Metal-catalyzed reactions, applications

In the light of these results, it becomes important to question whether a particular catalytic result obtained in a transition metal-catalyzed reaction in an imidazolium ionic liquid is caused by a metal carbene complex formed in situ. The following simple experiments can help to verify this in more detail a) variation of ligands in the catalytic system, b) application of independently prepared, defined metal carbene complexes, and c) investigation of the reaction in pyridinium-based ionic liquids. If the reaction shows significant sensitivity to the use of different ligands, if the application of the independently prepared, defined metal-carbene complex... 

Obviously, there are many good reasons to study ionic liquids as alternative solvents in transition metal-catalyzed reactions. Besides the engineering advantage of their nonvolatile natures, the investigation of new biphasic reactions with an ionic catalyst phase is of special interest. The possibility of adjusting solubility properties by different cation/anion combinations permits systematic optimization of the biphasic reaction (with regard, for example, to product selectivity). Attractive options to improve selectivity in multiphase reactions derive from the preferential solubility of only one reactant in the catalyst solvent or from the in situ extraction of reaction intermediates from the catalyst layer. Moreover, the application of an ionic liquid catalyst layer permits a biphasic reaction mode in many cases where this would not be possible with water or polar organic solvents (due to incompatibility with the catalyst or problems with substrate solubility, for example). 

In addition to the applications reported in detail above, a number of other transition metal-catalyzed reactions in ionic liquids have been carried out with some success in recent years, illustrating the broad versatility of the methodology. Butadiene telomerization [34], olefin metathesis [110], carbonylation [111], allylic alkylation [112] and substitution [113], and Trost-Tsuji-coupling [114] are other examples of high value for synthetic chemists. 

AT-acetyltryptamines could be obtained via microwave-assisted transition-metal-catalyzed reactions on resin bound 3-[2-(acetylamino)ethyl]-2-iodo-lH-indole-5-carboxamide. While acceptable reaction conditions for the application of microwave irradiation have been identified for Stille heteroaryla-tion reactions, the related Suzuki protocol on the same substrate gave poor results, since at a constant power of 60 W, no full conversion (50-60%) of resin-bound 3-[2-(acetylamino)ethyl]-2-iodo-lH-indole-5-carboxamide could be obtained even when two consecutive cross-coupling reaction cycles (involving complete removal of reagents and by-products by washing off the resin) were used (Scheme 36). Also under conventional heating at 110 °C, and otherwise identical conditions, the Suzuki reactions proved to be difficult since two cross-coupling reaction cycles of 24 h had to be used to achieve full conversion. 

Catalysis and Synthesis in the Laboratory. Research on the practical applications of catalysis was not matched in the laboratory. We began a study of metal and non-metal catalyzed reactions early in our sonochemistry program. Our first project was to develop a convenient method of hydrogenating a wide range of olefins. We chose formic acid as our hydrogen source and found it to be effective. For example, with continuous irradiation, palladium catalyzed hydrogenations of olefins are complete in one hour(44). 

The development in microwave chemistry has been remarkable during the last few years from the first reports in which, typically, domestic ovens were used to modern applications with state-of-the-art single-mode cavities. We believe that it is today possible today to develop robust microwave-assisted methods for nearly any reaction that needs an external heat source and we have proved it is possible to perform transition-metal catalyzed reactions very cleanly and selectively. 

Additional applications of this technology for rapid lead discovery and lead optimization have been reported [87, 90-93]. It should also be noted that a variety of chemical transformations, in particular in the area of transition-metal catalyzed reactions, have been performed with this or related equipment (Chapt. 11) [25]. Other monomode microwave reactors using related concepts to introduce high-throughput were recently introduced by CEM Corp. (Discover or Explorer line of products, Fig. 12.7.) [81]. At the time of writing this review no published synthetic applications using this microwave reactor were available. 

This article presents the principles known so far for the synthesis of metal complexes containing stable carbenes, including the preparation of the relevant carbene precursors. The use of some of these compounds in transition-metal-catalyzed reactions is discussed mainly for ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis and palladium-Znickel-catalyzed coupling reactions of aryl halides, but other reactions will be touched upon as well. Chapters about the properties of metal- carbene complexes, their applications in materials science and medicinal chemistry, and their role in bioinorganic chemistry round the survey off. The focus of this review is on ZV-heterocyclic carbenes, in the following abbreviated as NHC and NHCs, respectively. 

Examples, like the application of enantiopure ioiuc hquids in the copper catalyzed enantioselective 1,4-addition of diethyl zinc to enones giving up to 76% ee, will not be presented [178], since here the chiral ionic liquid, CIL, acts as a ligand for a metal catalyzed reaction. 

The development and application of catalytic enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions is a relatively new area. Compared to the broad application of asymmetric catalysis in carbo- and hetero-Diels-Alder reactions (337,338), which has evolved since the mid-1980s, the use of enantioselective metal catalysts in asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions remained almost unexplored until 1993 (5). In particular, the asymmetric metal-catalyzed reactions of nitrones with alkenes has received considerable attention during the past 5 years. 

The advancements in supramolecular catalysis are not limited to transitions-metal catalyzed reactions. Clarke and coworkers recently reported the preparation of a library of organocatalysts and their application in the asymmetric Michael addition of ketones to nitroalkenes [37]. They proposed use of a supramolecular catalyst formed... 

With the application of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands, the number of transition metal-catalyzed reactions has grown considerably in the past decade. The replacement of traditional amine or phosphine ligands with electron-rich NHC ligands has led to a substantial enhancement in catalytic activity. This chapter summarizes the recent impact that the use of NHC ligands has had in furthering the field of transition metal-mediated catalysis. 

Oxidation is still less well developed than other metal-catalyzed reactions but the application is a very important one practically, so efforts are continuing. The mechanisms are hard to decipher, often being radical in character, but selective nonradical oxidations are becoming much more common. Asymmetric versions of oxidation catalysts have now appeared that have become very useftil in organic synthetic and commercial applications. 

Recent advances of the preparation of novel optically active organoselenimn compounds, mainly organic diselenides, and their application as chiral ligands to some transition metal-catalyzed reactions and also as procatalysts for asymmetric diethylzinc addition to aldehydes are reviewed. Recent results of catalytic reactions using some organoselenimn compounds such as aUylic oxidation of alkenes and its asymmetric version as well as epoxidation of alkenes are also summarized. 

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