Heck mechanism

Another variant of the Heck reaction which is important in heterocyclic chemistry utilizes five membered heterocycles as olefin equivalent (2.2.)7 It is not clear whether the process, coined as heteroaryl Heck reaction follows the Heck mechanism (i. e. carbopalladation of the aromatic ring followed by //-elimination) or goes via a different route (e.g. electrophilic substitution by the palladium complex or oxidative addition into the C-H bond). Irrespective of these mechanistic uncertainties the reaction is of great synthetic value and is frequently used in the preparation of complex policyclic structures. 

There are two typical mechanisms generally applied for palladium-catalyzed C-H alkenylation. First, the oxidative Heck mechanism, initially proposed by Fujiwara and Moritoni [63]. 

In this section, only examples of Mizoroki-Heck reactions where a proper addition of the cr -aryl- or a -alkeny Ipalladium(II) complex to a double bond of an alkene or alkyne occurs are considered. As a consequence, an often-met deviation from the classic Mizoroki-Heck mechanism, the so-called cyclopalladation, will not be treated in further detail [12, 18]. However, as it is of some importance, especially in heterocycle formation and mainly because it will be encountered later during polycyclization cases, it shall be mentioned briefly below. Palladacycles are assumed to be intermediates in intramolecular Mizoroki-Heck reactions when j3-elimination of the formed intermediate cannot occur. These are frequently postulated as intermediates during intramolecular aryl-aryl Mizoroki-Heck reactions under dehydrohalogenation (Scheme 6.1). The reactivity of these palladacycles is strongly correlated to their size. Six-membered and larger palladacycles quickly undergo reductive elimination, whereas the five-membered species can, for example, lead to Mizoroki-Heck-type domino or cascade processes [18,19]. 

Heavy-ends Heck mechanism heteroatom-directed hydroformylation B-hydride elimination hydroaminomethylation hydrocya nation hydrolysis phosphites... 

A variety of other leaving groups have been employed, especially triflates. There is an unusual mechanistic consequence in their reactions. In the basic Heck mechanism given above (Scheme 5.1), ligand dissociation is required prior to alkene coordination, in order to generate a palladium complex 5.5 with a vacant site for alkene coordination. While this is most commonly the dissociation of a phosphine ligand, if an organic triflate is the substrate, then the triflate anion may dissociate (Scheme 5.8). A vacant site is then opened up... 

An interesting set of conditions are the Jeffrey conditions, using a polar solvent and a quaternary ammonium salt (Table 5.1). Detailed investigations have shown that the correct choice of ammonium salt and addition of a small amount of water can be critical. Under the right conditions, many Heck reactions can mn at or near room temperature. The main effect is due to the cation of the phase-transfer catalyst, not the anion, and the effect was most marked when inorganic bases were used. The phase-transfer catalyst may facilitate the final step of the Heck mechanism. 

SCHEME 13 Heck mechanisms with unactivated olefins. 

A totally different mechanism has been shown to apply to the palladium-catalyzed route. The speculated mechanism involves an in situ generated Pd(II)-H entity rather than a Pd(0) complex [77]. This hydride is supposed to add across the triple bond of the alkyne in a syn fashion, leading to a vinylpaUadium intermediate that then behaves as in the classical Heck mechanism toward the olefin and affords the diene [78]. This methodology has allowed the transformation of acrylamide 84 into a series of dienamides 85 in good regio- and stereo-selectivities (Scheme 43). 

Mechanism ofLP Oxo Rea.ction. The LP Oxo reaction proceeds through a number of rhodium complex equilibria analogous to those ia the Heck-Breslow mechanism described for the ligand-free cobalt process (see Fig. 1). 

The original Sonogashira reaction uses copper(l) iodide as a co-catalyst, which converts the alkyne in situ into a copper acetylide. In a subsequent transmeta-lation reaction, the copper is replaced by the palladium complex. The reaction mechanism, with respect to the catalytic cycle, largely corresponds to the Heck reaction.Besides the usual aryl and vinyl halides, i.e. bromides and iodides, trifluoromethanesulfonates (triflates) may be employed. The Sonogashira reaction is well-suited for the synthesis of unsymmetrical bis-2xy ethynes, e.g. 23, which can be prepared as outlined in the following scheme, in a one-pot reaction by applying the so-called sila-Sonogashira reaction ... 

