Metathesis reactions catalysts

The catalysts that have played a dominant role in the development of this area of chemistry are those designed by Schrock (e.g. catalysts 27.1 and 27.2) and Grubbs (catalysts 27.3 and 27.4). Catalyst 27.3 is the traditional Grubbs catalyst , and related complexes are also used. The more recently developed second-generation catalyst 27.4 exhibits higher catalytic activities in alkene metathesis reactions. Catalysts 27.1, 27.3 and 27.4 are commercially available. 

Various types of unsaturated hydrocarbons have been reported to undergo metathesis reactions by contact with appropriate catalysts. A short survey is given below. It is to be expected that in the near future still more examples will be found. 

Solid catalysts for the metathesis reaction are mainly transition metal oxides, carbonyls, or sulfides deposited on high surface area supports (oxides and phosphates). After activation, a wide variety of solid catalysts is effective, for the metathesis of alkenes. Table I (1, 34 38) gives a survey of the more efficient catalysts which have been reported to convert propene into ethene and linear butenes. The most active ones contain rhenium, molybdenum, or tungsten. An outstanding catalyst is rhenium oxide on alumina, which is active under very mild conditions, viz. room temperature and atmospheric pressure, yielding exclusively the primary metathesis products. 

O Neill and Rooney 90) found that the Mo03-CoO-A1208 catalyst converts diazomethane into nitrogen and ethene under conditions where propene undergoes metathesis. However, because many catalysts are active for this conversion 91), their results cannot be considered as supporting the hypothesis that the metathesis reaction of alkenes proceeds via carbene complexes. 

Because in metathesis reactions with most catalyst systems a selectivity of nearly 100% is found, a carbene mechanism seems less likely. Banks and Bailey ( ) reported the formation of small quantities of C3-C6-alkenes, cyclopropane, and methylcyclopropane when ethene was passed over Mo(CO)6-A1203, which suggests reactions involving carbene complexes. However, similar results have not been reported elsewhere most probably the products found by Banks and Bailey were formed by side reactions, typical for their particular catalyst system. 

The above studies are consistent with the hypothesis that the metathesis reaction itself brings about cis-trans isomerization (46). This hypothesis is further supported by the results of a kinetic study of the reactions of the three linear butenes on the metathesis catalyst Mo(CO)6-A1203 by Davie et al. (107), who concluded that cis-trans isomerization for their system is a bimolecular reaction. 

Olefin metathesis is the transition-metal-catalyzed inter- or intramolecular exchange of alkylidene units of alkenes. The metathesis of propene is the most simple example in the presence of a suitable catalyst, an equilibrium mixture of ethene, 2-butene, and unreacted propene is obtained (Eq. 1). This example illustrates one of the most important features of olefin metathesis its reversibility. The metathesis of propene was the first technical process exploiting the olefin metathesis reaction. It is known as the Phillips triolefin process and was run from 1966 till 1972 for the production of 2-butene (feedstock propene) and from 1985 for the production of propene (feedstock ethene and 2-butene, which is nowadays obtained by dimerization of ethene). Typical catalysts are oxides of tungsten, molybdenum or rhenium supported on silica or alumina [ 1 ]. 

It has been demonstrated that group 6 Fischer-type metal carbene complexes can in principle undergo carbene transfer reactions in the presence of suitable transition metals [122]. It was therefore interesting to test the compatibility of ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts and electrophilic metal carbene functionalities. A series of examples of the formation of oxacyclic carbene complexes by metathesis (e.g., 128, 129, Scheme 26) was published by Dotz et al. [123]. These include substrates where double bonds conjugated to the pentacarbonyl metal moiety participate in the metathesis reaction. Evidence is... 

In Ghosh s enantioselective total synthesis of the cytotoxic marine macrolide (+)-amphidinolide T1 (318) [143], the C1-C10 fragment 317 was constructed by CM of subunits 315 and 316 (Scheme 62). The reaction mediated by catalyst C (5 mol%) afforded in the first cycle an inconsequential 1 1 mixture of (E/Z)-isomeric CM products 317 in 60% yield, along with the homodimers of 315 and 316. The self-coupling products were separated by chromatography and exposed to a second metathesis reaction to provide olefins 317 in additional 36% yield [144]. 

An obvious drawback in RCM-based synthesis of unsaturated macrocyclic natural compounds is the lack of control over the newly formed double bond. The products formed are usually obtained as mixture of ( /Z)-isomers with the (E)-isomer dominating in most cases. The best solution for this problem might be a sequence of RCAM followed by (E)- or (Z)-selective partial reduction. Until now, alkyne metathesis has remained in the shadow of alkene-based metathesis reactions. One of the reasons maybe the lack of commercially available catalysts for this type of reaction. When alkyne metathesis as a new synthetic tool was reviewed in early 1999 [184], there existed only a single report disclosed by Fiirstner s laboratory [185] on the RCAM-based conversion of functionalized diynes to triple-bonded 12- to 28-membered macrocycles with the concomitant expulsion of 2-butyne (cf Fig. 3a). These reactions were catalyzed by Schrock s tungsten-carbyne complex G. Since then, Furstner and coworkers have achieved a series of natural product syntheses, which seem to establish RCAM followed by partial reduction to (Z)- or (E)-cycloalkenes as a useful macrocyclization alternative to RCM. As work up to early 2000, including the development of alternative alkyne metathesis catalysts, is competently covered in Fiirstner s excellent review [2a], we will concentrate here only on the most recent natural product syntheses, which were all achieved by Fiirstner s team. 

Thus far, chemists have been able to influence the stereoselectivity of macro-cyclic RCM through steric and electronic substrate features or by the choice of a catalyst with appropriate activity, but there still exists a lack of prediction over the stereochemistry of macrocyclic RCM. One of the most important extensions of the original metathesis reaction for the synthesis of stereochemi-cally defined (cyclo)alkenes is alkyne metathesis, followed by selective partial hydrogenation. 

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