Organozinc compounds reaction with Grignard reagents

Recent notable improvements by Knochel and co-workers include iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of various acid chlorides 148 with dialkylzinc reagents (Equation (24))324 as well as the iron-catalyzed arylation of aroyl cyanides 149 with Grignard reagents (Equation (25)).3 5 In the first case Knochel s reaction conditions tolerate ester groups on the organozinc compounds, while in the latter case ester, aryl alkyl ether, cyano, and chloro functionalities on the aromatic moieties are compatibles with the reaction conditions. 

As shown in eqs. (5.3)-(5.7), organozinc compounds are easily prepared by the reactions of zinc compounds or zinc metal with organometallic compounds such as Grignard reagents, organoaluminum compounds, organomercury compounds and organolithium compounds [12,13,18]. 

By reaction of an a-halo ester 1 with zinc metal in an inert solvent such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran or dioxane, an organozinc compound 2 is formed (a Grignard reagent-like species). Some of these organozinc compounds are quite stable even a structure elucidation by x-ray analysis is possible in certain cases ... 

One of the important new directions in the study of addition reactions of organozinc compounds to aldehydes is the use of ionic liquids. Usually, application of these compounds in reactions with common organometallic reagents has a serious problem ionic solvents are usually reactive toward them, particularly Grignard and organolithium derivatives. It has been recently reported that carbonyl compounds react with allylzinc bromide formed in situ from allyl bromide and zinc in the ionic liquid 3-butyl-l-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, [bmim][BF4].285 Another important finding is that the more reactive ZnEt2 alkylates aldehydes in a number of ionic liquids at room temperature.286 The best yields (up to 96%) were obtained in A-butylpyridinium tetrafluoroborate, [bpy][BF4] (Scheme 107). 

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