Lewis copper

Surprisingly, the highest catalytic activity is observed in TFE. One mi t envisage this to be a result of the poor interaction between TFE and the copper(II) cation, so that the cation will retain most of its Lewis-acidity. In the other solvents the interaction between their electron-rich hetero atoms and the cation is likely to be stronger, thus diminishing the efficiency of the Lewis-acid catalysis. The observation that Cu(N03)2 is only poorly soluble in TFE and much better in the other solvents used, is in line with this reasoning. 

On the basis of the studies described in the preceding chapters, we anticipated that chelation is a requirement for efficient Lewis-acid catalysis. This notion was confirmed by an investigation of the coordination behaviour of dienophiles 4.11 and 4.12 (Scheme 4.4). In contrast to 4.10, these compounds failed to reveal a significant shift in the UV absorption band maxima in the presence of concentrations up to one molar of copper(ir)nitrate in water. Also the rate of the reaction of these dienophiles with cyclopentadiene was not significantly increased upon addition of copper(II)nitrate or y tterbium(III)triflate. 

Unfortunately, addition of copper(II)nitrate to a solution of 4.42 in water did not result in the formation of a significant amount of complex, judging from the unchanged UV-vis absorption spectrum. Also after addition of Yb(OTf)3 or Eu(N03)3 no indications for coordination were observed. Apparently, formation of a six-membered chelate ring containing an amine and a ketone functionality is not feasible for these metal ions. Note that 4.13 features a similar arrangement and in aqueous solutions, likewise, does not coordinate significantly to all the Lewis acids that have been... 

As anticipated from the complexation experiments, reaction of 4.42 with cyclopentadiene in the presence of copper(II)nitrate or ytterbium triflate was extremely slow and comparable to the rate of the reaction in the absence of Lewis-acid catalyst. Apparently, Lewis-acid catalysis of Diels-Alder reactions of p-amino ketone dienophiles is not practicable. 

In contrast to the situation in the absence of catalytically active Lewis acids, micelles of Cu(DS)2 induce rate enhancements up to a factor 1.8710 compared to the uncatalysed reaction in acetonitrile. These enzyme-like accelerations result from a very efficient complexation of the dienophile to the catalytically active copper ions, both species being concentrated at the micellar surface. Moreover, the higher affinity of 5.2 for Cu(DS)2 compared to SDS and CTAB (Psj = 96 versus 61 and 68, respectively) will diminish the inhibitory effect due to spatial separation of 5.1 and 5.2 as observed for SDS and CTAB. 

Continuous chlorination of benzene at 30—50°C in the presence of a Lewis acid typically yields 85% monochlorobenzene. Temperatures in the range of 150—190°C favor production of the dichlorobenzene products. The para isomer is produced in a ratio of 2—3 to 1 of the ortho isomer. Other methods of aromatic ring chlorination include use of a mixture of hydrogen chloride and air in the presence of a copper—salt catalyst, or sulfuryl chloride in the presence of aluminum chloride at ambient temperatures. Free-radical chlorination of toluene successively yields benzyl chloride, benzal chloride, and benzotrichloride. Related chlorination agents include sulfuryl chloride, tert-huty hypochlorite, and /V-ch1orosuccinimide which yield benzyl chloride under the influence of light, heat, or radical initiators. 

Tetracyanoethylene is colorless but forms intensely colored complexes with olefins or aromatic hydrocarbons, eg, benzene solutions are yellow, xylene solutions are orange, and mesitylene solutions are red. The colors arise from complexes of a Lewis acid—base type, with partial transfer of a TT-electron from the aromatic hydrocarbon to TCNE (8). TCNE is conveniendy prepared in the laboratory from malononitrile [109-77-3] (1) by debromination of dibromoma1 ononitrile [1855-23-0] (2) with copper powder (9). The debromination can also be done by pyrolysis at ca 500°C (10). 

