Hydroboration, mechanisms

Prior literature indicated that olefins substituted with chiral sulfoxides could indeed be reduced by hydride or hydrogen with modest stereoselectivity, as summarized in Scheme 5.10. Ogura et al. reported that borane reduction of the unsaturated sulfoxide 42 gave product 43 in 87 13 diastereomer ratio and D20 quench of the borane reduction mixture gave the product 43 deuterated at the a-position to the sulfoxide, consistent with the hydroboration mechanism [10a]. In another paper, Price et al. reported diastereoselective hydrogenation of gem-disubstituted olefin rac-44 to 45 with excellent diastereoselectivity using a rhodium catalyst [10b],... 

Wood and Rickborn are concerned with isomerization and the stereospecificity and regiospecificity of hydroboration mechanisms. Regioselec-tivity in the hydroboration of amines can be controlled by B-N coordi-nation. ... 

The regioselectivity and syn stereochemistry of hydroboration-oxidation coupled with a knowledge of the chemical properties of alkenes and boranes contribute to our under standing of the reaction mechanism... 

Both ( )- and (Z)-l-halo-l-alkenes can be prepared by hydroboration of 1-alkynes or 1-halo-l-alkynes followed by halogenation of the intermediate boronic esters (244,245). Differences in the addition—elimination mechanisms operating in these reactions lead to the opposite configurations of iodides as compared to bromides and chlorides. 

The retrosynthetic elimination of olefinic stereocenters (E or Z) was illustrated above by the conversion 147 => 148 under substrate spatial control. It is also possible to remove olefinic stereocenters under transform mechanism control. Examples of such processes are the retrosynthetie generation of acetylenes from olefins by transforms such as trans-hydroalumination (LiAlH4), ci5-hydroboration (R2BH), or ci -carbometallation... 

Hydroboration of 2-methyl-2-pentene at 25 °C followed by oxidation with alkaline H202 yields 2-methyl-3-pentanol/ but hydroboration at 160 °C followed by oxidation yields 4-methyl-l-pentanol. Suggest a mechanism. 

Alkylboranes can be coupled by treatment with silver nitrate and base." Since alkylboranes are easily prepared from alkenes (15-16), this is essentially a way of coupling and reducing alkenes in fact, alkenes can be hydroborated and coupled in the same flask. For symmetrical coupling (R = R ) yields range from 60 to 80% for terminal alkenes and from 35 to 50% for internal ones. Unsymmetrical coupling has also been carried out, but with lower yields. Arylboranes react similarly, yielding biaryls. The mechanism is probably of the free-radical type. 

Although alkyl groups in general increase the rates of electrophilic addition, we have already mentioned (p. 974) that there is a different pattern depending on whether the intermediate is a bridged ion or an open carbocation. For brominations and other electrophilic additions in which the first step of the mechanism is rate determining, the rates for substituted alkenes correlate well with the ionization potentials of the alkenes, which means that steric effects are not important. Where the second step is rate determining [e.g., oxymercuration (15-3), hydroboration (15-17)], steric effects are important. ... 

The proposed mechanism for Fe-catalyzed 1,4-hydroboration is shown in Scheme 28. The FeCl2 is initially reduced by magnesium and then the 1,3-diene coordinates to the iron center (I II). The oxidative addition of the B-D bond of pinacolborane-tfi to II yields the iron hydride complex III. This species III undergoes a migratory insertion of the coordinated 1,3-diene into either the Fe-B bond to produce 7i-allyl hydride complex IV or the Fe-D bond to produce 7i-allyl boryl complex V. The ti-c rearrangement takes place (IV VI, V VII). Subsequently, reductive elimination to give the C-D bond from VI or to give the C-B bond from VII yields the deuterated hydroboration product and reinstalls an intermediate II to complete the catalytic cycle. However, up to date it has not been possible to confirm which pathway is correct. 

Catecholborane and pinacolborane are especially useful in hydroborations catalyzed by transition metals.163 Wilkinson s catalyst Rh(PPh3)3Cl is among those used frequently.164 The general mechanism for catalysis is believed to be similar to that for homogeneous hydrogenation and involves oxidative addition of the borane to the metal, generating a metal hydride.165... 

Initially, two plausible mechanisms were considered, as depicted in Scheme 5.16. The first was a hydroboration route (a), where the B-H bond was added across the olefin from the same face of S-0 and upon aqueous work-up, the resulting C-B bond was replaced with a C-H bond. The tis B-H addition to the olefin led to the cis-stereochemistry of the two adjacent aryl substituents. The reduction of the sulfoxide oxygen occurs in the next step. The alternative mechanism was the borane reduction route (h), which was similar to 1,4-addition of hydride,... 

This chapter has been organized into three sections. The first section deals with transition metal-catalyzed hydroboration in organic synthesis and this is divided into three subsections - mechanism, chemoselectivity, and stereoselectivity. The second section deals with the application of transition metal-catalyzed hydroalumination reactions in organic synthesis, and this is also divided into three subsections - mechanism, chemoselectivity, and stereoselectivity. The third section examines the application of both hydroborations and hydroaluminations in total synthesis. 

Many metals including nickel,32,33 ruthenium,34 iridium,35 36 lanthanum,37,38 titanium,39 and zirconium40-42 have been employed in this transformation with varying degrees of success, but rhodium has remained the metal of choice for transition metal hydroboration. The mechanism of rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration (Scheme 4), is thought to depend on the nature of the substrate, the catalyst, the ligand used and the reaction conditions employed.43... 

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