Double bonds synthetic applications

Synthesis of heterocycles by forming C—X bonds by radical reactions is not a generally applicable method, and seems not to be useful for making small rings. However, the attack of thiol radicals on double bonds can be a practical synthetic route, such as in the conversion of 1-hexene-7-thiol to thiepane (Section 5.17.3.3.1). 

Whereas the fulvalenes 1-6 are relatively unstable hydrocarbons and therefore largely of theoretical interest, their heteroatom analogs demand considerable attention in synthetic chemistry and material sciences. Tlie general principle of heterocyclic chemistry to relate heterocyclic compounds to carbocyclic ones was the driving force for the synthesis and their application to heteroful-valenes. Numerous heterocyclic derivatives iso-rr-electronic with, for example, heptafulvalene 3 were accessible in which pairs of carbon atoms linked by double bonds were replaced by heteroatoms capable of contributing two tt-electrons. By this principle, the well-known tetrathiafulvalene and its derivatives have been synthesized successfully (Scheme 2). 

Active carbonyl compounds such as benzaldehyde attack the electron-rich double bond in DTDAFs to give a dipolar adduct, which immediately undergoes dissociation with formation of two molecules of 146 (64BSF2857 67LA155).Tlie existence of by-products such as benzoin led to the synthetic application of thiazolium salts in the acyloin condensation. For example, replacement of the classic cyanide ion by 3-benzyl-4-methyl-5(/3-hydroxyethyl) thiazolium salts allowed the benzoin-type condensation to take place in nonaqueous solvents (76AGE639) (Scheme 57). 

Application of the hydroboration transform to intermediate 5 provides unsaturated alcohol 6 as a potential precursor. In the synthetic direction, a regio- and stereocontrolled hydroboration/oxidation of the A5 6 double bond in 6 could accomplish the simultaneous introduction of the adjacent C-5 hydroxyl- and C-6 methyl-bearing... 

Kolbe electrolysis is a powerful method of generating radicals for synthetic applications. These radicals can combine to symmetrical dimers (chap 4), to unsymmetrical coupling products (chap 5), or can be added to double bonds (chap 6) (Eq. 1, path a). The reaction is performed in the laboratory and in the technical scale. Depending on the reaction conditions (electrode material, pH of the electrolyte, current density, additives) and structural parameters of the carboxylates, the intermediate radical can be further oxidized to a carbocation (Eq. 1, path b). The cation can rearrange, undergo fragmentation and subsequently solvolyse or eliminate to products. This path is frequently called non-Kolbe electrolysis. In this way radical and carbenium-ion derived products can be obtained from a wide variety of carboxylic acids. 

The addition of acetic acid (0.5 equiv. to the substrate) to the catalyst system led to increased activity (doubling of yield) by maintaining the selectivity with 1.2 equiv. H2O2 as terminal oxidant. Advantageously, the system is characterized by a certain tolerance towards functional groups such as amides, esters, ethers, and carbonates. An improvement in conversions and selectivities by a slow addition protocol was shown recently [102]. For the first time, a nonheme iron catalyst system is able to oxidize tertiary C-H bonds in a synthetic applicable and selective manner and therefore should allow for synthetic applications [103]. 

The enamines derived from cyclohexanones are of particular interest. The pyrrolidine enamine is most frequently used for synthetic applications. The enamine mixture formed from pyrrolidine and 2-methylcyclohexanone is predominantly isomer 17.106 A steric effect is responsible for this preference. Conjugation between the nitrogen atom and the tt orbitals of the double bond favors coplanarity of the bonds that are darkened in the structures. In isomer 17 the methyl group adopts a quasi-axial conformation to avoid steric interaction with the amine substituents.107 A serious nonbonded repulsion (A1,3 strain) in 18 destabilizes this isomer. 

The addition reactions discussed in Sections 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 are initiated by the interaction of a proton with the alkene. Electron density is drawn toward the proton and this causes nucleophilic attack on the double bond. The role of the electrophile can also be played by metal cations, and the mercuric ion is the electrophile in several synthetically valuable procedures.13 The most commonly used reagent is mercuric acetate, but the trifluoroacetate, trifluoromethanesulfonate, or nitrate salts are more reactive and preferable in some applications. A general mechanism depicts a mercurinium ion as an intermediate.14 Such species can be detected by physical measurements when alkenes react with mercuric ions in nonnucleophilic solvents.15 The cation may be predominantly bridged or open, depending on the structure of the particular alkene. The addition is completed by attack of a nucleophile at the more-substituted carbon. The nucleophilic capture is usually the rate- and product-controlling step.13,16... 

