Fischer carbene complexes alkyne concentration

The reactions of Fischer carbene complexes with alkynes can under certain conditions lead to products that result from the incorporation of two alkynes, the carbene ligand and a carbon monoxide. In inter-molecular reactions, this is most commonly observed for acetylene itself or for sterically unhindered al-kynes. °2 As can be anticipated by the mechanism in Scheme 36, two-alkyne incorporated products of the type (258) are also favored for high alkyne concentration. Synthetically, the two-alkyne reactions are most useful in intramolecular reactions, two of which have been reported and are exemplified by the reactions in Scheme 43. The typical product from the reaction of a Fischer carbene complex with a diyne, such as (308), is a bicyclic phenol of the type (309). ° These products are apparently the result of the assembly of pieces indicated by (311). Under some conditions, dienones of the type (310) and (314) can be isolated, and it is thought they are the immediate precursors of the phenol products via an in situ reduction by a chromium(O) species. This reaction is completely regioselective with diyne (308) and the phenol (309) results from incorporation of the terminal alkyne of (308) before the disubstituted alkyne. Phenols of the type (309) have also been observed from the reaction of diynes with carbyne complexes. ... 

A comprehensive treatment of the benzannulation of Fischer carbene complexes with alkynes is not possible in this review, and thus instead the material presented here will hopefully serve to give the reader an overview of its scope and limitations. The first report of this reaction was in 1975 by Dotz in which he describes the formation of the naphthol chromium tricarbonyl complex (236) from the reaction of the phenyl chromium complex (la) with diphenylacetylene. In the intervening years over 100 papers have been published describing various aspects of this reaction.The reaction of the generic cartene complex (233 Scheme 34) with alkynes will serve to focus the organization of the scope and limitations of the benzaimulation reaction. The issues to be considered are (i) the regioselectivity with unsymmetri-cal alkynes (ii) possible mechanisms (iii) applications in natural product syntheses (iv) the effect of substitution on the aryl or alkenyl substituent of the carbene carbon (v) functionality on the alkyne (vi) effects of the solvent and the concentration of the alkyne (vii) tandem applications with other reactions of carbene complexes (viii) reactions where aromatization is blocked (cyclohexadienone annulation) (ix) annulation of aryl versus alkenyl carbene complexes (x) the effect of the ligands L on the metal (xi) the effect of the ancilliary substituent RX and (xii) reactions with —C X functionality. 

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