Metathesis Chauvin mechanism

Scheme 1 Chauvin mechanism for ring-closing metathesis [4]...

Some of these intermediates are analogous to those proposed by Chauvin in olefin metathesis ( Chauvin s mechanism ) [36]. They can be transformed into new olefins and new carbene-hydrides. The subsequent step of the catalytic cycle is then hydride reinsertion into the carbene as well as olefin hydrogenation. The final alkane liberation proceeds via a cleavage of the Ta-alkyl compounds by hydrogen, a process already observed in the hydrogenolysis [10] or possibly via a displacement by the entering alkane by o-bond metathesis [11]. Notably, the catalyst has a triple functionality (i) C-H bond activation to produce a metallo-carbene and an olefin, (ii) olefin metathesis and (iii) hydrogenolysis of the metal-alkyl. 

There thenfollowed reports by Katz [13] and Grubbs [14] and their co-workers on studies that aimed to simplify and confirm the analysis. The key remaining issue was whether a modified pairwise mechanism, in which another alkene can coordinate to the metal and equilibrate with the product prior to product displacement, would also explain the appearance of the anomalous cross-over products early in the reaction evolution. However, a statistical kinetic analysis showed that for a 1 1 mixture of equally reactive alkenes, the kinetic ratio of cross-metathesis should be 1 1.6 1 for the pairwise mechanism and 1 2 1 for the Chauvin mechanism. Any equilibration (substrate or product) would, of course, cause an approach towards a statistical distribution (1 2 1) and thus allow no distinction between the mechanisms. 

A recent report by Mayr of slow polymerization of PhC=CH by (PMe3)2Cl2(PhC=CPh)W=CHPh fulfills expectations based on the classic Chauvin mechanism for olefin metathesis (78). The presence of a carbene and a vacant coordination site are prerequisites for metallocyclo-butene formation with free alkyne. Mayr has both the carbene and the alkyne initially present in the catalyst, but there is no evidence for direct involvement of the cis alkyne in the actual polymerization mechanism. 

More than half a century ago it was observed that Re207 and Mo or W carbonyls immobilized on alumina or silica could catalyze the metathesis of propylene into ethylene and 2-butene, an equilibrium reaction. The reaction can be driven either way and it is 100% atom efficient. The introduction of metathesis-based industrial processes was considerably faster than the elucidation of the mechanistic fundamentals [103, 104]. Indeed the first process, the Phillips triolefin process (Scheme 5.55) that was used to convert excess propylene into ethylene and 2-butene, was shut down in 1972, one year after Chauvin proposed the mechanism (Scheme 5.54) that earned him the Nobel prize [105]. Starting with a metal carbene species as active catalyst a metallocyclobutane has to be formed. The Fischer-type metal carbenes known at the time did not catalyze the metathesis reaction but further evidence supporting the Chauvin mechanism was published. Once the Schrock-type metal carbenes became known this changed. In 1980 Schrock and coworkers reported tungsten carbene complexes... 

The mechanism of the alkene metathesis reaction is now very well understood and is shown in Scheme 1. The initial mechanistic proposal of a pairwise reaction (the pairwise mechanism) of two alkenes at a transition metal center in a pseudocyclobutane transition metal complex has been discarded in favor of the carbene mechanism (the Chauvin Mechanism) of Scheme 1. ... 

The mechanism described in Scheme 1 (the Chauvin mechanism) is the accepted mechanism of alkene metathesis, and its validity has been demonstrated in two ways. First, classical kinetic studies, including isotopic labeling and crossover experiments performed using poorly defined catalysts, conclusively demonstrated that the carbene mechanism was consistent with the experiments, while the pairwise mechanism was not. More recently, the synthesis of isolable carbene complexes that catalyze the reaction has allowed a more direct observation of the reaction. Each individual step in the Chauvin mechanism has now been observed spectroscopically for several of the well-defined catalyst systems. 

Metathesis, which is reversible and can be catalyzed by a variety of organometallic complexes, has been the subject of considerable investigation, and many reviews on this topic have been published.In 1970, Herisson and Chauvin proposed that these reactions are catalyzed by carbene (alkylidene) complexes that react with alkenes via the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediates, as shown in Figure 14-20. This mechanism, now known as the Chauvin mechanism, has received considerable support and is believed to be the pathway of the majority of transition metal-catalyzed olefin metathesis reactions. 

