Nonorganometallic Approaches to the Formation of a C—Pb Bond

In 1960, Becker and Cook found that the reaction of trialkylplumbanes R3PbH (R = Me, Et) with diazoethane at —80°C in ether led to R3PbEt in a low yield. 

The hydroplumbylation reaction (addition of organolead hydrides to multiple bonds) was first carried out by Becker and Cook. They showed that MesPbH added to ethylene in diglyme at 0°C under pressure of 17-35 atm to give MesPbEt in 92% yield. Further investigations were performed by Neumann and Ktihlein and by Leusink and van der Kerk in 1965. The addition of RsPbOH or RsPbOCOR to ketene, which was studied only in 1965, was of specific interest . 

In 1958, Panov and Kocheshkov found another route to the formation of the C—Pb bond, namely the interaction of tetraacyloxyplumbanes with aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds (the plumbylation reaction). They showed that the reaction of thiophene with Pb(OCOPr-i)4 at room temperature during 10 days led to unstable RPb(OCOR )3 (R = 2-thienyl R = i-Pr), which was disproportionated to R2Pb(OCOR )2 and Pb(OCOR )4. 

In 1860, Klippel obtained a series of triethylacyloxyplumbanes Et3PbOCOR with R = H, Me, Pr, Ph, as well as the corresponding oxalates, tartrates, cyanides and cyanates. 

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