Metal insertion olefin metathesis

Olefin metathesis (olefin disproportionation) is the reaction of two alkenes in which the redistribution of the olelinic bonds takes place with the aid of transition metal catalysts (Scheme 7.7). The reaction proceeds with an intermediate formation of a metallacyclobutene. This may either break down to provide two new olefins, or open up to generate a metal alkylidene species which -by multiple alkene insertion- may lead to formation of alkylidenes with a polymeric moiety [21]. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is the reaction of cyclic olefins in which backbone-unsaturated polymers are obtained. The driving force of this process is obviously in the relief of the ring strain of the monomers. 

These reactions involve metallate rearrangements , migratory insertion and transition metal-catalysed vinylic substitution reactions. They also perform well in applications in natural product synthesis . Many useful synthetic possibilities arise from application of ring-closing olefin metathesis (RCM) to unsaturated homoaldol products and their derivatives by means of the Grubbs catalyst 3942 4-286 Equation 105 presents some examples. ... 

Copper(I) triflate was used as a co-catalyst in a palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reaction (Sch. 27). The copper Lewis acid was required for the transformation of homoallylic alcohol 118 to lactone 119. It was suggested that the CuOTf removes chloride from the organopalladium intermediate to effect olefin complexation and subsequent migratory insertion [60]. Copper(I) and copper(II) chlorides activate ruthenium alkylidene complexes for olefin metathesis by facilitating decomplexation of phosphines from the transition metal [61]. 

In the two separate, initial reports on the reactivity of Fischer carbenes with enynes, one study found cyclobutanone and furan products [59], while the other found products due to olefin metathesis [60]. These products have turned out to be the exceptions rather than the rule, as enynes have since been found to react with Fischer carbenes to produce bicyclic cyclopropanes quite generally. The proposed mechanistic pathway is included as part of Bq. (28), in which vinylcarbene 10, produced by insertion of the alkyne into the metal carbene, may then cyclize with the pendant olefin to metallacyclobutane 11, leading to product. The first reported version of this reaction suffered from extreme sensitivity to olefin substitution [Eq. (28) compare R=H, Me] often producing side-products due to metathesis (through 11 to yield dienes) and CO insertion (into 10 to yield cyclobutanones and furans) [61]. Since then, several important modifications have been developed which improve yield, provide greater tolerance for alkene substitution, and increase chemoselectivity for the bicyclic cyclopropane... 

As with other transition metal-catalyzed reactions (Ziegler-Natta polymerization of alkenes, olefin metathesis), the mechanism of the Heck reaction is complicated. In brief, the species that reacts with the aryl halide is I Pd, where L is a ligand such as tiiphenylphosphine. By a process known as oxidative addition, palladium inserts into the carbon-halogen bond of the aryl halide. 

Table VII summarizes the products and activities of the various catalysts mentioned versus the types of substrates. With the metathesis mechanism, both polymer and cyclotrimer product are possible for each monomer since the two proposed pathways are very similar [65, 111, 115]. In a metathesis mechanism, after several insertions the propagating chain end can swing around and coordinate to the metal center again instead of inserting another monomer (Scheme XXII). If an intra-molecular olefin metathesis takes place at this point, the product will be cyclic (e.g., cyclotrimer). Due to this possibility of back-biting, sterics play an important role in the production of cyclotrimer. For Mo- and W-...

The mechanism for the reaction catalyzed by cationic palladium complexes (Scheme 24) differs from that proposed for early transition metal complexes, as well as from that suggested for the reaction shown in Eq. 17. For this catalyst system, the alkene substrate inserts into a Pd - Si bond a rather than a Pd-H bond [63]. Hydrosilylation of methylpalladium complex 100 then provides methane and palladium silyl species 112 (Scheme 24). Complex 112 coordinates to and inserts into the least substituted olefin regioselectively and irreversibly to provide 113 after coordination of the second alkene. Insertion into the second alkene through a boat-like transition state leads to trans cyclopentane 114, and o-bond metathesis (or oxidative addition/reductive elimination) leads to the observed trans stereochemistry of product 101a with regeneration of 112 [69]. 

There is some ambiguity as to whether the alkenyl- and alkynylsilane-forming reactions are true dehydrocoupling reactions. According to the definition as embodied in Eq. (1), this would require the direct activation of a C-H bond, such as the = C—H bond of an olefin. The general consensus is that the alkenyl- and alkynylsilane-forming reactions are more likely to take place via an insertion of the olefin into an M-Si bond, followed by /3-hydride elimination [Eqs. (18) and (19)] in the case of electron-rich metal complexes,1616 or by bond metathesis of M-Si and H -C= in the case... 

More recent studies have shown that a number of other mechanisms are operative in the hydrosilation process for different metals. Mechanistic proposals for early metals, lanthanides and actinides have been elaborated on. These involve a Chalk-Harrod like initial migratory insertion into a metal-hydride bond, followed by a a-bond metathesis step (Scheme 4). An alternative mechanism, however, was proposed for Group 4 metallocene catalysis, which involves a coordinated olefin, which undergoes a-bond metathesis with the hydrosilane. ... 

It was proposed that the catalytic cycle is initiated by c-bond metathesis between Cp 2YMe(THF) and PhSiFI3, producing a catalytically active metal hydride species Cp 2YH . In the next step, the catalyst inserts preferentially at the alkyne sites. This intermediate undergoes cyclization via an intramolecular olefin insertion and produces a second intermediate alkylyttrium species. In the reaction with silane this intermediate undergoes a subsequent cr-bond metathesis to generate the cyclized product.1029... 

The reaction is believed to proceed via a mechanism analogous to hydroamina-tion and hydrophosphination. There is experimental evidence for a rate-determining insertion step (Fig. 23). The high oxophilicity of the lanthanide ion results in a high barrier for the olefin insertion and therefore, diminished reactivity of alkenyl alcohols. Rare-earth metal triflates are also capable to catalyze cyclization of alkenyl alcohols in ionic liquids [193], although the mechanism is unlikely to be similar to the o-bond metathesis mechanism discussed above. 

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