Metal-catalyzed isomerization Heterocyclics

CEJ1358> and the ruthenium mediated isomerization of double bonds (cf. Scheme 89, Section 8.11.7) <2007TL137> are recent examples of transition metal catalyzed manipulations at the side chain carbon atoms of 1,3-heterocycles. A novel side-chain addition reaction of aldehydes to 6-alkylidene-l,3-dioxin-4-ones was used for the construction of intermediates of lophotoxin <2006CJC1226>. An acid-catalyzed intramolecular cycloaddition of a hydroxy group to an alkene has been effected by the presence of an adjacent 1,3-dithiane moiety <2006TL4549>. 

The transition-metal-catalyzed olefin metathesis is a still recent, but already well-established, development, which has evolved toward a highly useful synthetic tool [27]. The ring-closing variant of this reaction ]ring-closing metathesis (RCM)] has proved to be very suitable for the preparation of carbo- and heterocycles of any ring size, except for those that are strained ]28, 29]. In the case of 5,6-dihydropyran-2-ones, RCM of homoaUyl acrylates has very often been used for the direct creation of this heterocyclic system, most particularly in the past decade (Figure 2.4). Allyl esters of fi,y-unsaturated acids may also be subjected to RCM with the formation of P,y-unsaturated 8-lactones, which can be easily isomerized by acid or base catalysis to their a,fi-unsaturated counterparts ]6, 30-39]. 

Heterocyclization reactions with saturated moieties (alcohols, amines, thiols, etc.) or acids on unsaturated counterparts (alkenes, allenes, alkynes, etc.) are not covered in this chapter since they are addition, and not isomerization, reactions. Silver is also widely used as an activating agent for producing highly reactive metallic cations (anion metathesis), which, in turn, may catalyze cycloisomerization reactions. This aspect is covered only when the silver control experiments give substantial positive results. 

Several other recent reviews contain material relevant to this section. An article by Blandamer and Burgess on the thermodynamics, kinetics, and mechanisms of solvation, solvolysis, and substitution in nonaqueous solvents contains a contribution on the controversial dissociative mechanism for isomerization of square-planar molecules. This is outlined in Section 5.5. A review of ligand substitution reactions at low-valency transition-metal centers contains sections on five-coordinate metal carbonyl complexes and on ML4 complexes (mainly tetrahedral configurations with L being a tertiary phosphine), as well as on acid- and base-catalyzed reactions. A review by Constable " surveying the reactions of nucleophiles with complexes of chelating heterocyclic imines contains a sizable section on square-planar palladium and platinum derivatives. Most discussion centers on [Pt(bipy)2] and [Pt(phen)2] (bipy = 2,2 -bipyridine phen = 1,10-phenanthroline). The metal center, ligand, or both are susceptible to nucleophilic attack and the mechanisms involved are critically assessed. 

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