Metal carboxylates rhodium complex

Activation of a C-H bond requires a metallocarbenoid of suitable reactivity and electrophilicity.105-115 Most of the early literature on metal-catalyzed carbenoid reactions used copper complexes as the catalysts.46,116 Several chiral complexes with Ce-symmetric ligands have been explored for selective C-H insertion in the last decade.117-127 However, only a few isolated cases have been reported of impressive asymmetric induction in copper-catalyzed C-H insertion reactions.118,124 The scope of carbenoid-induced C-H insertion expanded greatly with the introduction of dirhodium complexes as catalysts. Building on initial findings from achiral catalysts, four types of chiral rhodium(n) complexes have been developed for enantioselective catalysis in C-H activation reactions. They are rhodium(n) carboxylates, rhodium(n) carboxamidates, rhodium(n) phosphates, and < // < -metallated arylphosphine rhodium(n) complexes. 

Other recent reports have also indicated that mixed-metal systems, particularly those containing combinations of ruthenium and rhodium complexes, can provide effective catalysts for the production of ethylene glycol or its carboxylic acid esters (5 9). However, the systems described in this paper are the first in which it has been demonstrated that composite ruthenium-rhodium catalysts, in which rhodium comprises only a minor proportion of the total metallic component, can match, in terms of both activity and selectivity, the previously documented behavior (J ) of mono-metallic rhodium catalysts containing significantly higher concentrations of rhodium. Some details of the chemistry of these bimetallic promoted catalysts are described here. 

Carbonylation of 2,3-homo-l//-azepines has been effected by means of their metal and carbonyl complexes and provides a useful route to a variety of isomeric azabicyclo-nonadienones. For example, the tricarbonyliron complex with carbon monoxide at 80 °C and 160 atm yields the 9-oxo-2-azabicyclo[3.3.l]nona-3,7-diene (167) (57%) or the 9-oxo-2-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nona-3,6-diene (168) (60%) depending on the exo or endo configuration of the tricarbonyliron complex. A third isomer, namely ethyl 7-oxo-9-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nona-2,4-diene-9-carboxylate (169), is formed on heating (125 °C) the azepine with carbon monoxide under pressure in the presence of the rhodium carbonyl complex [Rh(CO)Cl2] (78CB3927). 

Metal-promoted vinylcyclopropane C3 - C5 ring expansions have been reported. Thus, ethyl 2-methoxy-2-vinylcyclopropanecarboxylate 393 rearranged to a 2 1 mixture of 3-methoxy-2-cyclopentenecarboxylate 396 and 3-methoxy-3-cyclopentene-carboxylate 397 on heating at 160 °C in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper bronze or copper(I) chloride in contrast, platinum and rhodium complexes catalyzed... 

Although the first catalysts were copper-based, the insertion of metal-associated carbenes into carbon-hydrogen bonds has undergone a renaissance with the advent of rhodium(II) carboxylate catalysts [56]. Metal-catalyzed enan-tioselective C-H insertions of carbenes have not been studied in great detail. Most of the efficient enantioselective versions of this reaction involve chiral rhodium complexes and until recently, the use of chiral catalysts derived from metals other than copper and rhodium for the asymmetric C-H insertion of metal-associated carbenes are still unexplored. 

Transition metal salts and complexes also serve as homogeneous catalysts. In the Monsanto process, rhodium salts plus iodide convert methanol and carbon monoxide into an industrially useful carboxylic acid, acetic acid. The rhodium metal serves as the primary reaction site it binds the reactants and subsequently unbinds the products. The key reactions at the metal reaction site are called oxidative addition and reductive elimination. 

With copper (and rhodium, mthenium, and molybdenum), four carboxylate groups complex around two metal atoms to form a disklike aggregate with the result that copper laurate exhibits a columnar discotic phase (Section 2.4). 

These complexes can be isolated in some cases in others they are generated in situ from appropriate precursors, of which diazo compounds are among the most important. These compounds, including CH2N2 and other diazoalkanes, react with metals or metal salts (copper, palladium, and rhodium are most commonly used) to give the carbene complexes that add CRR to double bonds. Ethyl a-diazoacetate reacts with styrene in the presence of bis(ferrocenyl) bis(imine), for example, to give ethyl 2-phenylcyclopropane-l-carboxylate. Optically active complexes have... 

The role of the rhodium is probably two-fold. Initially due to its Lewis acidity it reversibly forms a complex with the nitrile nitriles are known to complex to the free axial coordination sites in rhodium(II) carboxylates as evidenced by the change of colour upon addition of a nitrile to a solution of rhodium(II) acetate, and by X-ray crystallography. Secondly the metal catalyses the decomposition of the diazocarbonyl compound to give a transient metallocarbene which reacts with the nitrile to give a nitrile ylide intermediate. Whether the nitrile ylide is metal bound or not is unclear. 

Dinuclear rhodium(II) carboxylate complexes with cage-like structures 46, in which carboxylate groups bridge the two metals and a... 

Metallic groups as in case (c) lead to electrophilic or even carbocation-like carbene complexes. Typical examples are Fischer-type carbene complexes [e.g. (CO)5Cr=C(Ph)OMe] and the highly reactive carbene complexes resulting from the reaction of rhodium(II) and palladium(II) carboxylates with diazoalkanes. Also platinum ylides [1,2], resulting from the reaction of diazoalkanes with platinum(Il) complexes, have a strong Pt-C o bond but only a weak Pt-C 7t bond. In situation (d) the interaction between the metal and the carbene is very weak, and highly reactive complexes showing carbene-like behavior result. Similar to uncomplexed carbenes. 

The transition metal-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes is one of the most efficient methods for the preparation of cyclopropanes. In 1959 Dull and Abend reported [617] their finding that treatment of ketene diethylacetal with diazomethane in the presence of catalytic amounts of copper(I) bromide leads to the formation of cyclopropanone diethylacetal. The same year Wittig described the cyclopropanation of cyclohexene with diazomethane and zinc(II) iodide [494]. Since then many variations and improvements of this reaction have been reported. Today a large number of transition metal complexes are known which react with diazoalkanes or other carbene precursors to yield intermediates capable of cyclopropanating olefins (Figure 3.32). However, from the commonly used catalysts of this type (rhodium(II) or palladium(II) carboxylates, copper salts) no carbene complexes have yet been identified spectroscopically. 

Because of the high nucleophilicity and reactivity of diazoalkanes, catalytic decomposition occurs readily, not only with a wide range of transition metal complexes but also with Brpnsted or Lewis acids. Well-established catalysts for diazodecomposition include zinc halides [638,639], palladium(II) acetate [640-642], rhodium(II) carboxylates [626,643] and copper(I) triflate [636]. Copper(II)... 

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