Organocadmium

The main use of organocadmium compounds is for the preparation of ketones and keto-esters, and their special merit lies in the fact that they react vigorously with acid chlorides of all types but add sluggishly or not at all to multiple bonds (compare addition of Grignard reagents to carbonyl groups). Some t3rpical syntheses are ... 

The success of the last reaction depends upon the inertness of the ester carbonyl groups towards the organocadmium compound with its aid and the use of various ester acid chlorides, a carbon chain can be built up to any reasonable length whilst retaining a reactive functional group (the ester group) at one end of the chain. Experimental details are given for l-chloro-2-hexanone and propiophenone. The complete reaction (formation of ketones or keto-esters) can be carried out in one flask without isolation of intermediates, so that the preparation is really equivalent to one step. 

Solvent plays a significant role in these reactions In contrast to the formation of organocadmium compounds in the duect reaction of perfluoroalkyl iodides and cadmium powder in DMF [729], dimerization of the perfluoroalkyl halide was observed in acetonitrile [777] (equation 100)... 

Organocadmium compounds are normally prepared from the appropriate Grignard reagents ... 

Organocadmium compounds may be prepared by the action of anhydrous cadmium chloride upon the corresponding Grignard reagents, for example ... 

Organocadmium compounds can be prepared from Grignard reagents or organo-lithium compounds by reaction with Cd(II) salts.180 They can also be prepared directly from alkyl, benzyl, and aryl halides by reaction with highly reactive cadmium metal generated by reduction of Cd(II) salts.181... 

The most common application of organocadmium compounds has been in the preparation of ketones by reaction with acyl chlorides. A major disadvantage of the use of organocadmium reagents is the toxicity and environmental problems associated with use of cadmium, and this has limited the recent use of organocadmium reagents. 

Efforts to improve the efficient synthesis of organocadmium complexes by reaction of elemental cadmium with alkyl halides have been reported. Recent studies show that the presence of catalytic amounts of Cul and BuMgl in the reaction of alkyliodides with cadmium metal allows for the formation of 172a-c in high yield and high purity (Equation (58)).241... 

Additionally, Cd(OCOCF3)2 reacts with methyl-substituted quinolium perchlorate salts 184 in basic media to afford the organocadmium compound 185 (Scheme 21).247... 

The reaction of dabco (l,4-diazobicyclo[2.2.2]octane) with Me2Cd yields a 1 1 adduct 197, which adopts a linear polymeric structure (Figure 34).255 The cadmium atom is coordinated by two dabco units and two methyl carbon atoms giving rise to a distorted tetrahedral environment. Finally, the organocadmium adduct 198 (Figure 35) has been isolated from the reaction of Me2Cd with Cd[(SeP-/-Pr2)2N]2.256 The solid-state structure consists of dimeric units where each methylcadmium unit is coordinated to three selenium atoms. The geometry about the cadmium center is tetrahedral with a Cd-C distance of 2.16 A, which is comparable to that observed in other cadmium alkyl complexes. 

Important Transformations Involving Organocadmium Derivatives 2.07.2.4.1 Metathesis reactions... 

Organocadmium species are useful reagents for the transfer of fluorinated alkyl or aryl groups to other main group or transition metal centers. Most of the recent cases illustrating this property involve the use of Cd(CF3)2 and Cd(C6F5)2... 

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