The fundamental mechanisms of free radical reactions were considered in Chapter 11 of Part A. Several mechanistic issues are crucial in development of free radical reactions for synthetic applications.285 Free radical reactions are usually chain processes, and the lifetimes of the intermediate radicals are very short. To meet the synthetic requirements of high selectivity and efficiency, all steps in a desired sequence must be fast in comparison with competing reactions. Owing to the requirement that all the steps be fast, only steps that are exothermic or very slightly endothermic can participate in chain processes. Comparison between addition of a radical to a carbon-carbon double bond and addition to a carbonyl group can illustrate this point. 

Various transition metal complexes, in particular of late transition metals, were reported to be effective catalysts for such double bond isomerization. Because organic synthesis is the focus of this volume, this section will cover the transition metal-catalyzed isomerization of alkenes, which has the significant synthetic and industrial utilities. This chapter will also include the synthetic application, asymmetric reactions,4-6 and isomerization of alkynes, in particular, that of propargylic alcohols. 

The d-lactone (Scheme 38.11) can be efficiently obtained by the telomerization of butadiene and C02. Its biphasic hydrogenation with an in-situ-prepared Rh/ mtppts catalyst yields 2-ethylidene-6-heptenoic acid (and its isomers) [136]. Note, that the catalyst is selective for the hydrogenolysis of the lactone in the presence of two olefmic double bonds this is probably due to the relatively large [P] [Rh] ratio (10 1) which is known to inhibit C = C hydrogenations with [RhCl(wtppms)3]. The mixture of heptenoic acids can further be hydrogenated on Pd/C and Mo/Rh catalysts to 2-ethylheptanol which finds several applications in lubricants, solvents, and plasticizers. This is one of the rare examples of using C02 as a Cl building block in a transition metal-catalyzed synthetic process. 

Another synthetic application of olefin metathesis using a thioacetal-titanocene(II) system is the ring-closing olefin metathesis (RCM) of carbene complexes possessing an olefin moiety, e. g. 33 (Scheme 14.17). The success of the RCM apparently depends on the substituents at the carbon—carbon double bond (i. e. the substituent(s) on the resulting carbene complex 34). 

The examples illustrated in the almost 100 schemes in this chapter demonstrate how versatile donor-substituted allenes can be in synthetic processes. The major applications concern addition reactions and cycloadditions to the allenic double bonds, which furnish products with valuable functional groups. Of particular interest are metalations - usually at C-l of the allene unit - followed by reactions with electrophiles that deliver compounds which can often be used for cyclization reactions. A variety of highly substituted and functionalized heterocycles arises from these flexible methods, which cannot be obtained by other reactions. Many of these transformations proceed with good regioselectivity and excellent stereoselection. 

Synthetic applications of carbon radical additions to allenes cover aspects of polymerization, selective 1 1 adduct formation and homolytic substitutions. If heated in the presence of, e.g., di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP), homopolymerization of phenylal-lene is observed to provide products with an average molecular weight of 2000 (not shown) [58]. IR and 1H NMR spectroscopic analyses of such macromolecules point to the preferential carbon radical addition to CY and hence selective polymerization across the 2,3-double bond of the cumulene. Since one of the olefinic jr-bonds from the monomer is retained, the polymer consists of styrene-like subunits and may be... 

Electrophilic addition of sulfenyl compounds at carbon-carbon double bonds, extensively studied and reviewed2,4 715 106, finds numerous synthetic applications owing to the regio- and stereoselectivity of the addition26. The most common types of agents for the electrophilic addition of sulfur to double and triple bonds are sulfenyl halides (RSX,... 

The possibility of obtaining, under kinetic control, a selective transformation of only one of the double bonds present in a dienic system, as well as the formation of 1,4-adducts under thermodynamic control, may find interesting applications. These two adducts may indeed be transformed into attractive synthetic intermediates, as shown in equation 97118. 

CH2CI2, sulfolane, THF) in the presence of alkenes, whose oxidation potential is lower than that of the disulfide, results in the addition of the MeS group on the double bond. Since then, the anodic sulfeanylation of multiple bonds received many synthetic applications. 

Radical additions to double bonds have been investigated mechanistically and, recently, also for synthetic applications (Giese, 1989). It has been established that the reactivity trends can be described properly in qualitative and quantitative terms by an FMO interpretation (Fischer, 1986 Fischer and Paul, 1987 Giese, 1983 Miinger and Fischer, 1985). 

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