Metal-carbene complexes reaction with alkenes

If cyclopentene would react pair-wise with 2-pentene, only one product would form, namely 2,7-decadiene, and a similar result for cyclodimers etc. of cyclopentene. If somehow, the alkylidene species would be transferred one by one, we would obtain a mixture of 2,7-nonadiene, 2,7-decadiene, and 2,7-undecadiene in a 1 2 1 ratio. The latter turned out to be the case, which led the authors to propose the participation of metal-carbene (metal alkylidene) intermediates [6], Via these intermediates the alkylidene parts of the alkenes are transferred one by one to an alkene. The mechanism is depicted in Figure 16.4. In the first step the reaction of two alkylidene precursors (ethylidene -bottom- and propylidene -top) with cyclopentene is shown. In the second step the orientation of the next 2-pentene determines whether nonadiene, decadiene or undecadiene is formed. It is clear that this leads to a statistical mixture, all rates being exactly equal, which need not be the case. Sometimes the results are indeed not the statistical mixture as some combinations of metal carbene complex and reacting alkene may be preferred, but it is still believed that a metal-carbene mechanism is involved. Deuterium labelling of alkenes by Gmbbs instead of differently substituted alkenes led to the same result as the experiments with the use of 2-pentene [7],... 

Abstract The photoinduced reactions of metal carbene complexes, particularly Group 6 Fischer carbenes, are comprehensively presented in this chapter with a complete listing of published examples. A majority of these processes involve CO insertion to produce species that have ketene-like reactivity. Cyclo addition reactions presented include reaction with imines to form /1-lactams, with alkenes to form cyclobutanones, with aldehydes to form /1-lactones, and with azoarenes to form diazetidinones. Photoinduced benzannulation processes are included. Reactions involving nucleophilic attack to form esters, amino acids, peptides, allenes, acylated arenes, and aza-Cope rearrangement products are detailed. A number of photoinduced reactions of carbenes do not involve CO insertion. These include reactions with sulfur ylides and sulfilimines, cyclopropanation, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, and acyl migrations. 

When alkenes are allowed to react with certain catalysts (mostly tungsten and molybdenum complexes), they are converted to other alkenes in a reaction in which the substituents on the alkenes formally interchange. This interconversion is called metathesis 126>. For some time its mechanism was believed to involve a cyclobutane intermediate (Eq. (16)). Although this has since been proven wrong and found that the catalytic metathesis rather proceeds via metal carbene complexes and metallo-cyclobutanes as discrete intermediates, reactions of olefins forming cyclobutanes,... 

In addition to copper and rhodium catalysts commonly used in the generation of metal carbene complexes, other transition metals have also been explored in the diazo decomposition and subsequent ylide generation.Che and co-workers have recently studied ruthenium porphyrin-catalyzed diazo decomposition and demonstrated a three-component coupling reaction of a-diazo ester with a series of iV-benzylidene imines and alkenes to form functionalized pyrrolidines in excellent diastereoselectivities (Scheme 20). ... 

C. P. Casey, and T. J. Burkhardt, Reactions of (Diphenylcarbene)pentacarbonyl-tung-sten(0) with Alkenes. Role of Metal-Carbene Complexes in Cyclopropanation and Olefin Metathesis Reactions, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 96, 7808-7809 (1974). 

Alkene metathesis is a reaction catalysed by transition metals in which the carbon atoms that constitute the double bond of the alkene are exchanged with those of another alkene via a metal-carbene complex (Scheme 3.21). 

As is clear from the introductory discussion, most, if not all, of the d-block transition metals are expected to participate in reactions that are related to those discussed here. In addition to the Co-based methodology mentioned earlier, some related reactions of Pd and are known. Also related are the cyclization reactions of metal-carbene complexes containing Cr, Mo, W and other transition metals with alkynes and alkenes and a recently reported Nb- or Ta-promoted diyne-alkyne cyclization reaction, which appears to be closely related to a number of previously developed alkyne cyclotrimerization reactions, such as those catalyzed by Co. Investigations of reactions involving other transition metals may prove to be important especially from the viewpoint of developing asymmetric and catalytic procedures. 

The understanding of the reaction mechanism is directly related to the role of the catalyst, i.e., the transition metal. It is universally accepted that olefin metathesis proceeds via the so-called metal carbene chain mechanism, first proposed by Herisson and Chauvin in 1971 [25]. The propagation reaction involves a transition metal carbene as the active species with a vacant coordination site at the transition metal. The olefin coordinates at this vacant site and subsequently a metalla-cyclobutane intermediate is formed. The metallacycle is unstable and cleaves in the opposite fashion to afford a new metal carbene complex and a new olefin. If this process is repeated often enough, eventually an equilibrium mixture of alkenes will be obtained. 

As already mentioned for rhodium carbene complexes, proof of the existence of electrophilic metal carbenoids relies on indirect evidence, and insight into the nature of intermediates is obtained mostly through reactivity-selectivity relationships and/or comparison with stable Fischer-type metal carbene complexes. A particularly puzzling point is the relevance of metallacyclobutanes as intermediates in cyclopropane formation. The subject is still a matter of debate in the literature. Even if some metallacyclobutanes have been shown to yield cyclopropanes by reductive elimination [15], the intermediacy of metallacyclobutanes in carbene transfer reactions is in most cases borne out neither by direct observation nor by clear-cut mechanistic studies and such a reaction pathway is probably not a general one. Formation of a metallacyclobu-tane requires coordination both of the olefin and of the carbene to the metal center. In many cases, all available evidence points to direct reaction of the metal carbenes with alkenes without prior olefin coordination. Further, it has been proposed that, at least in the context of rhodium carbenoid insertions into C-H bonds, partial release of free carbenes from metal carbene complexes occurs [16]. Of course this does not exclude the possibility that metallacyclobutanes play a pivotal role in some catalyst systems, especially in copper-and palladium-catalyzed reactions. 

Similarly, the transition metal catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes or arenes with diazo compounds, in general, involves short-lived metal-carbene complexes which react with the alkene with concomitant reductive elimination of the metal fragment. Although not involving free carbenes, such reactions are covered fully in this section. 

Electrophilic transition-metal-carbene complexes (Fischer carbene complexes) serve as formal carbene transfer reagents in reactions with alkenes to give functionalized cyclopropanes. This reaction behavior is well documented for alkoxycarbene complexes of elements of group In contrast, aminocarbene complexes exhibit a different reactivity over a wide range of conditions and [2 + 1] cycloadditions to alkenes represent exception. 

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