Mangohas raised an objection to the Chauvin mechanism. His analysis and calculation based on basic principles of thermodynamics indicates that more cyclopropane should be present in metathesis reactions than has been observed, i.e, at equilibrium 20% ethylene converts to cyclopropane. However, arguments that Mango s analysis is in error have been presented. Grubbs notes that the formation of cyclopropane is a chain-termination step and, since the initiation of metal carbenes is very slow compared to the catalytic reaction itself, the concentration of cyclopropane cannot be greater than the metal carbene. Grubbs concludes that the Chauvin mechanism is not inconsistent with thermodynamic calculations and remains as the mechanism most compatible with a large body of other experimental... 

Mechanism 3 shows a pathway that was strongly influenced by the results of Herisson and Chauvin and is outlined in Scheme 11.2. Two key intermediates in this pathway are an alkene-metal carbene complex (5) and a metallacyclobu-tane (6), formed through concerted cycloaddition of the M=C and C=C bonds. A highly significant feature of the mechanism, caused by the unsymmetrical structure of 6, is its explanation of randomization early in the course of reaction. The Herisson-Chauvin mechanism does not require a specific pair of alkenes to interact directly for metathesis to occur, hence the name non-pairwise mechanism. 

The early development of Mechanism 3 was bold for its day because Fischer carbene complexes had just been discovered a few years earlier, and alkylidenes were not yet known. The carbene complexes prepared before 1971 also did not catalyze olefin metathesis. With the discovery of Schrock carbene complexes and the demonstration that some alkylidenes could promote metathesis, the non-pairwise mechanism became more plausible (Section 11-1-2). It was, however, the elegant work of Katz and co-workers that provided early substantial support for the Herisson-Chauvin mechanism. 

First, Katz13 conducted an experiment similar to that of Herisson and Chauvin (equation 11.8), which he termed the double cross metathesis. If Mechanism 2 were operative, the product ratios [8]/[7] and [8]/[9] should be zero when concentrations were extrapolated back to the very beginning of the reaction (t0), because 8—the double cross product would have to form after the symmetrical products 7 and 9. 

Fig. 26.4 A catalyic cycle for ring-closure metathesis (RCM) showing the Chauvin mechanism which involves [2 + 2]-cycloadditions and cycloreversions.

Fig. 4.17. The pairwise [2 + 2] mechanism and the Chauvin mechanism for olefin metathesis.

Fig. 4.18. Labeling experiment to confirm the Chauvin mechanism of olefin metathesis.

Further mechanistic studies ruled out the original pairwise [2 + 2] mechanism and provided additional support for the Chauvin mechanism. Labeling studies, such as the experiment in Fig. 4.18, revealed that the kinetic product (the product at low conversion) of the metathesis of 1,7-octadiene derivatives is a statistical distribution (1 2 1) of d -, d2-, and ii 44abeled ethylene [58]. This is inconsistent with the pairwise [2 + 2] mechanism, which would have produced a non-statistical distribution (1 1.6 1) of labeled ethylene. 

By analogy to olefin metathesis, alkyne metathesis occurs between a complex containing a metal-carbon triple bond - a metal carbyne (or alkylidyne) - and an alkyne substrate [66]. As illustrated in Fig. 4.21, this mechanism parallels the Chauvin mechanism for olefin metathesis after alkyne coordination to the metal center, [2 - - 2] cycloaddition between the metal carbyne and the alkyne yields a metallacyclobutadiene, which rearranges and fragments productively to afford a new carbyne and a new alkyne (Fig. 4.21) [54]. 

While the basic Chauvin mechanism of olefin metathesis has been appreciated and acknowledged for some time, the studies on both Schrock and Grubbs type catalysts show that the knowledge of the mechanistic steps necessary to access Ghauvin-metathesis intermediates, and details concerning the structures and geometries of these intermediates, can lead to ever-improving and selective catalysts for this important polymerization reaction. 

In Section 24.12, we introduced alkene (olefin) metathesis, i.e. metal-catalysed reactions in which C=C bonds are redistributed. The importance of alkene and alkyne metathesis was recognized by the award of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis . Examples of alkene metathesis are shown in Figure 27.3. The Chauvin mechanism for metal-catalysed alkene metathesis involves a metal alkyli-dene species and a series of [2 + 2]-cycloadditions and cycloreversions (Figure 27.4). Scheme 27.6 shows the mechanism for alkyne metathesis which involves a high oxidation state metal alkylidyne complex, L M=CR. 

Based on the experimental fact and following the Chauvin mechanism for alkane metathesis, a probable mechanism was proposed for hydro-metathesis of propene (Scheme 28). 

A very interesting catalytic reaction is metathesis, where alkylidenes are exchanged between alkenes. In the classic Chauvin mechanism, an aUgrlidene fragment is cleaved from the alkene substrate and transferred to the metal via the process of equation 24, which requires a metal carbene as catalyst. This has been applied to ring-closing reactions like equation 27 and polymerizations like equation 28. 

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