentane-2,4-diol were used as homochiral protecting groups in a, 6-unsaturated acetals 51 and 52 which were subjected to Simmons-Smith reaction with diethylzinc and diiodomethane to give cyclopropyl derivatives with a de of > 69% (Table 1). The acetal group was readily converted to the aldehyde by acidic hydrolysis or to the acid by ozonolysis. 

Simmons-Smith reaction of cyclohexene with diiodomethane gives a single cyclopropane product, but the analogous reaction of cyclohexene with 1,1-diiodoethane gives (in low yield) a mixture of two isomeric methyl-cyclopropane products. What are the two products, and how do they differ ... 

The Simmons-Smith reaction has been used as the basis of a method for the indirect a methylation of a ketone. The ketone (illustrated for cyclohexanone) is first converted to an enol ether, an enamine (16-12) or silyl enol ether (12-22) and cyclopropanation via the Simmons-Smith reaction is followed by hydrolysis to give a methylated ketone. A related procedure using diethylzinc and diiodomethane allows ketones to be chain extended by one carbon. In another variation, phenols can be ortho methylated in one laboratory step, by treatment with Et2Zn and... 

The cyclopropanation of 1-trimethylsilyloxycyclohexene in the present procedure is accomplished by reaction with diiodomethane and diethylzinc in ethyl ether." This modification of the usual Simmons-Smith reaction in which diiodomethane and activated zinc are used has the advantage of being homogeneous and is often more effective for the cyclopropanation of olefins such as enol ethers which polymerize readily. However, in the case of trimethylsilyl enol ethers, the heterogeneous procedures with either zinc-copper couple or zinc-silver couple are also successful. Attempts by the checkers to carry out Part B in benzene or toluene at reflux instead of ethyl ether afforded the trimethylsilyl ether of 2-methylenecyclohexanol, evidently owing to zinc iodide-catalyzed isomerization of the initially formed cyclopropyl ether. The preparation of l-trimethylsilyloxybicyclo[4.1.0]heptane by cyclopropanation with diethylzinc and chloroiodomethane in the presence of oxygen has been reported. "... 

The direct reaction of zinc metal with organic iodides dates back to the work of Frankland(67). Several modifications have been suggested since that time to increase the reactivity of the metal. The majority of these modifications have employed zinc-copper couples(68-72), sodium-zinc alloys(73), or zinc-silver couples(77). Some recent work has indicated that certain zinc-copper couples will react with alkyl bromides to give modest yields of dialkylzinc compounds(74,73). However, all attempts to react zinc with aryl iodides or bromides have met with failure. The primary use of zinc couples has been in the Simmons-Smith reaction. This reaction has been primarily used with diiodomethane as 1,1-dibromides or longer chain diiodides have proven to be too unneactive even with the most reactive zinc couples. 

Among methods of preparing optically active cyclopropane compounds, the Simmons-Smith reaction, first reported in 1958, is of significance. This reaction refers to the cyclopropanation of alkene with a reagent prepared in situ from a zinc-copper alloy and diiodomethane. The reaction is stereospecific with respect to the geometry of the alkene and is generally free from side reactions in contrast to reactions involving free carbenes. 

The Simmons-Smith reaction " and its variants are widely used for the stereospecific synthesis of cyclopropane compounds. The methodology involves the use of copper-treated zinc metal (the zinc-copper couple) with diiodomethane to add methylene to a carbon-carbon double bond. Alternative use of diazomethane in catalytic reactions does not offer the same synthetic advantages and is usually avoided because of safety considerations. As significant as is the Simmons-Smith reaction for cyclopropane formation, its employment for organic synthesis was markedly advanced by the discovery that allylic and homoallylic hydroxyl groups accelerate and exert stereochemical control over cyclopropanation of alkenes (e.g, Eq. 21), and this acceleration has been explained by a transition state model... 

Organomercury compounds such as ICFbHgl and Hg(CH2Br)2 may be prepared by the reaction of metallic mercury with diiodomethane or by reaction of mercury(II) salts with diazoalkanes. These mercury derivatives are related to the intermediate that has been proposed in the Simmons-Smith reaction, and likewise, they have been found to convert alkenes into cyclopropanes.92... 

The first reaction is deprotection of the alcohol. Benzoate 16 is hydrolyzed with NaOH. What follows is a modified Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation with diiodomethane (41) and diethylzinc i40)... 

Cyclopropanation of olefins (Simmons-Smith reaction) smoothly proceeds using diethylzinc in combination with diiodomethane. The reaction is much faster with allylic alcohols or its ether derivatives than that with simple olefins. 