A unique method to generate the pyridine ring employed a transition metal-mediated 6-endo-dig cyclization of A-propargylamine derivative 120. The reaction proceeds in 5-12 h with yields of 22-74%. Gold (HI) salts are required to catalyze the reaction, but copper salts are sufficient with reactive ketones. A proposed reaction mechanism involves activation of the alkyne by transition metal complexation. This lowers the activation energy for the enamine addition to the alkyne that generates 121. The transition metal also behaves as a Lewis acid and facilitates formation of 120 from 118 and 119. Subsequent aromatization of 121 affords pyridine 122. 

With few exceptions chiral Lewis acids are usually moisture-sensitive and require anhydrous conditions, but bench-stable aquo complexes such as [Cu(S,S)-t-Bu-box)(H20)2](SbF6)2 were found to promote the Diels-Alder reaction as effectively as the anhydrous copper reagent. 

A great advantage of catalyst 24b compared with other chiral Lewis acids is that it tolerates the presence of ester, amine, and thioether functionalities. Dienes substituted at the 1-position by alkyl, aryl, oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur all participate effectively in the present asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction, giving adducts in over 90% ee. The reaction of l-acetoxy-3-methylbutadiene and acryloyloxazolidinone catalyzed by copper reagent 24b, affords the cycloadduct in 98% ee. The first total synthesis of ewt-J -tetrahydrocannabinol was achieved using the functionalized cycloadduct obtained [23, 33e] (Scheme 1.39). 

Evans et al. reported that the bis(imine)-copper (II) complex 25, prepared from chiral bis(imine) ligand and Cu(OTf)2, is also an effective chiral Lewis acid catalyst [34] (Scheme 1.44, Table 1.18). By tuning the aryl imine moiety, the bis(2,6-dichlor-ophenylimine) derivative was found to be suitable. Although the endojexo selectivity for 3-alkenoyloxazolidinones is low, significant improvement is achieved with the thiazolidine-2-thione analogs, for which both dienophile reactivity and endojexo selectivity are enhanced. 

Since Evans s initial report, several chiral Lewis acids with copper as the central metal have been reported. Davies et al. and Ghosh et al. independently developed a bis(oxazoline) ligand prepared from aminoindanol, and applied the copper complex of this ligand to the asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction. Davies varied the link between the two oxazolines and found that cyclopropyl is the best connector (see catalyst 26), giving the cycloadduct of acryloyloxazolidinone and cyclopentadiene in high optical purity (98.4% ee) [35] (Scheme 1.45). Ghosh et al., on the other hand, obtained the same cycloadduct in 99% ee by the use of unsubstituted ligand (see catalyst 27) [36] (Scheme 1.46, Table 1.19). 

Among the many chiral Lewis acid catalysts described so far, not many practical catalysts meet these criteria. For a,/ -unsaturated aldehydes, Corey s tryptophan-derived borane catalyst 4, and Yamamoto s CBA and BLA catalysts 3, 7, and 8 are excellent. Narasaka s chiral titanium catalyst 31 and Evans s chiral copper catalyst 24 are outstanding chiral Lewis acid catalysts of the reaction of 3-alkenoyl-l,2-oxazolidin-2-one as dienophile. These chiral Lewis acid catalysts have wide scope and generality compared with the others, as shown in their application to natural product syntheses. They are, however, still not perfect catalysts. We need to continue the endeavor to seek better catalysts which are more reactive, more selective, and have wider applicability. 

We employed malononitrile and l-crotonoyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazole as donor and acceptor molecules, respectively. We have found that this reaction at room temperature in chloroform can be effectively catalyzed by the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph-nick-el(II) and -zinc(II) complexes in the absence of Lewis bases leading to l-(4,4-dicya-no-3-methylbutanoyl)-3,5-dimethylpyrazole in a good chemical yield and enantio-selectivity (Scheme 7.47). However, copper(II), iron(II), and titanium complexes were not effective at all, either the catalytic activity or the enantioselectivity being not sufficient. With the J ,J -DBFOX/Ph-nickel(II) aqua complex in hand as the most reactive catalyst, we then investigated the double activation method by using this catalyst. 

