Halides reductive coupling with activated alkenes

The electrochemistry of cobalt-salen complexes in the presence of alkyl halides has been studied thoroughly.252,263-266 The reaction mechanism is similar to that for the nickel complexes, with the intermediate formation of an alkylcobalt(III) complex. Co -salen reacts with 1,8-diiodo-octane to afford an alkyl-bridged bis[Co" (salen)] complex.267 Electrosynthetic applications of the cobalt-salen catalyst are homo- and heterocoupling reactions with mixtures of alkylchlorides and bromides,268 conversion of benzal chloride to stilbene with the intermediate formation of l,2-dichloro-l,2-diphenylethane,269 reductive coupling of bromoalkanes with an activated alkenes,270 or carboxylation of benzylic and allylic chlorides by C02.271,272 Efficient electroreduc-tive dimerization of benzyl bromide to bibenzyl is catalyzed by the dicobalt complex (15).273 The proposed mechanism involves an intermediate bis[alkylcobalt(III)] complex. 

In contrast to each of the above variations, alkyl iodides may also be utihzed directly in nickel-catalyzed conjugate additions. The mechanism of this class of reactions is not well defined however, the related stoichiometric coupling of enals (e.g., 79) with alkyl halides (e.g., 78) has been demonstrated to proceed through nickel-Jt-aUyl intermediates.l The most widely used variant employs nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate in either catal)hic or stoichiometric quantities with activated zinc as a stoichiometric reductant (Scheme g2) [144-148] pjjg organic hahde may be either sp or sp hybridized, and alkene geometry in the final product (e.g., 80) is maintained with alkenyl iodides. 

The general catalytic cycle for the coupling of aryl-alkenyl halides with alkenes is shown in Fig. 9.6. The first step in this catalytic cycle is the oxidative addition of aryl-alkenyl halides to Pd(0). The activity of the aryl-alkenyl halides still follows the order RI > ROTf > RBr > RC1. The olefin coordinates to the Pd(II) species. The coordinated olefin inserts into Pd—R bond in a syn fashion, p-Hydrogen elimination can occur only after an internal rotation around the former double bond, as it requires at least one /I-hydrogen to be oriented syn perpendicular with respect to the halopalladium residue. The subsequent syn elimination yields an alkene and a hydridopalladium halide. This process is, however, reversible, and therefore, the thermodynamically more stable (E)-alkene is generally obtained. Reductive elimination of HX from the hydridopalladium halide in the presence of a base regenerates the catalytically active Pd(0), which can reenter the catalytic cycle. The oxidative addition has frequently assumed to be the rate-determining step. 

The reaction sequence in the vinylation of aromatic halides and vinyl halides, i.e. the Heck reaction, is oxidative addition of the alkyl halide to a zerovalent palladium complex, then insertion of an alkene and completed by /3-hydride elimination and HX elimination. Initially though, C-H activation of a C-H alkene bond had also been taken into consideration. Although the Heck reaction reduces the formation of salt by-products by half compared with cross-coupling reactions, salts are still formed in stoichiometric amounts. Further reduction of salt production by a proper choice of aryl precursors has been reported (Chapter III.2.1) [1]. In these examples aromatic carboxylic anhydrides were used instead of halides and the co-produced acid can be recycled and one molecule of carbon monoxide is sacrificed. Catalytic activation of aromatic C-H bonds and subsequent insertion of alkenes leads to new C-C bond formation without production of halide salt byproducts, as shown in Scheme 1. When the hydroarylation reaction is performed with alkynes one obtains arylalkenes, the products of the Heck reaction, which now are synthesized without the co-production of salts. No reoxidation of the metal is required, because palladium(II) is regenerated. 

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