Nucleophiles alkene complexes

Typical nucleophiles known to react with coordinated alkenes are water, alcohols, carboxylic acids, ammonia, amines, enamines, and active methylene compounds 11.12]. The intramolecular version is particularly useful for syntheses of various heterocyclic compounds[l 3,14]. CO and aromatics also react with alkenes. The oxidation reactions of alkenes can be classified further based on these attacking species. Under certain conditions, especially in the presence of bases, the rr-alkene complex 4 is converted into the 7r-allylic complex 5. Various stoichiometric reactions of alkenes via 7r-allylic complex 5 are treated in Section 4. 

The pyrolysis of sodium chlorodinuoroacetate is still a widely used, classical method for generating difluorocarbene, especially with enol and allyl acetates [48, 49, 50, 51] (equation 21) A convenient alternative that avoids the hygroscopic salt uses methyl chlorodifluoroacetate with 2 equivalents of a lithium chlonde-hexa-methylphosphoric triamide complex at 75-80 °C in triglyme [52], Yields are excellent with electron-rich olefins but are less satisfactory with moderately nucleophilic alkenes (4-5% yields for 2-bulenes)... 

Carbonylation reactions have been observed using both Pd(II)-alkene complexes and CT-bonded Pd(II) species formed by oxidative addition. Under reductive conditions, the double bond can be hydrocarbonylated, resulting in the formation of a carboxylic acid or ester.238 In nucleophilic solvents, the intermediate formed by solvopalladation is intercepted by carbonylation and addition of nucleophilic solvent. In both types of reactions, regioisomeric products are possible. 

Interestingly, Hoveyda and coworkers observed a second-order dependence of the reaction rate on the concentration of zirconium in these reactions, suggesting that the zirconacyclopentane is formed from a bimetallic alkene-zirconate complex such as A in Fig. 1 [21]. This finding suggests that olefin alkylations and substitutions occur via reaction of a nucleophilic alkene unit [23]. 

The carbon-metal cr-bond emanating from the addition of an alcohol nucleophile to a 7t-alkene complex may undergo a protonolytic cleavage to effect overall hydroalkoxylation of the alkene. While this process is difficult to achieve due to the propensity of the cr-metal species to undergo f3-H elimination, some encouraging progress in this area has recently been forthcoming. 

Co-ordination of an alkene to an electronegative metal (often it may carry a positive charge) activates the alkene toward attack of nucleophiles. After the nucleophilic attack the alkene complex has been converted into a c-bonded alkyl complex with the nucleophile at the (3-position. With respect to the alkene (in the "organic" terminology) the alkene has undergone anti addition of M and the nucleophile Nu, see Figure 2.25. 

The mechanism is illustrated in Figure 13.9. Nucleophilic attack leads to rotation and formation of the 7t-alkene complex. The left-hand structure will undergo a counter clockwise rotation and experience large steric hindrance. The clockwise rotation on the right leads to a much more favourable situation. 

Several other observations suggest that nucleophilic carbene complexes, similarly to, e.g., sulfur ylides, can cyclopropanate acceptor-substituted olefins by an addition-elimination mechanism. If, e.g., acceptor-substituted olefins are added to a mixture of a simple alkene and the metathesis catalyst PhWCl3/AlCl3, the metathesis reaction is quenched and small amounts of acceptor-substituted cyclopropanes can be isolated [34]. 

Cycloreversion of four-membered metallacycles is the most common method for the preparation of high-valent titanium [26,27,31,407,599-606] and zirconium [599,601] carbene complexes. These are usually very reactive, nucleophilic carbene complexes, with a strong tendency to undergo C-H insertion reactions or [2 -F 2] cycloadditions to alkenes or carbonyl compounds (see Section 3.2.3). Figure 3.31 shows examples of the generation of titanium and zirconium carbene complexes by [2 + 2] cycloreversion. 

The order of reactivity of these three catalysts towards alkenes (but also towards oxygen) is 1 > 3 > 2. As illustrated by the examples in Table 3.18, these catalysts tolerate a broad spectrum of functional groups. Highly substituted and donor- or acceptor-substituted olefins can also be suitable substrates for RCM. It is indeed surprising that acceptor-substituted alkenes can be metathesized. As discussed in Section 3.2.2.3 such electron-poor alkenes can also be cyclopropanated by nucleophilic carbene complexes [34,678] or even quench metathesis reactions [34]. This seems, however, not to be true for catalysts 1 or 2. 

