Electrophiles with diene ligands

As noted in the introduction, in contrast to attack by nucleophiles, attack of electrophiles on saturated alkene-, polyene- or polyenyl-metal complexes creates special problems in that normally unstable 16-electron, unsaturated species are formed. To be isolated, these species must be stabilized by intramolecular coordination or via intermolecular addition of a ligand. Nevertheless, as illustrated in this chapter, reactions of significant synthetic utility can be developed with attention to these points. It is likely that this area will see considerable development in the future. In addition to refinement of electrophilic reactions of metal-diene complexes, synthetic applications may evolve from the coupling of carbon electrophiles with electron-rich transition metal complexes of alkenes, alkynes and polyenes, as well as allyl- and dienyl-metal complexes. Sequential addition of electrophiles followed by nucleophiles is also viable to rapidly assemble complex structures. 

Group 4 transition aza-metal-diene complexes have received considerable attention because of their unique M-N and M-C bonding properties and their high reactivity toward a broad range of electrophiles and unsaturated hydrocarbons. Reduction of CpTiCl3 with magnesium in THF in the presence of the appropriate 1-aza-l,3-diene affords the 1-aza-l,3-diene titanium complexes CpTiCl[N(R)CH=C(Me)CH(Ph)] (Scheme 217). Spectroscopic data indicate that the aza-diene ligands adopt a cis-supine conformation in the case of the Buc derivative a solution equilibrium with the /)nw-disposition is observed. The chemical shifts of the terminal carbon atoms of the aza-diene... 

Addition of carbon nucleophiles to an internal carbon atom of a diene ligand, even with highly reactive nucleophiles such as diphenylmethyllithium, is reversible at higher temperatures, around 0°C. Equilibration allows slower but more favorable addition at a terminal position, to give (irreversibly) theallyl-Fe(CO)3 anionic complex. The process is illustrated in Scheme 26. Intermediate (9) can be trapped with electrophiles at - 78 °C and undergoes transformation to the thermodynamically stable rf -d y structure, (10), at elevated temperatures. 

This chapter illustrates that electron-rich transition metal-diene complexes can couple with carbon electrophiles and, thereby, provide unusual methods for carbon-carbon bond formation. These procedures are of interest from a synthetic viewpoint since normally uncomplexed dienes or polyenes are not reactive toward weak carbon electrophiles or, with strong electrophiles, undesirable reactions such as polymerization occur. Furthermore, the metal-mediated route often results in desirable regio- and/or stereo-selectivity. Important to the utility of these methods is the ability to free the organic ligand from the metal. In most instances efficient oxidative procedures have been developed for such cleavage reactions. 

Iron tricarbonyl forms exceptionally stable complexes with 1,3-dienes. The complexes are uncharged, readily soluble species, chromatographable and, for the simpler versions, distillable. They are formed by direct reaction of the 1,3-diene with Fe(CO)5, Fc2(CO)9, or Fe3(CO)i2. These iron diene complexes are known to be reactive toward electrophiles, undergoing the analogous reaction to electrophilic aromatic substitution under Friedel-Crafts conditions. However, it is clear that the metal-ligand unit increases the polarizibility of the diene unit, and, with a sufficiently reactive nucleophile, can provide a sink for electron density. How reactive does the nucleophile need to be The other important selectivity question for 1,3-dienes concerns the regioselectivity. 

The efficient trapping of the cyclohexadienyl anionic intermediates with protons raises the possibility of qnenching with carbon electrophiles. The process is not as general as the proton quench. However, when the nucleophile adds essentially irreversibly, quenching with a limited set of carbon electrophiles is successful. For example, addition of 2-lithio-l,3-dithiane to benzene-Cr(CO)2T, followed by addition of ethyl iodide and then oxidation or addition of a donor ligand (CO, PhsP), produces a cyclohexa-l,3-diene substituted by both acetyl (Me + CO) and the nucleophile (Scheme 47).134,209 insertion of CO occurs, without... 

A palladium-based method has been developed for the alkylation of the phenolic oxygen of tyrosine residues. Fig. 5f (61). In this reaction, allylic carbonates, esters, and carbamates are activated by palladium(O) complexes in aqueous solution to form electrophilic pi-allyl complexes. These species react at pH 8-10 with the phenolate anions of tyrosine residues, which results in the formation of an aryl ether and the regeneration of the Pd(0) catalyst. The reaction requires P(m-C6H4S03 )3 as a water-soluble phosphine ligand. Activated pi-allyl complexes that do not react with tyrosine residues undergo P-hydride elimination under the basic conditions to yield diene by-products. A particularly attractive feature of this method is its ability to use substrates with charged groups in the allylic positions. This ability allows hydrophobic substrates, such as lipids, to be solubilized to facilitate protein modification. 

Few examples of functionalization on the benzene ring of benzisothiazole have been reported (see Section 4.05.7.2). Studies on the reactivity of unsaturated chains in cycloaddition reactions have been reported (see Section 4.05.7.3). The high reactivity of 4-vinylisothiazolin-3-one A-oxides in Diels-Alder cycloadditions, both as diene and dienophile, is illustrated by their tendency to dimerize. 5-Vinylisothiazole A,A-dioxides react at the vinyl function with different 1,3-dipoles. Isothiazolo-3-sulfolenes 265 give an o-quinodimethane which can be trapped with a dienophile. Different isothiazole derivatives substituted with a carbon chain functionalized with heteroatoms have been prepared as ligands for the formation of complexes. 3-Oxocamphorsulfonimide reacts with the anion of alkynes and several studies on the reactivity of the products with electrophiles are reported. 

PtMeL2] proceed in a Markownikov manner by electrophilic attack of Pf thus [Pt(A -2-methallyl)L2] is formed from allene and [PtMe-(acetone)L2], whereas the analogous 1,3-butadiene cation does not lead to a 7r-allylic derivative by Pt—Me insertion. The hydro cation, however, can react by either a Markownikov or an anti-Markownikov mechanism with either Pt+ or attack on the unsaturated ligand. This apparent versatility leads to the formation of Tr-allylic complexes from both allenes and 1,3-dienes with [PtHLg]. ... 

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