Intermolecular reactions insertion

These reactions have very low activation energies when the intermediate is a free carbene. Intermolecular insertion reactions are inherently nonselective. The course of intramolecular reactions is frequently controlled by the proximity of the reacting groups.113 Carbene intermediates can also be involved in rearrangement reactions. In the sections that follow we also consider a number of rearrangement reactions that probably do not involve carbene intermediates, but lead to transformations that correspond to those of carbenes. 

There is some increase in selectivity with functionally substituted carbenes, but it is still not high enough to prevent formation of mixtures. Phenylchlorocarbene gives a relative reactivity ratio of 2.1 1 0.09 in insertion reactions with i-propylbenzene, ethylbenzene, and toluene.212 For cycloalkanes, tertiary positions are about 15 times more reactive than secondary positions toward phenylchlorocarbene.213 Carbethoxycarbene inserts at tertiary C—H bonds about three times as fast as at primary C—H bonds in simple alkanes.214 Owing to low selectivity, intermolecular insertion reactions are seldom useful in syntheses. Intramolecular insertion reactions are of considerably more value. Intramolecular insertion reactions usually occur at the C—H bond that is closest to the carbene and good yields can frequently be achieved. Intramolecular insertion reactions can provide routes to highly strained structures that would be difficult to obtain in other ways. 

The chain termination reactions involving an intermolecular insertion reaction are described by the following reaction Equations. 

Intermolecular insertion reactions can be of synthetic use. Particularly in instances where molecular geometry puts a potential insertion site close to the carbene site, good yields can be obtained. As with addition reactions, intramolecular insertions can provide routes to highly strained molecules or cage systems that would be difficult to approach in other ways. Scheme 9.3 gives some examples. 

There is some increase in selectivity with functionally substituted carbenes, but the selectivity is still not high enough to prevent formation of mixtures. Carbethoxycar-bene, for example, inserts at tertiary C—H bonds about three times as fast as at primary C—H bonds in simple alkanes. For this reason, intermolecular insertion reactions are seldom useful in synthesis. 

The benzene derivative 401 by the intermolecular insertion of acrylate[278], A formal [2 + 2+2] cycloaddition takes place by the reaction of 2-iodonitroben-zene with the 1,6-enyne 402. The neopentylpalladium intermediate 403 undergoes 6-endo-lrig cyclization on to the aromatic ring to give 404[279],... 

Intermolecular insertion of SO2 can also occur (without prior formation of an isolable complex) and the general reaction can be represented by the equation " ... 

One of the most dramatic recent developments in metal carbene chemistry catalyzed by dirhodium(II) has been demonstration of the feasibility and usefulness of intermolecular carbon-hydrogen insertion reactions [38, 91]. These were made possible by recognition of the unusual reactivity and selectivity of aryl- and vinyldiazoacetates [12] and the high level of electronic control that is possible in their reactions. Some of the products that have been formed in these reactions, and their selectivities with catalysis by Rh2(S-DOSP)4, are reported in Scheme 10. 

Interestingly, [Ee(F20-TPP)C(Ph)CO2Et] and [Fe(p2o-TPP)CPh2] can react with cyclohexene, THF, and cumene, leading to C-H insertion products (Table 3) [22]. The carbenoid insertion reactions were found to occur at allylic C-H bond of cyclohexene, benzylic C-H bond of cumene, and ot C-H bond of THF. This is the first example of isolated iron carbene complex to undergo intermolecular carbenoid insertion to saturated C-H bonds. 

Owing to the high reactivity of the intermediates involved, intermolecular carbene insertion reactions are not very selective. The distribution of products from the photolysis of diazomethane in heptane, for example, is almost exactly that expected on a statistical basis.211... 

The most common rearrangement reaction of alkyl carbenes is the shift of hydrogen, generating an alkene. This mode of stabilization predominates to the exclusion of most intermolecular reactions of aliphatic carbenes and often competes with intramolecular insertion reactions. For example, the carbene generated by decomposition of the tosylhydrazone of 2-methylcyclohexanone gives mainly 1- and 3-methylcyclohexene rather than the intramolecular insertion product. 

Chapter 10 considers the role of reactive intermediates—carbocations, carbenes, and radicals—in synthesis. The carbocation reactions covered include the carbonyl-ene reaction, polyolefin cyclization, and carbocation rearrangements. In the carbene section, addition (cyclopropanation) and insertion reactions are emphasized. Recent development of catalysts that provide both selectivity and enantioselectivity are discussed, and both intermolecular and intramolecular (cyclization) addition reactions of radicals are dealt with. The use of atom transfer steps and tandem sequences in synthesis is also illustrated. 

Depending on the steric bulk of the nitrogen bonded substituent, the reaction of 4 with pyridine-2-aldimines can also proceed by an intermolecular insertion of the silylene into the C-H bond of the acyclic CN group [19]. 

Yanez et al. reported the synthesis of miconazole and analogs through a carbenoid intermediate. The process involves the intermolecular insertion of carbe-noid species to imidazole from a-diazoketones with copper acetylacetonate as the key reaction of the synthetic route [11]. 

The fruitful relationship between experiment and theory has pushed carbene chemistry further toward the direction of reaction control that is, regio- and stereoselectivity in intra- and intermolecular addition and insertion reactions. The interplay between experiment and modem spectroscopy has led to the characterization of many carbenes that are crucial to both an understanding and further development of this held. 

The intramolecular insertion reactions of nitrenoids into G-H bonds as described above provide an attractive alternative to conventional methods of amine formation. Both carbamate and sulfamate C-H insertions have been applied successfully to the total syntheses of natural products. - The first application of carbamate G-H insertion was reported by Trost in the total synthesis of methyl-L-callipeltose 118 (Equation (92)).230 Intermolecular G-H insertion of carbamate 117 using 10mol% Rh2(OAc)4, PhI(OAc)4, and DTBMP (2,6-di-/ / -butyl-4-methylpyridine) in dichloromethane (40 °C) furnished methyl-L-callipeltose 118 in 63% yield. In an another independent total synthesis of 118, Panek performed this step in refluxing benzene and improved the yield to 93%.231... 

The intermolecular Heck reaction of halopyridines provides an alternative route to functionalized pyridines, circumventing the functional group compatibility problems encountered in other methods. 3-Bromopyridine has often been used as a substrate for the Heck reaction [124-126]. For example, ketone 155 was obtained from the Heck reaction of 3-bromo-2-methoxy-5-chloropyridine (153) with allylic alcohol 154 [125]. The mechanism for such a synthetically useful coupling warrants additional comments oxidative addition of 3-bromopyridine 153 to Pd(0) proceeds as usual to give the palladium intermediate 156. Subsequent insertion of allylic alcohol 154 to 156 gives intermediate 157. Reductive elimination of 157 gives enol 158, which then isomerizes to afford ketone 155 as the ultimate product This tactic is frequently used in the synthesis of ketones from allylic alcohols. 

Hence, cationic iron carbene complexes such as Cp(CO)2Fe =CHCHZR, in which Z is an electron-withdrawing group, might also be suitable for intermolecular cyclopropanation or C-H insertion reactions. The use of such carbene complexes in organic synthesis has not yet been thoroughly investigated, but could fruitfully supplement the chemistry of acceptor-substituted carbenes. 

Synthetic Applications of Acceptor-Substituted Carbene Complexes 191 Table 4.9. Intermolecular C-H insertion reactions of electrophilic carbene complexes. 

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