Ketones rhodium-catalyzed carbenoid reactions

Rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular reaction of diazo ketones like 175 leads mainly to carbenoid insertion into the a-C-H bond but a minor product is the 1,3-dioxolane (Equation 49) <1997JOC4910>. 

Rhodium(II) acetate catalyzes C—H insertion, olefin addition, heteroatom-H insertion, and ylide formation of a-diazocarbonyls via a rhodium carbenoid species (144—147). Intramolecular cyclopentane formation via C—H insertion occurs with retention of stereochemistry (143). Chiral rhodium (TT) carboxamides catalyze enantioselective cyclopropanation and intramolecular C—N insertions of CC-diazoketones (148). Other reactions catalyzed by rhodium complexes include double-bond migration (140), hydrogenation of aromatic aldehydes and ketones to hydrocarbons (150), homologation of esters (151), carbonylation of formaldehyde (152) and amines (140), reductive carbonylation of dimethyl ether or methyl acetate to 1,1-diacetoxy ethane (153), decarbonylation of aldehydes (140), water gas shift reaction (69,154), C—C skeletal rearrangements (132,140), oxidation of olefins to ketones (155) and aldehydes (156), and oxidation of substituted anthracenes to anthraquinones (157). Rhodium-catalyzed hydrosilation of olefins, alkynes, carbonyls, alcohols, and imines is facile and may also be accomplished enantioselectively (140). Rhodium complexes are moderately active alkene and alkyne polymerization catalysts (140). In some cases polymer-supported versions of homogeneous rhodium catalysts have improved activity, compared to their homogenous counterparts. This is the case for the conversion of alkenes direcdy to alcohols under oxo conditions by rhodium—amine polymer catalysts... 

In 1981, Nordlander demonstrated that acetals 22 can be used as reactants in the Bischler-Mdhlau indole synthesis, providing 2,3-unsubstituted indoles in good yield. Subsequent modification was made by Sundberg in 1984. From 1998 to 2002, Moody and co-workers developed a modified Bischler indole synthesis by using rhodium(II) acetate to catalyze the reaction of N-methylanilines with a-diazo-P-ketoesters via an N-H insertion reaction of a rhodium carbenoid. The resulting a-(A -arylamino)ketones cyclize to give indoles upon treatment with BF3 or an acidic ion exchange resin. ... 

Transition metal-catalyzed Buchner reactions of arene substrates proceed via electrophilic carbenoids. In addition to cyclopropanation of the arene double bond, these a-diazoketones possessing an aromatic ring can also participate in C-H insertion reactions. As shown in the decomposition of diazomethyl ketone 53, the benzylic C-H insertion product 56 is obtained as a minor product (vide supra). The rhodium(II) acetate-catalyzed reaction of diazoketone 71 also affords cycloheptatriene derivative 73 along with the benzylic C-H insertion product, y-lactam 72, in a ratio of 1 2. Treatment of 71 with the more electron-rich rhodium(II) caprolactamate [Rh2(Cap)4] favors more C-H insertion, but the cycloaddition pathway is still significant the ratio of 73 to 72 is 1 3.5. 

The cyclopropanation of alkenes, alkynes, and aromatic compounds by carbenoids generated in the metal-catalyzed decomposition of diazo ketones has found widespread use as a method for carbon-carbon bond construction for many years, and intramolecular applications of these reactions have provided a useful cyclization strategy. Historically, copper metal, cuprous chloride, cupric sulfate, and other copper salts were used most commonly as catalysts for such reactions however, the superior catalytic activity of rhodium(ll) acetate dimer has recently become well-established.3 This commercially available rhodium salt exhibits high catalytic activity for the decomposition of diazo ketones even at very low catalyst substrate ratios (< 1%) and is less capricious than the old copper catalysts. We recommend the use of rhodium(ll) acetate dimer in preference to copper catalysts in all diazo ketone decomposition reactions. The present synthesis describes a typical cyclization procedure. 

The first direct chemical evidence for the formation of the norcaradiene system in the intramolecular Buchner reaction was obtained in the rhodium(II)-catalyzed decomposition of l-diazo-4-(2-naphthyl)butan-2-one 44. This reaction provides the tetracyclic norcaradiene 45 and tricyclic ketone 52 in 71% and 8% yield, respectively. When a catalytic amount of trifluoroacetic acid is added to 45, tricyclic ketone 51 is formed. It is surprising that compound 45 is recovered quantitatively after treatment with triethylamine in dichloromethane under reflux. The formation of 52 is explained in terms of an attack of the carbenoid carbon of 44 on the 2,3-double bond of the naphthalene nucleus followed by double bond migration in the tricyclic nonconjugated ketone 49. 

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