Low-valent metal

Metal-induced reductive dimerization of carbonyl compounds is a useful synthetic method for the formation of vicinally functionalized carbon-carbon bonds. For stoichiometric reductive dimerizations, low-valent metals such as aluminum amalgam, titanium, vanadium, zinc, and samarium have been employed. Alternatively, ternary systems consisting of catalytic amounts of a metal salt or metal complex, a chlorosilane, and a stoichiometric co-reductant provide a catalytic method for the formation of pinacols based on reversible redox couples.2 The homocoupling of aldehydes is effected by vanadium or titanium catalysts in the presence of Me3SiCl and Zn or A1 to give the 1,2-diol derivatives high selectivity for the /-isomer is observed in the case of secondary aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes. 

Reaction of Low-Valent Metal Compounds with Elemental Sulfur... 

A variety of polysulfido complexes of transition metals has also been synthesized by the reactions of low-valent metal complexes with elemental sulfur. 

The reductive couphng of imines can follow different pathways, depending on the nature of the one-electron reducing agent (cathode, metal, low-valent metal salt), the presence of a protic or electrophihc reagent, and the experimental conditions (Scheme 2). Starting from the imine 7, the one-electron reduction is facihtated by the preliminary formation of the iminiiim ion 8 by protonation or reaction with an electrophile, e.g., trimethylsilyl (TMS) chloride. Alternatively, the radical anion 9 is first formed by direct reduction of the imine 7, followed by protonation or reaction with the electrophile, so giving the same intermediate a-amino radical 10. The 1,2-diamine 11 can be formed from the radical 10 by dimerization (and subsequent removal of the electrophile) or addition to the iminium ion 8, followed by one-electron reduction of the so formed aminyl radical. In certain cases/conditions the radical 9 can be further reduced to the carbanion 12, which then attacks the... 

Employing ketones or aldehydes as starting materials, the corresponding silylethers are obtained. Thereafter, the oxidation or hydrolysis of the obtained silylethers gives the corresponding alcohols (Scheme 17). In most cases, a hydride (silyl) metal complex H-M-Si (M = transition-metal), which is generated by an oxidative addition of H-Si bond to the low-valent metal center, is a key intermediate in the hydrosilylation reaction. 

A catalytic cycle proposed for the metal-phosphine complexes involves the oxidative addition of borane to a low-valent metal yielding a boryl complex (35), the coordination of alkene to the vacant orbital of the metal or by displacing a phosphine ligand (35 —> 36) leads to the insertion of the double bond into the M-H bond (36 —> 37) and finally the reductive elimination to afford a hydroboration product (Scheme 1-11) [1]. A variety of transition metal-boryl complexes have been synthesized via oxidative addition of the B-H bond to low-valent metals to investigate their role in cat-... 

This exemplified that the oxidative addition of S-S bond to a low-valent metal complex is one prototype to initiate a reaction using a disulfide. In 1987, Uemura et al. reported an analogous transformation using (PhSe)2 instead of (PhS)2 to afford the phenyl selenobenzoate 58 in up to 78% yield under 100 atm of CO in benzene at 200°C (Eq. 7.44) [50]. 

Let us consider the general trends of the reactivity of C-C, C-S, and C-Q (Q = Cl, Br, I) bonds towards oxidative addition and reductive elimination (Scheme 7-25). In many cases, either C-C bond-forming reductive elimination from a metal center (a) or the oxidative addition of a C-Q bond to a low-valent metal center is a thermodynamically favorable process (c). On the other hand, the thermodynamics of the C-S bond oxidative addition and reductive elimination (b) lies in between these two cases. In other words, one could more easily control the reaction course by the modulation of metal, ligand, and reactant Further progress for better understanding of S-X bond activation will be achieved by thorough stoichiometric investigations and computational studies. 

Before turning to epoxide opening with low valent metal complexes, the reduction of epoxides under Birch conditions [10-13] will be discussed very briefly for historical reasons. The initially formed radical is reduced further to give carbanionic species, that do not display the reactivity of radicals. No C - C bond-forming reactions have initially been reported. 

Scheme 2 Opening of the cydopropylcarbinyl radical and epoxide opening by low valent metal complexes...

Interest in the synthesis and reactivity of coordinatively unsaturated low-valent metal complexes has led to the use of an o-carboranedithiolato ligand in the formation of metalladithiolene ring complexes. Recently, we69 70 and Wrackmeyer et al.1 72 have reported on the synthesis of the 16e cobalt, rhodium, and iridium... 

The metal-oxo molecular models outlined above have a quite remarkable potential for studying the metal activity in a quite unusual environment. Some of the possibilities could be (1) the generation and the chemistry of M—C, M=C, M=C functionalities (2) the interaction with alkenes, alkynes, hydrocarbons, and hydrogen (3) the activation of small molecules like N26 and CO (4) the support of metal-metal bonded functionalities and (5) the generation of highly reactive low-valent metals. 

Ru, Os, and Ir carbene complexes have been prepared from reactions of anionic or low-valent metal complexes with some organic salts or neutral compounds with highly ionic bonds. Oxidative addition of halothiazole and -oxazole species to IrCl(CO)(PMe2Ph)2 affords Ir(III) complexes which on protonation yield cationic carbenes (69), e.g.,... 

Me proposed a new approach based on a different strategy to induce two electron transfer from a low valent metal compound to a water molecule leading to a hydrido-hydroxo-metal species (eq. 5). The nucleophilic attack of OH" on a coordinated CO is expected to... 

Recently, another type of catalytic cycle for the hydrosilylation has been reported, which does not involve the oxidative addition of a hydrosilane to a low-valent metal. Instead, it involves bond metathesis step to release the hydrosilylation product from the catalyst (Scheme 2). In the cycle C, alkylmetal intermediate generated by hydrometallation of alkene undergoes the metathesis with hydrosilane to give the hydrosilylation product and to regenerate the metal hydride. This catalytic cycle is proposed for the reaction catalyzed by lanthanide or a group 3 metal.20 In the hydrosilylation with a trialkylsilane and a cationic palladium complex, the catalytic cycle involves silylmetallation of an alkene and metathesis between the resulting /3-silylalkyl intermediate and hydrosilane (cycle D).21... 

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