Nickel, bipyridyl desulfurization

Dibenzofuran is also formed when phenoxathiin is desulfurized by bis( 1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel(O) and 2,2 -bipyridyl, but limited synthetic application can be envisaged for this type of reaction despite the high yield obtained (see Scheme 77).140... 

Desulfuration.1 This complex as such or in combination with 2,2 -bipyridyl (bpy) or triphenylphosphine (a NiCRAL) can effect desulfuration of heteroarenes. aryl thioethers, dithioketals, sulfoxides, or sulfones in DME or THF at 63° in 1.5-30 hours. NiCRA is sufficient for aryl thioethers, dithioketals, but NiCRALs are more efficient for desulfuration of heteroarenes. Yields can be comparable with those obtained with Raney nickel. 

Eisch et al. (24) performed a mechanistic study of the desulfurization of dibenzothiophene by a nickel(0)-bipyridyl complex and reported that a radical anion of the thiophene nucleus was formed and underwent C-S bond cleavage into S and an aromatic radical. In addition, they suggested that the oxidative reaction of the nickel(0)-bipyridyl complex toward dibenzothiophene had the characteristics of stepwise electron transfer rather than nucleophilic attack. However, no correlations occurred between the desulfurization rate and the reaction indexes of Fr(E), Fr(N), and Fr(R), as shown in Table II. The results suggested no evidence for either electron transfer or nucleophilic attack in this study. Moreover, the radical reaction was not... 

The ease of interaction of Ni(0) complexes with organic substrates has been shown to depend upon both the ligands on nickel and the solvent. The presence of a,a-bipyridyl with the Ni(0) complex and the alkyne led to the isolation of a nickelacyclopropene, an observation in accord with the recently proposed metallocyclic pathway for the Ni(0)-cata-lyzed trimerization of alkynes. Allylic and benzylic ethers and epoxides have been observed to undergo oxidative insertion of Ni(0) into their C-0 bonds with solvent (TMEDA > THE > Et O > CeHe) and ligand (EtsP > PhsP a,a-bipy > COD) effects consistent with an electron-transfer attack by Ni(0). With such sulfur heterocycles as dibenzothiophene, phenoxathiin, phenothiazine, and thian-threne, a 1 1 admixture of (COD)2Ni with a,a-bipyridyl gave as the principal product the desulfurized, ring-contracted cyclic product. 

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