Formation dirhodium carboxamidates

The addition to a carbon-carbon triple bond results in the formation of cyclo-propene products, and with diazoacetates the catalyst of choice for intermolecular addition is the dirhodium(II) carboxamidate 13 (e.g., Eq. 26). The reactions are general, except for phenylacetylene whose cyclopropene product undergoes [2 + 2]-cycloaddition, and selectivities are high. However, high selectivities have not been reported for reactions with allenes. 

Chiral rhodium(II) carboxamides are exceptional catalysts for highly enantio-selective intermolecular cyclopropenation reactions (50). With ethyl diazoacetate and a series of alkynes, use of dirhodium(II) tetrakis[methyl 2-pyrrolidone-5-(R)-carboxylate], Rh2(5R-MEPY)4, in catalytic amounts ( 1.0 mol %) results in the formation of ethyl eyelopropene-3-earboxylates (eq 4) with enantiomeric excesses... 

ChiralcarboxamMatecomplexes. After exchanging the ligands of dirhodium tetraacetate to chiral pyrrolidinones (as well as their heteroatom analogs) bearing a methyl ester at C-5 new carboxamidate complexes are formed. These are catalysts of choice for enantioselective intramolecular metal carbene transformations. One such complex is particularly effective for the formation of P-benzyl-y-butyrolactones from hydrocinnamyl diazoacetates. The lactones are useful for the synthesis of some lignans. 

The same research group has also demonstrated a catalytic enantioselective tandem carbonyl yhde formation-cycloaddition of the a-diazo-j8-ketoester 91 using 0.5 mol% of Rh2(R-DDBNP)4 95, as catalyst to afford the cycloadduct 93 in good yields (Scheme 28) with up to 90% ee [ 109]. A detailed study on enantioselective reaction using a series of dirhodium tetrakiscar-boxylate and tetrakisbinaphtholphosphate catalysts under different solvent conditions has been described [56]. These studies indicate that dirhodium tetrakisbinaphtholphosphate catalysts are superior to the more commonly used carboxylates and carboxamidates in asymmetric transformations. Typically, the reaction [58] of the nitrophenyl-substituted diazodione 96 and phenyl acetylene in the presence of the binaphthyl catalyst 95 at 0 °C afforded the cycloadduct 97 with 76% ee (Scheme 29). 

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