Palladium(II) complexes provide convenient access into this class of catalysts. Some examples of complexes which have been found to be successful catalysts are shown in Scheme 11. They were able to get reasonable turnover numbers in the Heck reaction of aryl bromides and even aryl chlorides [22,190-195]. Mechanistic studies concentrated on the Heck reaction [195] or separated steps like the oxidative addition and reductive elimination [196-199]. Computational studies by DFT calculations indicated that the mechanism for NHC complexes is most likely the same as that for phosphine ligands [169], but also in this case there is a need for more data before a definitive answer can be given on the mechanism. 

The intermediates 74 and 76 can now lose OR to give the acid (not shown in the equations given), or they can lose OH to regenerate the carboxylic ester. If 74 goes back to ester, the ester will still be labeled, but if 76 reverts to ester, the 0 will be lost. A test of the two possible mechanisms is to stop the reaction before completion and to analyze the recovered ester for 0. This is just what was done by Bender, who found that in alkaline hydrolysis of methyl, ethyl, and isopropyl benzoates, the esters had lost 0. A similar experiment carried out for acid-Catalyzed hydrolysis of ethyl benzoate showed that here too the ester lost However, alkaline hydrolysis of substimted benzyl benzoates showed no loss. This result does not necessarily mean that no tetrahedral intermediate is involved in this case. If 74 and 76 do not revert to ester, but go entirely to acid, no loss will be found even with a tetrahedral intermediate. In the case of benzyl benzoates this may very well be happening, because formation of the acid relieves steric strain. Another possibility is that 74 loses OR before it can become protonated to 75. Even the experiments that do show loss do not prove the existence of the tetrahedral intermediate, since it is possible that is lost by some independent process not leading to ester hydrolysis. To deal with this possibility. Bender and Heck measured the rate of loss in the hydrolysis of ethyl trifluorothioloacetate- 0 ... 

The Mizoroki-Heck reaction is a metal catalysed transformation that involves the reaction of a non-functionalised olefin with an aryl or alkenyl group to yield a more substituted aUcene [11,12]. The reaction mechanism is described as a sequence of oxidative addition of the catalytic active species to an aryl halide, coordination of the alkene and migratory insertion, P-hydride elimination, and final reductive elimination of the hydride, facilitated by a base, to regenerate the active species and complete the catalytic cycle (Scheme 6.5). 

As mentioned in the discussion of the reaction mechanism for this transformation, the active species is a dicoordinate Pd(0) complex, and it is unclear whether an associative or a dissociative process is operative for oxidative addition. In this context, different NHC complexes containing only one carbene ligand have been tested in the Mizoroki-Heck reaction. The most successful are those prepared by Beller, which were able to perform the Mizoroki-Heck reaction of non-activated aryl chlorides with moderate to good yields in ionic liquids (Scheme 6.13). The same compounds have also been applied to the Mizoroki-Heck reaction of aryldiazonium... 

Scheme 7.13 Proposed mechanism of the oxidative Heck reaction with as oxidising agent...

However, given that other, supposedly stable and leach-resistant catalysts that we had previously studied seemed to operate solely by a leaching mechanism, with no supported Pd apparently active for the reaction (vide supra) and that other authors had found precatalysts of this type to operate by solely a leaching mechaiusm in Heck conversions of aryl iodides (19), we decided to investigate this system further using the solid poison testing method. 

A typical example of this is the dicobalt octacarbonyl catalyzed hydroformylation of olefins to yield aldehydes. According to the classical mechanism proposed by Heck and Breslow /29/ (Equations 28-31), the cobalt carbonyl reacts with hydrogen to form hydrido cobalt tetracarbonyl, which is in equilibrium with the coordinatively unsaturated HCo(C0)2. The tricarbonyl coordinates the olefin, and rearranges to form the alkyl cobalt carbonyl. 

The Heck and Breslow mechanism was widely accepted until evidence was found that Co(CO), radicals may be involved in the hydrofor-mylation /30, 31/ (Equations 32-34). 

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