Lanthanide-catalyzed hydroamination alkenes

Some of the most active catalysts for the hydroamination of alkynes are based on lanthanides and actinides. The turnover frequencies for the additions are higher than those for lanthanide-catalyzed additions to alkenes by one or two orders of magnitude. Thus, intermolecular addition occurs with acceptable rates. Examples of both intermolecular and intramolecular reactions have been reported (Equations 16.87 and 16.88). Tandem processes initiated by hydroamination have also been reported. As shown in Equation 16.89, intramolecular hydroamination of an alk5me, followed by cyclization with the remaining olefin, generates a pyrrolizidine skeleton. Hydroaminations of aminoalkynes have also been conducted with the metallocenes of the actinides uranium and thorium. - These hydroaminations catalyzed by lanthanide and actinide complexes occur by insertion of the alkyne into a metal-amido intermediate. 

The hydroamination of alkenes and alkynes has been of longstanding interest in organometallic chemistry [26]. Much of the early work in this area focused on early transition metal or lanthanide metal catalyst systems. However, much recent progress has been made in late-metal catalyzed hydroamination chemistry, and several interesting hydroamination reactions that afford nitrogen heterocycles have been developed using palladium catalysts. 

Although detailed mechanistic studies have not yet been performed, it is noteworthy that the reaction exhibits first order rate with respect to the concentration of catalyst and both reagents. This feature remarkably contrasts lanthanide-catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination of alkynes [20] and base-catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination of ethylene with secondary amines [152], which were both first order with respect to the concentration of the alkene/alkyne and the catalyst, but zero order in amine. 

A different mechanism again is involved in the hydroamination reaction catalyzed by lanthanide complexes, Cpff.nR which is applied to the cyclization of unsaturated amines. The mechanism involves the formation of a metal amide species from both the catalysts (by different routes), followed by the turnover —limiting intramolecular insertion of the alkene to give a cr-complex, from which the decomplexed cyclic amine is obtained after reaction with a second molecule of the unsaturated amine19,20,107. 

The insertion approach is very successful in the hydroamination of alkynes and alkenes catalyzed by lanthanide complexes developed by Marks et al. [220]. Thorough mechanistic studies have been undertaken for the intramolecular reaction (hydroamination-cyclization of aminoalkenes), although the intermolecular version of the process is also efficient [222]. The mechanism of the reaction can be represented in a simplified way by Scheme 6.68. The insertion step is almost thermoneutral, but the protonolysis of the M-aminoalkyl bond that follows is exothermic and provides the necessary driving force. The insertion of the alkene into the Ln-N bond is irreversible and rate determining and it goes through a... 

Intermolecular additions of primary amines to alkenes have also been reported using lanthanide catalysts. These reactions, although slow, do occur to high conversion. Similar to hydroaminations catalyzed by late transition metal complexes, these reactions form the products from Markovnikov addition of the N-H bond across the olefin. One example of such a reaction is shown in Equation 16.59. ... 

The bulk of the studies on intramolecular hydroamination of alkenes catalyzed by lanthanide complexes have been conducted using lanthanocene complexes or half-sandwich lanthanide complexes. The prototypical cyclizations of aminoalkenes to form five- and six-membered rings are shown in Equation 16.61. These reactions occur with exclusive Markovnikov selectivity. These reactions have also been conducted using arylamines, as shown in Equation 16.62. The intramolecular reactions of amines catalyzed by certain lanthanide complexes occur with 1,1- and 1,2-disubstituted olefins (Equation 16.63), although such reactions require high temperatures. 

As discussed in Chapter 9, the insertion of olefins and alk)nes into metal-amido complexes is limited to a few examples. Such insertion reactions are proposed to occur as part of the mechanism of the hydroamination of norbomene catalyzed by an iridium(I) complex and as part of the hydroamination of alkenes and alkynes catalyzed by lanthanide and actinide metal complexes. This reaction was clearly shown to occur with the iridium(I) amido complex formed by oxidative addition of aniline, and this insertion process is presented in Chapter 9. The mechanism of the most active Ir(I) catalyst system for this process involving added fluoride is imknown. 

The hydroamination of olefins has been shown to occur by the sequence of oxidative addition, migratory insertion, and reductive elimination in only one case. Because amines are nucleophilic, pathways are available for the additions of amines to olefins and alkynes that are unavailable for the additions of HCN, silanes, and boranes. For example, hydroaminations catalyzed by late transition metals are thought to occur in many cases by nucleophilic attack on coordinated alkenes and alkynes or by nucleophilic attack on ir-allyl, iT-benzyl, or TT-arene complexes. Hydroaminations catalyzed by lanthanide and actinide complexes occur by insertion of an olefin into a metal-amide bond. Finally, hydroamination catalyzed by dP group 4 metals have been shown to occur through imido complexes. In this case, a [2+2] cycloaddition forms the C-N bond, and protonolysis of the resulting metallacycle releases the organic product. 

Hydroamination of alkenes can be catalyzed by lanthanide alkyls via insertion, as shown in Eq. 14.79. ... 

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