Another reaction that builds a cyclopropane ring onto a carbon-carbon double bond is called the Simmons-Smith reaction. This reaction does not actually involve a car-bene, but rather a carbenoid, an organometallic species that reacts like a carbene. This species is generated by reaction of diiodomethane with zinc metal from a special alloy of zinc and copper ... 

Diiodomethane, CH2I2 Reacts with alkenes in the presence of zinc-copper couple to yield cyclopropanes (Simmons-Smith reaction Section 7.6). 

Simmons-Smith reaction (Section 7.6) a method for preparing a cyclopropane by treating an alkene with diiodomethane and zinc-copper. 

The Simmons-Smith reaction is an efficient and powerful method for synthesizing cyclopropanes from alkenes [43]. Allylic alcohols are reactive and widely used as substrates, whereas a,j8-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are unreactive. In 1988, Ambler and Davies [44] reported the electrophilic addition of methylene to a,/3-unsaturated acyl ligands attached to the chiral-at-metal iron complex. The reaction of the racemic iron complex 60 with diethylzinc and diiodomethane in the presence of ZnCl2 afforded the c/s-cyclopropane derivatives 61a and 61b in 93 % yield in 24 1 ratio (Sch. 24). 

The reactivity of zinc metal has been recently found to depend on the method of production of zinc. The two kinds of zinc powder available are electrolytic zinc derived from hydrometallurgy and distilled zinc derived from pyrometallurgy. They are produced by different smelting methods, and thus, their purities, especially their lead contents, are quite different. A systematic study of the Simmons-Smith reaction of cyclooctene with diiodomethane and zinc derived from various sources has revealed that a trace amount of lead found in zinc derived from the pyrometallurgic smelting method decreases the reactivity of zinc substantially. The addition of a catalytic amount of chlorotrimethylsilane to a zinc suspension has been found to suppress the effect of lead, and to accelerate the reaction of diiodomethane and iodoalkenes with zinc. 

The fact that the Simmons-Smith reaction is regio- and stereoselective enabled the preparation of tritium containing cyclopropane derivatives useful for biological studies. The tritiated diiodomethane was prepared by reduction of iodoform with sodium arsenite in the presence of tritiated water. The carbene generated from tritiodiiodomethane and triisobutylaluminum in chloroform underwent regioselective addition to the unhindered double bond in perillyl alcohol (34). ... 

This sequence has been used for the synthesis of the sesquiterpenes ( —)- and ( + )-thujop-sene. The allylic /1-hydroxysulfoximines 47 and 49 were separated by column chromatography on silica gel and treated separately with excess of Simmons Smith reagent prepared from zinc/ silver amalgam and diiodomethane in diethyl ether giving 48 and 50, respectively. The Simmons-Smith reaction took place stereospecifically cis to the hydroxy group of the allylic ff-hydroxysulfoximines. Cyclopropanes 48 and 50 were converted to ( —)- and (- -)-thujopsene. 

As in the case of the / -series, the a-anomer with a free hydroxy group at C2 also showed good diastereoselectivity (13 1) in the Simmons-Smith cyclopropanation with diethylzinc/ diiodomethane in fert-butyl methyl ether at 0 C. Several substituted allylic ethers, e g. 70, were subjected to this reaction with success. While the auxiliary can be easily removed by a ring-contraction method to give cyclopropylmethanol derivatives, this methodology provides an efficient method to prepare both enantiomers. 

Normally the chiral auxiliaries are introduced and removed in the asymmetric synthesis of Simmons-Smith reactions of allylic alcohols to provide mostly /rani-disubstituted cyclopropanes. Stereoselective syntheses of c -disubstituted cyclopropanes are difficult to achieve. Starting from (Z)-3-phenylprop-2-en-l-ol (80a) and (Z)-6-phenylhex-2-en-l-ol (80b), the corresponding c -disubstituted cyclopropanes 81a and 81b were prepared by first treating them with diethylzinc followed by diethyl (- -)-(/ ,7 )-tartrate (DET). A zinc-bridged intermediate is assumed to be formed first. This is subsequently treated with diethylzine and diiodomethane to give the products 81. The reaction conducted at — 12 "C gave the cyclopropanated products 81a and 81b with 70 and 81% ee, respectively.This method has the advantages that the introduction of the chiral auxiliary to the substrate and its removal are not neccessary and that both cis- and trans-disubstituted cyclopropanes could be prepared from (Z)- and ( )-allylic alcohols, repectively. 

The zinc metal in the Simmons-Smith reaction was replaced by samarium for the cyclopropanation of allylic alcohols with chloroiodomethane. High yields of cyclopropanes, often with high diastereoselectivities, were obtained using samarium amalgam/diiodomethane. Cyclo-hex-2-enol (115a) gave exclusively s y -bicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-ol (116a), no traces of the anti-... 

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