Metalated alkenes, cross-coupling with vinyl

Summary Recent achievements in two catalytic reactions, i.e., silylative coupling and cross-metathesis of alkenes and dienes with vinyl-silicon compounds, which resulted in new synthetic routes to organosilicon molecular and macromolecular compounds are presented. The silylative coupling, also called dehydrogenative or trans-silylation and silyl group transfer, is catalyzed by metal complexes which either contain or initiate the formation of M-H and M-Si bonds, where M = Ru, Rh, Co and Ir. Cross-metathesis, which was developed very recently, proceeds in the presence of metallacarbenes, mainly those of rathenium (e.g., Grabbs catalyst). 

The reaction sequence in the vinylation of aromatic halides and vinyl halides, i.e. the Heck reaction, is oxidative addition of the alkyl halide to a zerovalent palladium complex, then insertion of an alkene and completed by /3-hydride elimination and HX elimination. Initially though, C-H activation of a C-H alkene bond had also been taken into consideration. Although the Heck reaction reduces the formation of salt by-products by half compared with cross-coupling reactions, salts are still formed in stoichiometric amounts. Further reduction of salt production by a proper choice of aryl precursors has been reported (Chapter III.2.1) [1]. In these examples aromatic carboxylic anhydrides were used instead of halides and the co-produced acid can be recycled and one molecule of carbon monoxide is sacrificed. Catalytic activation of aromatic C-H bonds and subsequent insertion of alkenes leads to new C-C bond formation without production of halide salt byproducts, as shown in Scheme 1. When the hydroarylation reaction is performed with alkynes one obtains arylalkenes, the products of the Heck reaction, which now are synthesized without the co-production of salts. No reoxidation of the metal is required, because palladium(II) is regenerated. 

Similar cross-coupling procedures have been used to prepare styrenes by the reaction of metalated aromatics with vinyl halides/triflates or, conversely, metalated alkenes with aromatic halides/triflates in the presence ofPd(Ph3P)4 (eq 6). Typically, ArCl are poor substrates in Pd(PPh3)4-catalyzed coupling reactions. However, by forming the chromium tricarbonyl complex of the aryl chloride, a facile coupling reaction with vinyl-stannanes can be achieved (eq 7). ... 

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