Heck reaction quaternary carbon center formation

Pd-catalyzed Heck reactions are among the most effective methods for the formation of quaternary carbon centers. Considering the significance and the strategic difficulties associated with the synthesis of quaternaiy carbons, particularly in the optically enriched or pure form, it is not a surprise that the development of catalytic asymmetric Heck reactions has held center stage for the past few years. One of the leading labs in this area is that of Shibasaki, who in 1993 reported a concise total synthesis of eptazodne 23 (Scheme 4).141 Thus, treatment of silyl ether 18 with 10 mol% Pd(OAc>2 and 25 mol% (S)-19 leads to the formation of 20 in 90 % yield and 90% ee As illustrated in Scheme 4, once the quaternary carbon center is synthesized efficiently and selectively, the target molecule is accessed in a few steps. 

The seven membered core of iboga alkaloids has also been constructed in an intramolecular Heck reaction. Insertion of a pendant olefin into the indolylpalladium complex, formed from iodoindole, followed by / -hydride elimination gave the complex framework of the natural product (5.5.), Although the insertion step could have led to the formation of a six membered ring, the formed palladium complex would have contained a quaternary carbon center in the -position, blocking the closure of the catalytic cycle under the applied conditions.5... 

Although the coupling of aiyl halides with alkenes (commonly referred to as the Heck reaction) was first reported more than 25 years ago [ 1 ], only in the past decade has its enormous synthetic potential been realized [2], Within that time, the reaction has been extended to many substrates, including vinyl iodides and bromides and enol triflates. Moreover, the intramolecular variant has become one of the more important reactions for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds and has emerged as a premier method for the construction of quaternary carbon centers. The ability of intramolecular Heck reactions to reliably fashion carbon-carbon bonds in polyfunctional molecules has led to wide application of this reaction at the strategy level for the synthesis of complex natural products [2g],... 

Ley, S. V., Marsden, S. P. Diastereoselective and enantioseiective formation of quaternary carbon centers via the intramolecular Heck reaction the influence of the coordination state of the palladium catalyst. Chemtracts Org. Chem. 1993, 6, 23-26. 

By converting the enol triflate 41 to the spiro-tricyclic dienone 42, Overman and co-workers had already shown in 1989 that the direct enantio-selective formation of quaternary chiral carbon centers ean be carried out through an intramolecular Heck reaction. While the enantioselectiv-ities were only moderate at the beginning [ 16], the same authors later succeeded in achieving the Pd(0)-BINAP-catalyzed cyclizalion of substrates of type 43 to spiro-oxindoles 44 with up to 95 % ee (Scheme 12) [17]. 

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