Nucleophilic reactivity, metal alkyls

Schrock-type carbenes are nucleophilic alkylidene complexes formed by coordination of strong donor ligands such as alkyl or cyclopentadienyl with no 7T-acceptor ligand to metals in high oxidation states. The nucleophilic carbene complexes show Wittig s ylide-type reactivity and it has been discussed whether the structures may be considered as ylides. A tantalum Schrock-type carbene complex was synthesized by deprotonation of a metal alkyl group [38] (Scheme 7). 

Darensbourg et al. have conducted extensive studies of the nucleophilic reactivity of a series of anionic metal carbonyl hydrides [24], which have been used for the reduction of alkyl halides [25], acyl chlorides [26], and ketones [27]. The... 

Nucleophilic addition of metal alkyls to carbonyl compounds in the presence of a chiral catalyst has been one of the most extensively explored reactions in asymmetric synthesis. Various chiral amino alcohols as well as diamines with C2 symmetry have been developed as excellent chiral ligands in the enantiose-lective catalytic alkylation of aldehydes with organozincs. Although dialkylzinc compounds are inert to ordinary carbonyl substrates, certain additives can be used to enhance their reactivity. Particularly noteworthy is the finding by Oguni and Omi103 that a small amount of (S)-leucinol catalyzes the reaction of diethylzinc to form (R)-l-phenyl-1 -propanol in 49% ee. This is a case where the... 

Tandem procedures under hydroformylation conditions cannot only make use of the intrinsic reactivity of the aldehyde carbonyl group and its acidic a-position but they also include conversions of the metal alkyl and metal acyl systems which are intermediates in the catalytic cycle of hydroformylation. Metal alkyls can undergo -elimination leading to olefin isomerization, or couplings, respectively, insertion of unsaturated units enlarging the carbon skeleton. Similarly, metal acyls can be trapped by addition of nucleophiles or undergo insertion of unsaturated units to form synthetically useful ketones (Scheme 1). 

The electrophilic reactivity of lithium carbenoids (reaction b) becomes evident from their reaction with alkyl lithium compounds. A, probably metal-supported, nucleophilic substitution occurs, and the leaving group X is replaced by the alkyl group R with inversion of the configuration . This reaction, typical of metal carbenoids, is not restricted to the vinylidene substitution pattern, but occurs in alkyl and cycloalkyl lithium carbenoids as well ". With respect to the a-heteroatom X, the carbenoid character is... 

Pradilla et al. have shown that simple p-tolyl vinyl sulfoxides undergo nucleophilic epoxidation with metal alkyl peroxides to give enantiopure sulfinyl oxiranes.138 This process takes place with fair to excellent diastereoselectivities. The same group recently reported the epoxidation of diastereomeric hydroxy vinyl sulfoxides, bearing an additional stereocenter adjacent to the reactive carbon-carbon double bond. Hydroxy vinyl sulfoxides 256 and 258 underwent epoxidation with lithium ferf-butyl peroxide with high anti selectivity. However, when potassium ferf-butyl peroxide was used, only hydroxy vinyl sulfoxide 256 showed anti... 

Four oxidation states of palladium are encountered in organometallic chemistry see Palladium Inorganic Coordination Chemistry) In order of importance, they are Pd , Pd , Pd, and Pd . With the reduction of palladium from Pd to Pd , the metal changes its reactivity from electrophile to nucleophile. However, unlike main group nucleophiles such as thiolates or cyanide, Pd complexes react with both alkyl halides and aryl or vinyl halides. Reactions of Pd complexes with these latter sp halides generate new Pd aryl or vinyl bonds through the process of oxidative addition. 

Schrock carbene complexes may be identified by their alkyl substituents on the carbene carbon and an electropositive, early-transition metal. As shown in Figure 2, the Schrock complexes are considered a result of spin-coupling between the carbene triplet state and the two electrons on the metal [8]. The reactivity of the Schrock carbene carbon is nucleophilic [4]. The reaction involving bis(cyclopentadienyl)carbene titanium(IV) and the electrophile acyl chloride in Eq. (3) [9], for example, illustrates the nucleophilicity of... 

Some other contributions of organometallic compounds to fundamental research are (a) the detection of free alkyl radicals by the pyrolysis of lead alkyls (b) the classification of hydrocarbon acidity via organoalkali compounds (c) the study of Lewis acid-base interactions with Group III alkyls (d) the development of the concept of electron-deficient compounds by the study of metal alkyls (e) the discovery of stereospecific olefin polymerization and (f) the investigation of nucleophilic additions to unsaturated organic compounds via reactive metal alkyls. 

Vinyl complexes are typically prepared by the same methods used to prepare aryl complexes. Vinyl mercury compounds, like aryl mercury compoimds, are easily prepared (by the mercuration of acetylenes), and are therefore useful for the preparation of vinyl transition metal complexes by transmetallation. The use of vinyl lithium reagents has permitted the s rnthesis of homoleptic vinyl complexes by transmetallation (Equation 3.35). Reactive low-valent transition metal complexes also form vinyl complexes by the oxidative addition of vinyl halides with retention of stereochemistry about the double bond (Equation 3.36). Vinyl complexes have also been formed by the insertion of alkynes into transition metal hydride bonds (Equation 3.37), by sequential electrophilic and nucleophilic addition to alkynyl ligands (Equation 3.38), and by the addition of nucleophiles to alkyne complexes (Equation 3.39). The insertion of alkynes into transition metal alkyl complexes is presented in Chapter 9 and, when rearrangements are slower than insertion, occurs by s)m addition. In contrast, nucleophilic attack on coordinated alkynes, presented in Chapter 11, generates products from anti addition. 

Choice of base can play a crucial role in the success of the Schdllkopf reaction, as the reactivity of a-metalated isocyanides varies as a function of the metal counterion. For example, although lithium ethyl isocyanoacetate (8) condenses readily with a wide range of acid chlorides, lithio-8 fails to react with less reactive ester electrophiles and affords only isocyanide dimerization products. Likewise, only a-metalated alkyl isocyanides lacking electron-withdrawing groups at the a-position are sufficiently nucleophilic to react with amide electrophiles in the Schdllkopf reaction. ... 

The nucleophilic reactivity of dithiocarbamate anions has been the subject of a variety of papers, describing the reactions of alkali-metal dithiocarbamate salts with the common organic solvents methylene chloride, chloroform, and acetonitrile, with alkyl halides, a-halogeno-ketones and -aldehydes, chloroacetates, chloro-substituted j-triazines, phthaloyl chloride, oxalyl chloride, and with AW-dimethyl-5 S -dimethyldithiocarbamidium perchlorate. The nucleophilic addition reaction of dialkylammonium NN-dialkyldithiocarbamates with olefins, yielding alkyl dithiocarbamates, has also been described. ... 

FIGURE 3.1 Schematic diagram showing qualitatively how the nucleophilic reactivity of main-group and transition metal alkyls to protoas or air oxidation depends on the alkyl itself and the electronegativity of the metal. 

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