Intramolecular reactions forming carbocycles

In a narrower sense, this review covers intramolecular Mizoroki-Heck [1] reactions forming carbocycles [2] that is, the palladium-catalyzed intramolecular coupling of vinyl/aryl (pseudo-)halides with an alkene tethered by a hydrocarbon chain. Ring closures furnishing heterocycles are covered in Chapter 6 also beyond the scope of this chapter are the domino/cascade or tandem (Chapter 8) and asymmetric processes (Chapters 12 and 16) dealing with formation of a carbocycle. 

Grieco investigated the intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of imi-nium ions in polar media such as 5.0 M lithium perchlorate-diethyl ether and in water129 to form carbocyclic arrays. They showed that water as the solvent provided good-to-excellent yields of tricyclic amines with excellent stereocontrol (Eq. 12.58). 

Finally, ruthenium-catalyzed carbocyclization by intramolecular reaction of allylsilanes and allylstannanes with alkynes also led to the formation of vinyl-alkylidenecyclopentanes [81] (Eq. 60). This reaction is catalyzed by RuC13 or CpRuCl(PPh3)2/NH4PF6 in methanol. The postulated mechanism involves the coordination of the alkyne on the ruthenium center to form an electrophilic /f-alkyne complex. This complex can thus promote the nucleophilic addition of the allylsilane or stannane double bond. 

The ability of Sml2 to reduce alkyl halides has been exploited in a number of carbon carbon bond-forming reactions. Radicals generated from the reduction of alkyl halides can be trapped by alkenes in cyclisation reactions to form carbocyclic and heterocyclic rings (see Chapter 5, Section 5.3), and the alkyl-samarium intermediates can be used in intermolecular and intramolecular Barbier and Grignard reactions (see Chapter 5, Section 5.4). The reduction of ot-halocarbonyl compounds with Sml2 gives rise to Sm(III) enolates that can be exploited in Reformatsky reactions (Chapter 5, Section 5.5) and are discussed in Section 4.5. 

This result shows both the strengths and the weaknesses of such intramolecular aza-Diels-Alder reactions. The stereochemical outcome is controlled by the tether and such considerations as endo/exo selectivity matter very little. The molecule must fold 110 so that the preferred transition state 111 has the newly formed carbocyclic ring (not the ring formed by the cycloaddition itself) in the best chair conformation 112. The reaction is useful only if you want the stereochemistry it naturally gives. 

Stahl and Sheldon have shown how oxidations can be driven by air as primary oxidant, or source of stochiometric oxidizing power. Like the catalysts in this subsection, biological oxidases are enzymes that use O2 but do not incorporate its O atoms into the substrate. For example, Pd(OAc)2-pyridine is active for alcohol oxidation, intramolecular hetero- and carbocyclization of alkenes, intermolecular O-C and C-C coupling reactions with alkenes, and oxidative C-C bond cleavage of tertiary alcohols. A pathway for alcohol oxidation is shown in Eq. 9.27. Normally a 4e process, reduction of O2 can be hard to couple with oxidation of the catalytic intermediates, processes that often proceed in 2e steps. In this case, intermediate rj -peroxo Pd(II) complexes can be formed from reaction of Pd(0) intermediates with O2, which thus acts as a 2e oxidant. 

The oxidative formation of p-benzoquinones from anilides such as 7-108 was used for the synthesis of the core scaffold of the natural products elisabethin A (7-106) and pseudopterosin A aglycone (7-107) (Scheme 7.30). Exposure of anilide 7-108 to DMP [53] led to the formation of the o-imidoquinone 7-109, which underwent an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction to give 7-110 in 28% yield after hydration. In a competitive pathway, the p-quinone 7-111 is also formed from 7-108, which on heating in toluene again underwent an intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction to give cycloadduct 7-112 in 25% overall yield. Hydrolysis of 7-112 furnished the carbocyclic skeleton 7-113 of elisabethin A (7-106). 

The tandem-Knoevenagel-ene reaction is a powerful tool to synthesize five-and six-membered carbocycles.2 5 The process is exemplified by the diastereoselective synthesis of 4a. Compound 4a has been obtained In both enantiomeric forms and as a racemate according to the procedure described here. The sequence includes the Knoevenagel reaction of citronellal, 1, and dimethyl malonate, 2, followed by the intramolecular ene cyclization of the chiral 1,7-diene 3 to yield the trans 1,2-disubstituted products 4a and 4b. Whereas the thermal cyclization of 3 at 160°C provides 4a and 4 b in a ratio of only 89.7 10.3, the Lewis acid... 