Jorgensen has recently reported similar enantioselective reactions between N-tosylimines 107 and trimethylsilyldiazomethane (TMSD) catalyzed by chiral Lewis acid complexes (Scheme 1.32) [57, 53]. The cis-aziridine could be obtained in 72% ee with use of a BINAP-copper(i) catalyst, but when a bisoxazoline-copper(i) complex was used the corresponding trans isomer was fonned in 69% ee but with very poor diastereoselectivity. 

Lewis acids (dicthylaluminum chloride, ethyl aluminum scsquichloridc) have been used in conjunction with ATRP to provide greater alternating tendency in S-MMA copolytnerization.519 However, poor control was obtained because of interaction between the catalyst (CuCI/dNbpy) and the Lewis acid. Better results were obtained by RAFT polymerization/10 Copper catalysts, in particular Cu(lI)Br/PMDETA, have been shown to coordinate monomer but this has negligible influence on the outcome of copolymerization/6 ... 

FIGURE 15.4 When aqueous ammonia is added to a copper(ll) sulfate solution, first a light-blue precipitate ot Cu(OH)2 forms (the cloudy region at the top, which appears dark because it is backlit). The precipitate disappears when more ammonia is added to form the dark blue complex ru(NH))4 T by a Lewis acid-base reaction. 

Many of the d-block elements form characteristically colored solutions in water. For example, although solid copper(II) chloride is brown and copper(II) bromide is black, their aqueous solutions are both light blue. The blue color is due to the hydrated copper(II) ions, [Cu(H20)fJ2+, that form when the solids dissolve. As the formula suggests, these hydrated ions have a specific composition they also have definite shapes and properties. They can be regarded as the outcome of a reaction in which the water molecules act as Lewis bases (electron pair donors, Section 10.2) and the Cu2+ ion acts as a Lewis acid (an electron pair acceptor). This type of Lewis acid-base reaction is characteristic of many cations of d-block elements. 

Other d-metals are also vital to health. For example, chromium(III) plays a role in the regulation of glucose metabolism. Copper(I) is an essential nutrient for healthy cells and is the only biologically available Lewis acid with a + 1 charge. 

The most commonly used traditional Lewis acids are halides of aluminum, boron, titanium, zinc, tin, and copper. However, there are also more complex Lewis-acids that are quite effective catalysts that can be easily modified for carring out enantioselective processes, by incorporating chiral ligands. These can overcome some limitations associated with the use of classical Lewis acids [47]. 

Evans D. A., Rovis T., Johnson J. S. Chiral Copper(II) Complexes As Lewis Acids for Catalyzed Cycloaddition, Carbonyl Addition, and Conjngate Addition Reactions. Pure Appl. Chem 1999 71 1407-1415... 

Keywords bis(oxazoiine) copper complexes, Lewis-acid catalysts for carbo-cyclic and hefero-Diels-Alder reaction, chiral synthesis... 

A number of complexes of copper with 1,1-dithiolenes are known they are interesting, inasmuch as they form (1) polynuclear species, e.g., [Cu4(i-mnt)3]2 . Recently, a copper(III) complex of 1,1-dicarboeth-oxy-2-ethylenedithiolate (DED ) was prepared (375) by oxidation of aqueous solutions of K2[Cu(DED)2] with a 10-15% excess of Cu(II) or H202, and of (BzPh3P)2[Cu(DED)2] with I2. The possibility of this system as a model for the Cu "/Cu. system in n-galactose oxidase has been pointed out. Lewis and Miller (113) also prepared M[Cu(S2C CHN02)2] (M = Cu, or Zn) and Cu[Cu S2C C(CN)2 2], and found that they are effective insecticides. 

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