Palladium-catalyzed allylic oxidations, in contrast, are synthetically useful reactions. Palladium compounds are known to give rise to carbonyl compounds or products of vinylic oxidation via nucleophilic attack on a palladium alkene complex followed by p-hydride elimination (Scheme 9.16, path a see also Section 9.2.4). Allylic oxidation, however, can be expected if C—H bond cleavage precedes nucleophilic attack 694 A poorly coordinating weak base, for instance, may remove a proton, allowing the formation of a palladium rr-allyl complex intermediate (89, path by694-696 Under such conditions, oxidative allylic substitution can compete... 

Alkenes bonded to platinum(II) can be displaced by strongly coordinating ligands such as cyanide ion or tertiary phosphines. The displacement of ethylene from Zeise s salt by phosphines is a useful method of preparation of complexes trawa-PtCl2(PR3)2.711 Amines will also displace alkenes from coordination to platinum(II), but this reaction can compete with nucleophilic attack at the coordinated alkenic carbon. The stability of platinum(II) alkene complexes follows the sequence C2H4 > PhCH=CH2 > Ph2C=CH2 555 Ph(Me)C=CH2.712... 

Coordination of an alkene to platinum(O) differs from complexation to platmum(Il) Zerovalent platinum is an electron-rich metal center, whereas platinum(II) is electron poor. A a consequence alkenes coordinated to platinum(0) became more electron rich than in their fret state, and therefore susceptible to electrophilic attack. For alkenes complexed to platinum(II) their primary mode of reactivity is by attack from an external nucleophile. 

The reactivity of alkenes increases with their nucleophilic nature in the order tetra-substituted>trisubstituted>disubstituted>monosubstituted. Further, the epoxidation rate V = /c2X[alkene][complex]/(l + J [alkene]) shows that decomposition of the alkene-metal complex represents the rate determining step in this reaction. 

Most of the reactions listed in Table 6 involve prior activation of the substrate by coordination to palladium in the form of a v-, a 77-ally lie, a 77-benzylic, or an alkyl or aryl complex. Once coordinated to the metal, the substrate becomes an electron acceptor and can react with a variety of different nucleophiles. The addition of nucleophiles (Nu) to the coordinated substrate may occur in two different ways, as shown by Scheme 9 for 7r-alkene complexes 397"399 (a) external attack leading to trans addition of palladium and nucleophile across the 77-system (path A) or (b) internal addition of the coordinated nucleophile to the complexed alkene resulting in cis addition of palladium and nucleophile to the double bond. The cis and trans adducts (120) and (121) may then undergo /3-hydride elimination (/3-H), producing the vinylic oxidation product... 

Nitrogen nucleophiles such as amines (and in intramolecular cases, amides and tosamides) readily add to alkenes complexed to palladium(ll) and iron(ll) with reactivity and regiochemical features parallel to those observed for oxygen nucleophiles. However, these metal-assisted animation reactions are subject... 

As stated above, aliphatic amines are potent ligands for electrophilic transition metals and are efficient catalyst poisons in attempted alkene animation reactions. However, tosylation of the basic amino group greatly reduces its complexing ability, yet does not compromise its ability to nucleophilically attack complexed alkenes. Thus, a variety of alkenic tosamides efficiently cyclized under palladium(II) catalysis producing N-tosylenamines in excellent yield (equations 17 and 18).32 Again, this alkene amination proceeded through an unstable a-alkylpalladium(II) species, which could be intercepted by carbon monoxide, to result in an overall aminocarbonylation of alkenes. With ureas of 3-hydroxy-4-pentenyl-amines (Scheme 7), this palladium-catalyzed process was quite efficient but it was somewhat less so with... 

Cationic cyclopentadienyliron dicarbonyl (Fp) alkene complexes are generally reactive towards a wide variety of nucleophiles, including nitrogen nucleophiles, but they too generate stable chemical step (usually oxidation). This makes catalysis impossible and severely limits application of this methodology to organic synthesis (equation 21 ).36 However, in contrast to palladium, iron is relatively inexpensive and stoichiometric procedures... 