Intramolecular arylation of G-H bonds gives cyclic aromatic compounds. In this intramolecular arylation, the carbon-palladium cr-bond is first formed by the oxidative addition of Pd(0) species and then the resulting electrophilic Pd(n) species undergoes the intramolecular G-H bond activation leading to the formation of the palladacycle, which finally affords the cyclic aromatic compounds via reductive elimination.87 For example, the fluoroanthene derivative is formed by the palladium-catalyzed reaction of the binaphthyl triflate, as shown in Scheme 8.88 This type of intramolecular arylation is applied to the construction of five- and six-membered carbocyclic and heterocyclic systems.89 89 89 ... 

Another approach is based on the palladium-catalyzed intramolecular carbocyclization of the allylic acetate moiety with the alkene moiety (Scheme 96). After the formation of a 7t-allylpalladium complex, with the first double bond the intramolecular carbometallation of the second double bond occurs to form a new C-C bond. The fate of the resulting alkylpalladium complex 393 depends on the possiblity of /3-elimination. If /3-elimination is possible, it generates a metallated hydride and furnishes the cycloadduct 394. This cyclization could be viewed as a pallada-ene reaction, in which palladium replaces the hydrogen atom of the allylic moiety.231... 

If propargyl sulfmates 422 are thermolyzed, the same carbocycles 424 are formed via [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement followed by intramolecular ene reaction. 

Morken and co-workers have reported the highly enantioselective version of this reaction, albeit with low efficacy in the aldol-type coupling [8d, e]. Unfortunately, we obtain low enantioselectivity ee 2-4%) using chiral rhodium complexes under our reaction conditions. An intramolecular adaptation has led to new opportunities in cobalt-catalyzed carbocyclizations, wherein the use of PhSiHs was essential for smooth ring formation (Eq. 4) [9]. The identical products were also formed by a combination of [Rh(COD)2]OTf/(p-CE3Ph)3P and molecular hydrogen [10]. 

Cascade silylcarbocyclization reactions tiave been developed based on the fact that it is possible to realize successive intramolecular carbocyclizations, as long as the competing reductive elimination is slower than the carbometallation. For example, the reaction of dodec-6-ene-l,ll-diyne 67 with PhMe2SiH catalyzed by Rh(acac)(CO)2 at 50°C under 1 atm CO gives bis(exo-methylenecyclopentyl) 68 in 55% yield [44]. The reaction is stereo-specific that is, (6 )- and (6Z)-dodec-6-ene-l,ll-diynes, ( )-67 and (Z)-67, afford R, R )-68 and (S, R -68 respectively. A possible mechanism for this reaction is outlined in Scheme 7.20. It should be noted that none of the tricyclic product is formed even though a third carbocyclization in the intermediate III.2c is conceptually possible. 

The intramolecular addition of carbon nucleophiles to alkenes has received comparatively little attention relative to heterocyclization reactions. The first examples of Pd-catalyzed oxidative carbocyclization reactions were described by Backvall and coworkers [164-166]. Conjugaled dienes with appended al-lyl silane and stabilized carbanion nucleophiles undergo 1,4-carbochlorination (Eq. 36) and carboacetoxylation (Eq. 37), respectively. The former reaction employs BQ as the stoichiometric oxidant, whereas the latter uses O2. The authors do not describe efforts to use molecular oxygen in the reaction with allyl silanes however, BQ was cited as being imsuccessful in the reaction with stabihzed car-banions. Benzoquinone is known to activate Ti-allyl-Pd intermediates toward nucleophilic attack (see below. Sect. 4.4). In the absence of BQ, -hydride eUm-ination occurs to form diene 43 in competition with attack of acetate on the intermediate jr-allyl-Pd" species to form the 1,4-addition product 44. 

Intramolecular ionic Diels-Alder reactions were carried out in highly polar media to afford carbocyclic ring systems. The strategy, which obviates the need for high temperatures and pressures, features in situ generation of heteroatom-stabUized allyl cations that undergo subsequent (4 + 2) cycloaddition at ambient temperature. Typically, reactions were complete within 1 hour after addition of substrate. Some cycloadducts were the result of a concerted process, whereas others were formed via a stepwise reaction mechanism (Grieco, 1996). 

The formation of 5-hexenal (reaction 18) is believed to be an intramolecular rearrangement since the addition of oxygen does not cause its suppression. At least in a methyl substituted cyclohexanone the analogous process has been shown to occur by the transfer of a hydrogen atom from the beta position to the carbonyl group before the fission of the six-membered carbocyclic ring (29) as only one of the two possible isomeric heptenals is formed. 

Carbocyclization of m-alkcnyl-z-methoxybcnzy I lithiums to form five- or six-membered rings has been studied 101 the five-membered ring is formed with a cis-stereochemical relationship between the methoxy substituent and the adjacent methyl group. Intramolecular carbolithiation of vinyl sulfides at — 105°C in THF has been found to occur non-stereospecifically with regard to the newly formed C—Li centre.102. The stereochemistry of selective tandem Michael addition alkylation reactions of vinylphosphonates has been explored.103... 

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