Ethylene insertion into metal-acyl bonds

The Ni(II) based CO/ethylene co-polymerization has been studied computationally by Morokuma et al. [45b] with the bidentate nitrogen phen ligand of Scheme 4. The calculated enthalpies for complexation of ethylene and CO to methyl and acyl complexes of Ni(ll) and Pd(ll) are shown in Table 2. The same table displays in addition energy barrier for the insertion of ethylene and CO into the metal-methyl and metal-acyl bonds. 

It follows from Table 2 that the CO insertion into a metal-methyl bond (as a representative of a CO insertion into a metal-alkyl bond) and an ethylene insertion into a methyl-acyl bond both are much more facile for Ni(II) than for Pd(II). One might thus be lead to predict that the Ni(II) catalyst should have a higher activity than the Pd(II) system, in direct disagreement with experimental findings [44]. 

The second insertion in the productive cycle of Fig. 14 would involve the chelated acyl complex (5). Again it might have been difficult to convert this to the olefin complex (6) in the nickel case as the strong chelate Ni-oxygen bond has to be weakened. However, for nickel it seems that (5) is replaced with the five-coordinated acyl complex 5a by uptake of one additional CO. However, 5a is not amenable for ethylene uptake as a first step in the insertion of ethylene into the metal-acyl bond since ethylene will have to replace the more strongly bound CO (>10 kcal mol ). It is thus Ukely that the CO/ethylene polymerization cycle is blocked by a species such as 5a or the four-coordinated chelate (5) of Fig. 14. 

Indeed, direct measurements of the rates of insertion of CO and ethylene into alkyl-metal olefin and acylmetal olefin complexes show that the insertion of ethylene into the metal-acyl linkage is faster than the insertion of ethylene into the metal-alkyl linkage. Comparisons of these rates for insertions into cationic palladium complexes containing phenanthroline and bis-diphenylphosphinopropane as ancillary ligand have been made by Brookhart and co-workers. These reactions are shown in Equations 9.69 and 9.70. A summary of the barriers for insertion is provided in Table 9.2. The rate of insertion of ethylene into the metal-acyl bond is orders of magnitude faster than the rate of insertion of ethylene into the metal-alkyl bond. - - ... 

In parallel with the directed hydroarylation of olefins, a series of papers described the formation of ketones from heteroarenes, carbon monoxide, and an alkene. Moore first reported the reaction of CO and ethylene with pyridine at the position a to nitrogen to form a ketone (Equation 18.28). Related reactions at the less-hindered C-H bond in the 4-position of an A/-benzyl imidazole were also reported (Equation 18.29). - Reaction of CO and ethylene to form a ketone at the ortho C-H bond of a 2-arylpyridine or an N-Bu aromatic aldimine has also been reported (Equations 18.30 and 18.31). Reaction at an sp C-H bond of an N-2-pyridylpiperazine results in both alkylative carbonylation and dehydrogenation of the piperazine to form an a,p-unsaturated ketone (Equation 18.32). The proposed mechanism of the alkylative carbonylation reaction is shown in Scheme 18.6. This process is believed to occur by oxidative addition of the C-H bond, insertion of CO into the metal-heteroaryl linkage, insertion of olefin into the metal-acyl bond, and reductive elimination to form the new C-H bond in the product. 

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