Nucleophilic Addition to Pyrrolium Complexes

Nucleophilic Addition to Pyrrolium Complexes Hydride Addition 

Nucleophilic addition has been achieved with azafulvenium complexes, which, like 32, are kinetically slower to deprotonate. When the 

The preceding sections describe regioselective electrophilic addition of pyrrole complexes at the 3-position with various electrophiles to give ( -substituted lZ/-pyrrole or 3//-pyrrolium isomers. The latter compounds, in contrast to their noncomplexed counterparts, are only moderately acidic (pKa 6) and therefore resist rearomatization and multiple alkylations. For example, when uncomplexed 2,5-dimethylpyrrole is treated with 1 equiv of methyl acrylate and TBSOTf, a statistical 1 2 1 ratio of starting material, monoalkylated 105 (vide infra), and 3,4-bis-alkylated product is found.12 Treatment of 1-methylpyrrole under the same conditions results in at least four alkylated products along with starting material. In contrast, coordination by osmium results in smooth 

Nucleophilic addition of the metal-stabilized pyrrolium complexes is readily achieved with borohydride and cyanide ion. The scope of this reactivity is bracketed by the diminished electrophilicity of the iminium carbons and the acidity of the ammine ligands, which prevents the use of strongly basic nucleophiles. Competing deprotonation of the acidic pyrrolium ring protons is observed primarily only with 3//-pyrrolium complexes or when bulky nucleophiles are used. 

In addition to the high regiochemistry observed, the bulky osmium pentaammine metal center also effectively blocks one face of the pyrrole ring from attack. This directs each transformation carried out on the complex to occur on the same face of the pyrrole ring. For example, in the synthesis of 3-pyrroline complex 74, both protonation and hydride addition occur from the same face of the pyrrole ring, producing 74 exclusively as the c/s-isomer. This feature is also illustrated in the synthesis of pyrrolizinone 109 vide infra), where a stereoselective hydride reduction allows the preparation of 109 as only one diastereomer. 

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C. Nucleophilic Addition to Pyrrolium Complexes Hydride Addition... 

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