NHCs , applications olefin metathesis

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. 

The recent applications of NHCs in ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis and palladium/nickel-catalyzed coupling reactions show the value of such a profound understanding about ligand properties before using them for specific catalytic transformations. 

A closer look on the history of the development of catalyst 52 shows that this class of compounds was to some degree predestined for the application of NHCs. Complex 51 containing triphenylphosphines is an active catalyst for olefin metathesis. However, the substitution of the triphenylphosphines by more electron-donating and sterically more demanding tricyclohexylphosphines is accompanied by a significantly increased stability and catalytic performance " Thus, complexes of type 53 58,2S5 logical development with respect... 

Promising applications for metal-NHC compounds in materials science and medicinal chemistry are based on the strong metal-carbon bond and the high donor capability of the NHC. The most extensive investigations have been carried out in the field of homogeneous catalysis. Here, NHCs have to be considered as typical directing or innocent spectator ligands, best comparable to trialkylphosphines. The recent successful applications of NHCs in ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis... 

This chapter will give an outline of how the application of NHCs has influenced the field of olefin metathesis. The improvements in activity and reactivity observed with second generation catalysts compared to first generation catalysts will be the major focus. We will not provide a comprehensive... 

The ruthenium catalysed olefin metathesis reaction is one of the most important catalytic reactions [77-79] and one that is distinctly underdeveloped for asymmetric applications [80]. Only a few concepts have been brought forward [80,81], of which the combination of a NHC ligand with a 1,1-binaphlhyl scaffold carrying a hydroxyl anchor group is the most promising to date. 

The past decade has witnessed extensive modifications of Af-heterocyclic carbene ligands for ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts. This includes symmetrical and unsymmetrical NHCs, 1,3- and 4,5-substitutions, introduction of heteroatoms into the backbone, NHC ring size variation, and introduction of chirality. Most of these changes were initially targeted to improve stability and activity of the catalyst, while recent approaches are mainly focused on affording well-defined stereoselectivity. However, the activity and stability of the ruthenium-based metathesis catalysts are not solely ruled by the type of neutral NHC ligand the anionic ligands, chelation mode, substrates used, and the reaction conditions naturally also influence catalytic properties. One of the main lessons learned from ruthenium olefin metathesis development is that there is no one catalyst fits all and every type of application must be studied in detail in order to discover the most efficient catalytic complex. 

The first report of NHC-containing osmium compounds acting as catalysts came from Esteruelas and co-workers in 2005. Thus, cationic benzyli-dene complexes 44 were prepared by reaction of the corresponding 16-electron precursors [(NHC)OsCl(p-cymene)][OTf] (NHC = IMes or IPr) with phe-nyldiazomethane, and their potential as initiators for olefin metathesis was probed in the RCM of diethyl diallylmalonate, the ROMP of cyclooctene, and a variety of self- and cross-metathesis reactions (Equation (7.10)). Although they were not as efficient as standard ruthenium-benzylidene metathesis initiators, compounds 44 displayed, nevertheless, a fairly decent activity. More importantly, in addition to being the first NHC-Os catalytic application, this study constituted a rare example of osmium catalysed C-C bond formation. 

One area of catalysis in which the application of NHCs as ancillary ligands has had a significant impact is ruthenium-catalysed olefin metathesis. While phosphine-bearing first-generation complexes such as Grubbs I have enabled a variety of synthetic chemistry, from natural products and drugs to... 

Ru-catalyzed AROM/CM sequences served as a key step in the total synthesis of baconipyrone C (163, Scheme 24.42), a marine polyketide isolated from Siphonaria baconi The employed Ru carbene [Ru]-VI is generated in situ by treatment of the achiral Ru-PCya complex with Ag-based V-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) and Nal. And then, the [Ru]-VI-catalyzed AROM/RCM of oxabicycle 161 with styrene (8 equiv) afforded the fully substituted pyran 162 in 62% yield and in 88% ee. The additional transformations led to 163 in good overall yield. Although this application of AROM/CM process to 161 was the first and rare example of Ru-catalyzed enantioselective olefin metathesis process, very recently, an application of enantioselective RCM reaction catalyzed by [Ru]-VII to the synthesis of (—)-5-e/>/-citreoviral has been reported by Funk. ... 

One important field of application of the NHC in transition metal-catalysed reactions is obviously the olefin metathesis. Among the various applications described, one can notice the nice use of complex (15) to affect the desymmetrization of oxabicyclic alkenes by a Z-diastereoselective and enantioselective ring opening/cross metathesis with enol... 

Total synthesis of baconipyrone C, summarized in Scheme 12.5 [10], is the first and only application of Ru-catalyzed enantioselective olefin metathesis to natural product synthesis. Treatment of oxabicycle 11 with styrene and 2mol% chiral Ru complex [Ru]-XV [11] leads to the formation of pyran 12 in 62% yield and with an enantiomeric ratio of 94 6. Ru-carbene [Ru]-XV is generated in situ by subjecting the corresponding Ag-based N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) to an achiral Ru-PCys complex and Nal. It is also worthy of note that the diketone fragment of baconipyrone C was synthesized through a tandem double-allylic alkylation process promoted by a chiral NHC-Cu complex that is structurally related to carbene [Ru]-XV. 

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