Hydroboration-oxidation reactions mechanism

Although the hydroboration-oxidation reaction gives a product with a regiochemistry opposite to that predicted by Markovnikov s rule, the regiochemistry is in accord with the mechanistic version of this rule—that is, the electrophile adds to the less substituted carbon. Let s look at the mechanism of this reaction. 

As was already mentioned, the standard procedure for acid catalyzed alkene hydration exhibits a rather low selectivity. On the other hand, the use of a hydroxymercuration-reduction sequence leads to the exclusive formation of Markovnikov s alcohols. A nearly exclusive anti-Markovnikov s hydration is achieved via a hydroboration-oxidation reaction (see Section 2.4). The result in both these cases is the net addition of H2O, but the basic differences in the reaction mechanisms unambiguously determine a reversed regioselectivity pattern. 

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... 

As mentioned in the introduction, early transition metal complexes are also able to catalyze hydroboration reactions. Reported examples include mainly metallocene complexes of lanthanide, titanium and niobium metals [8, 15, 29]. Unlike the Wilkinson catalysts, these early transition metal catalysts have been reported to give exclusively anti-Markonikov products. The unique feature in giving exclusively anti-Markonikov products has been attributed to the different reaction mechanism associated with these catalysts. The hydroboration reactions catalyzed by these early transition metal complexes are believed to proceed with a o-bond metathesis mechanism (Figure 2). In contrast to the associative and dissociative mechanisms discussed for the Wilkinson catalysts in which HBR2 is oxidatively added to the metal center, the reaction mechanism associated with the early transition metal complexes involves a a-bond metathesis step between the coordinated olefin ligand and the incoming borane (Figure 2). The preference for a o-bond metathesis instead of an oxidative addition can be traced to the difficulty of further oxidation at the metal center because early transition metals have fewer d electrons. 

In this chapter, theoretical studies on various transition metal catalyzed boration reactions have been summarized. The hydroboration of olefins catalyzed by the Wilkinson catalyst was studied most. The oxidative addition of borane to the Rh metal center is commonly believed to be the first step followed by the coordination of olefin. The extensive calculations on the experimentally proposed associative and dissociative reaction pathways do not yield a definitive conclusion on which pathway is preferred. Clearly, the reaction mechanism is a complicated one. It is believed that the properties of the substrate and the nature of ligands in the catalyst together with temperature and solvent affect the reaction pathways significantly. Early transition metal catalyzed hydroboration is believed to involve a G-bond metathesis process because of the difficulty in having an oxidative addition reaction due to less available metal d electrons. 

This process is sometimes abbreviated to S f2 at silicon to save space. The intermediate is a trigonal bipyramid with negatively charged pentacovalent silicon. It is often omitted in drawings because it is formed slowly and decomposes quickly. This mechanism is similar to nucleophilic substitution at boron except that the intermediate is pentacovalent (Si) rather than tetrahedral (B). The hydrolysis of a boron ester at the end of a hydroboration-oxidation sequence would be an example of an analogous boron reaction. 

The reaction is catalyzed by lanthanide complexes CpjfLnR,41 although noble metal catalysts, notably rhodium, are most widely applied, particularly in asymmetric hydroboration,42 The mechanism is likely to be similar to hydrosilylation. The products may be oxidized with H202 and converted to alcohols or amines. 

To understand why the hydroboration-oxidation of propene forms 1-propanol, we must look at the mechanism of the reaction. The boron atom of borane is electron deficient, so borane is the electrophile that reacts with the nucleophilic alkene. As boron accepts the rr electrons and forms a bond with one carbon, it donates a hydride ion to the other carbon. In all the addition reactions that we have seen up to this point, the electrophile adds to the alkene in the first step and the nucleophile adds to the positively charged intermediate in the second step. In contrast, the addition of the electrophilic boron and the nucleophilic hydride ion to the alkene take place in one step. Therefore, an intermediate is not formed. 