Cationic iron-alkene complexes also participate in an unusual cycloaddition process, wherein electron-deficient alkenes are attacked by nucleophilic o -allylic Fp complexes, generating stabilized carb-anions and cationic alkene-iron complexes. Attack of the carbanion on the alkene forming a five-membered ring completes this process (Scheme 13). Oxidative removal of the iron produces useful organic compounds.19-21... 

Prins reaction (cf 10, 186-187). Dimethylaluminum chloride is an effective catalyst for the ene addition of formaldehyde (as trioxane or paraformaldehyde) to mono- and 1,2-disubstituted alkenes.5 When 1.5-2.0 equiv. of the Lewis acid is used, homoallylic alcohols are obtained, usually in high yield. y-Chloro alcohols, formed by cis-addition of -Cl and -CH2OH to the double bond, are sometimes also observed when only 1 equiv. of the Lewis acid is present. The advantage of this reaction over the Prins reaction (using HC1) is that m-dioxanes are not formed as by-products, because formaldehyde no longer functions as a nucleophile when complexed to the Lewis acid. 

Wittig-type alkenation of the carbonyl group is possible with Ti carbene compounds [56], The reaction is explained by the formation of nucleophilic carbene complexes of Ti, although they are not isolated. In the carbonyl alkenation, the oxametallacyclo-butane intermediate 182 is formed by [2+2] cycloaddition of the carbene complex 181 with the carbonyl group. This intermediate is converted to the new alkene 183 and the Ti(IV) oxo species 184, which is a stable compound, and hence the carbonyl alkenation requires a stoichiometric amount of the Ti complex. Also, ester 185 is converted to the enol ether 187 via 186. 

The chemistry of pyrrol-1-ylbenzylidene pentacarbonyl chromium, molybdenum and tungsten complexes was investigated. Reaction with electrophilic alkenes gives l-(phenylcyclo-propyl)pyrroles Under photolytic decarbonylation conditions 2 + 2 cycloaddition products were obtained with nucleophilic alkenes, cyclic dienes and imines. <950M2522>... 

The chiral anisole derivative 37 has been used in the synthesis of several asymmetric functionalized cyclohexenes (Table 9) [22]. In a reaction sequence similar to that employed with racemic anisole complexes, 37 adds an electrophile and a nucleophile across C4 and C3, respectively, to form the cyclohexadiene complex 38. The vinyl ether group of 38 can then be reduced by the tandem addition of a proton and hydride to C2 and Cl, respectively, affording the alkene complex 39. Direct oxidation of 39 liberates cydohexenes 40 and 41, in which the initial asymmetric auxiliary is still intact. Alternatively, the auxiliary may be cleaved under acidic conditions to afford /y3 -allyl complexes, which can be regioselectively attacked by another nucleophile at Cl. Oxidative decomplexation liberates the cyclohexenes 42-44. HPLC analysis revealed high ee values for the organic products isolated both with and without the initial asymmetric group. 

In Fig. 4.35 the nucleophile depicted is anionic, but Nu may also be a neutral nucleophile, such as an amine or H2O. There are many alkene complexes of middle and late transition elements which undergo this type of reaction, e.g. M = Pd2+, Pt2, Hg2+, Zn2+, FeCp(CO)2+. The addition reaction of this type is the key step in the Wacker-type processes catalyzed by palladium. 

The basic principle of this chemistry is that rf-alkene-Pd(II) complexes, usually generated in situ, are easily attacked by nucleophiles to form (T-alkyl-Pd species, which in turn are able to react further in a variety of ways. In general, several kinds of nucleophiles (e.g. alcohols, amines and enolethers) are able to attack the alkene complex intermediates in an intra- or intermolecular fashion. This article, however, focusses exclusively on intramolecular alkoxypalladations, i.e. transformations of the type 2 3, which are of particular synthetic relevance. 

Fp()] -alkene)+ salts (79) are much more electrophilic than (CO)4Fe()] -alkene) complexes. The former enter into reaction with a wide range of nucleophiles, and are also therefore susceptible to proton abstraction. 

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