Heck reaction additives

Tietze and his co-workers prepared estradiol and a number of other steroid derivatives using a compact sequential Heck reaction approach. Compound 51 was obtained from the known Hajos-Wiechert ketone derivative 50 in 3 steps. Heck reaction with palladium(II) acetate in the presence of triphenylphosphine gave intermediate 52, the precursor of the second Heck reaction. Additional steps converted steroid analog 53 into estradiol (54). 

The best procedures for 3-vinylation or 3-arylation of the indole ring involve palladium intermediates. Vinylations can be done by Heck reactions starting with 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles. Under the standard conditions the active catalyst is a Pd(0) species which reacts with the indole by oxidative addition. A major con.sideration is the stability of the 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles and usually an EW substituent is required on nitrogen. The range of alkenes which have been used successfully is quite broad and includes examples with both ER and EW substituents. Examples are given in Table 11.3. An alkene which has received special attention is methyl a-acetamidoacrylate which is useful for introduction of the tryptophan side-chain. This reaction will be discussed further in Chapter 13. 

This reaction is not a bona fide Heck reaction per se for two reasons (a) the starting material underwent a Hg Pd transmetallation first rather than the oxidative addition of an aryl halide or triflate to palladium(O) (b) instead of undergoing a elimination step to give an enone, transformation 134 136... 

The regioselectivity of the addition of complex 4 to a substituted alkene is mainly influenced by steric factors. The substitution of hydrogen occurs preferentially at the carbon center which has the larger number of hydrogens. The Heck reaction... 

The use of ionic liquids as reaction media for the palladium-catalyzed Heck reaction was first described by Kaufmann et ak, in 1996 [85]. Treatment of bromoben-zene with butyl acrylate to provide butyl trans-cinnamate succeeded in high yield in molten tetraallcylammonium and tetraallcylphosphonium bromide salts, without addition of phosphine ligands (Scheme 5.2-16). 

Many organic chemical transformations have been carried out in ionic liquids hydrogenation [4, 5], oxidation [6], epoxidation [7], and hydroformylation [8] reactions, for example. In addition to these processes, numerous synthetic routes involve a carbon-carbon (C-C) bond-forming step. As a result, many C-C bondforming procedures have been studied in ambient-temperature ionic liquids. Among those reported are the Friedel-Crafts acylation [9] and allcylation [10] reactions, allylation reactions [11, 12], the Diels-Alder reaction [13], the Heck reaction [14], and the Suzuld [15] and Trost-Tsuji coupling [16] reactions. 

The intramolecular Heck reaction presented in Scheme 8 is also interesting and worthy of comment. Rawal s potentially general strategy for the stereocontrolled synthesis of the Strychnos alkaloids is predicated on the palladium-mediated intramolecular Heck reaction. In a concise synthesis of ( )-dehydrotubifoline [( )-40],22 Rawal et al. accomplished the conversion of compound 36 to the natural product under the conditions of Jeffery.23 In this ring-forming reaction, the a-alkenylpalladium(n) complex formed in the initial oxidative addition step engages the proximate cyclohexene double bond in a Heck cyclization, affording enamine 39 after syn /2-hydride elimination. The latter substance is a participant in a tautomeric equilibrium with imine ( )-40, which happens to be shifted substantially in favor of ( )-40. 

Carbon-carbon bond formation reactions and the CH activation of methane are another example where NHC complexes have been used successfully in catalytic applications. Palladium-catalysed reactions include Heck-type reactions, especially the Mizoroki-Heck reaction itself [171-175], and various cross-coupling reactions [176-182]. They have also been found useful for related reactions like the Sonogashira coupling [183-185] or the Buchwald-Hartwig amination [186-189]. The reactions are similar concerning the first step of the catalytic cycle, the oxidative addition of aryl halides to palladium(O) species. This is facilitated by electron-donating substituents and therefore the development of highly active catalysts has focussed on NHC complexes. 

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. 

From a practical point of view, it is worth noting that Heck reactions catalyzed by Pd/P( -Bu)3 do not typically require rigorously purified reagents or solvents. In addition, the palladium and phosphine sources, Pd[P(7-Bu)3]2 and Pd2(dba)3, are commercially available and can be handled in air. 

An interesting parallel was found while the microwave-enhanced Heck reaction was explored on the C-3 position of the pyrazinone system [29]. The additional problem here was caused by the capability of the alkene to undergo Diels-Alder reaction with the 2-azadiene system of the pyrazinone. An interesting competition between the Heck reaction and the Diels-Alder reaction has been noticed, while the outcome solely depended on the substrates and the catalyst system. Microwave irradiation of a mixture of pyrazinone (Re = H), ethyl acrylate (Y = COOEt) and Pd(dppf)Cl2 resulted in the formation of a mixture of the starting material together with the cycloaddition product in a 3 1 ratio (Scheme 15). On the contrary, when Pd(OAc)2 was used in combination with the bulky phosphine ligand 2-(di-t-butylphosphino)biphenyl [41-44], the Heck reaction product was obtained as the sole product. When a mixture of the pyrazinone (Re = Ar) with ethyl acrylate or styrene and Pd(dppf)Cl2 was irradiated at 150 °C for 15 min, both catalytic systems favored the Heck reaction product with no trace of Diels-Alder adduct. 

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). 

Regarding bis-NHC chelating ligands, several structures that differ in the motifs used for the enlargement of the tether have been proposed as catalysts for the Mizoroki-Heck reaction. They range from non-functionalised aliphatic chains [23-25] to phenyl [26], biphenyl [27], binaphthyls [28] and to chains containing additional coordination positions like ethers [29], amines [30], and pyridines in an evolution towards pincer complexes [31-35], In most cases, the activity of aryl bromides in Mizoroki-Heck transformations was demonstrated to be from moderate to high, while the activation of chlorides was non-existent or poor (Scheme 6.7). 

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 6.15) are other related processes that can be mentioned alongside the Heck reaction [73], In addition, Ni-based catalysts have also been reported [74],... 

Palladium was reduced in situ with H2 (5 MPa) before the addition of the substrate. Heck reaction. 

Another important type of reactivity of palladium, namely oxidative addition to Pd(0), is the foundation for several methods of forming carbon-carbon bonds. Aryl126 and alkenyl127 halides react with alkenes in the presence of catalytic amounts of palladium to give net substitution of the halide by the alkenyl group. The reaction, known as the Heck reaction,128 is quite general and has been observed for simple alkenes, aryl-substituted alkenes, and substituted alkenes such as acrylate esters, vinyl ethers, and A-vinylamides.129... 

The regiochemistry of the Heck reaction is determined by the competitive removal of the (3-proton in the elimination step. Mixtures are usually obtained if more than one type of (3-hydrogen is present. Often there is also double-bond migration that occurs by reversible Pd-H elimination-addition sequences. For example, the reaction of cyclopentene with bromobenzene leads to all three possible double-bond isomers.146... 

Tietze and coworkers [60] observed a combination of a Heck reaction and a C-H-activation by treatment of the alkyne 6/1-111 with Pd°. These authors aimed at compound 6/1-112, but 6/1-110 was obtained as a single product in high yield (Scheme 6/1.29). It can again be assumed that after oxidative addition a cis-carbopalladation of the triple bond takes place to give an alkenyl Pd intermediate which undergoes the C-H-insertion into the neighboring naphthalene and not into the aryl ether moiety. 

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