In this review we summarized the results of the latest ab initio studies of the elementary reaction such as oxidative addition, metathesis, and olefin insertion into metal-ligand bonds, as well as the multistep full catalytic cycles such as metal-catalyzed hydroboration, hydroformylation, and sila-staimation. In general, it has been demonstrated that quantum chemical calculations can provide very useful information concerning the reaction mechanism that is difficult to obtain from, and often complementary to, experiments. Such information includes the structures and energies of unstable intermediates and transition states, as well as prediction of effects of changing ligands and metals on the reaction rate and mechanism. 

In designing a multistep synthesis, one must consider aspects of stereochemistry as well as functionality. In the chapters dealing with individual reactions, many examples were given in which the aspects of stereochemistry were a direct consequence of the reaction mechanism. For example, hydroboration-oxidation involves a syn addition followed by oxidation with retention of configuration. The generalization, widely but not universally correct, that reagents attack molecules from the sterically less hindered side was also illustrated on numerous occasions. 

Hydroboration/oxidation is a process that yields an alcohol that is the product of overall anti-Markovnikov addition. The mechanism of hydroboration is complex, but several lines of evidence have led to the picture we have of a concerted reaction with an unsymmetrical transition state in which one of the alkene s carbon atoms becomes partially positively charged (Figs. 9.55-9.60). The synthetic utility of this reaction is not complex at all. For unsymmetrical aikenes, hydroboration/oxidation leads to the less substituted alcohol. 

In an aptly titled paper Herz et describe unexpected rearrangements of photolevopimaric acid derivatives. Among a wealth of chemical reactions discussed it appears that the exo-bicyclo[2,2,0]hexanol (575), derived from methyl levopimarate by hydroboration-oxidation, is rearranged during Jones oxidation to the bicyclo[2,l,l]-hexanone (576), contrary to a previous report. A mechanism is proposed. 

To understand why the hydroboration-oxidation of propene forms 1-propanol and not 2-propanol, we must look at the mechanism for hydroboration, the first of the two successive reactions known as hydroboration-oxidation. 

The mechanism for the conversion of an enol to a ketone under the basic conditions of the oxidation reaction that follows hydroboration is shown next. 

Shortly after the key mechanistic papers on rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration, Marks reported a hydroboration reaction catalyzed by lanthanide complexes that proceeds by a completely different mechanism.63 Simple lanthanide salts such as Sml3 were also shown to catalyze the hydroboration of a range of olefins.64 The mechanism for this reaction was found to be complex and unknown. As in other reactions catalyzed by lanthanides, it is proposed that the entire catalytic cycle takes place without any changes in oxidation state on the central metal. 

In comparison with the hydroboration and diborafion reactions, thioboration reactions are relatively limited. In 1993, Suzuki and co-workers reported the Pd(0)-catalyzed addition of 9-(alkylthio)-9-BBN (BBN = borabicyclo [3.3.1] nonane) derivatives to terminal alkynes to produce (alkylthio)boranes, which are known as versatile reagents to introduce alkylthio groups into organic molecules [21], Experimental results indicate that the thioboration reactions, specific to terminal alkynes, are preferentially catalyzed by Pd(0) complexes, e.g. Pd(PPh3)4, producing (thioboryl)alkene products, in which the Z-isomers are dominant. A mechanism proposed by Suzuki and co-workers for the reactions involves an oxidative addition of the B-S bond to the Pd(0) complex, the insertion of an alkyne into the Pd-B or Pd-S bond, and the reductive elimination of the (thioboryl)alkene product. 

Treatment with alkaline H202 oxidizes trialkylboranes to esters of boric acid. 1 This reaction does not affect double or triple bonds, aldehydes, ketones, halides, or nitriles. The R group does not rearrange, and this reaction is a step in the hydroboration method of converting olefins to alcohols (5-12). The mechanism has been formulated as involving a rearrangement from boron to oxygen 311... 

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