Palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative processes

In the palladium-catalyzed carbonylation process, allyl formate, prepared by the reaction of allyl alcohol with formic acid, oxidatively adds to Pd(0) species with the C-0 bond cleavage to give allyl palladium formate. The CO insertion into the allylpalladium bond produces butenoyl palladium formate, which reductively ehminates butenoic formic anhydride with regeneration of the catalytically active Pd(0) species. Spontaneous decarbonylation of the mixed anhydride yields 3-butenoic acid, which isomerizes to 2-butenoic acid [61]. The process to give the butenoic acid proceeds only under CO pressure, suggesting that the CO insertion into the allyl-Pd bond is favored under CO pressure. When the reaction is carried out under normal pressure of CO, decarboxylation of the formate to give palladium hydride takes place. Reductive elimination of the allylpalladium hydride yields hydrogenation product of the allyl moiety [62]. 

In 2000, a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative carbonylation of 5-vinyloxazolidin-2-ones was studied by Knight and coworkers [44]. By a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative carbonylation process, 5-vinyloxazohdin-2-ones, which are prepared... 

It has been reported that a retro-oxidative cyclization process proceeds in catalytic C-C bond cleavage reactions. For example, a six-membered cyclic allylic carbonate 38 underwent a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylative C-C bond cleaving reaction to afford dienyl aldehyde 40 (Scheme 7.12) [15]. It is proposed that oxidative addition of the allylic carbonate to palladium(O) followed by elimination of carbon dioxide generates the palladacycle 39. Subsequent retro-oxidative cyclization produces the diene and aldehyde functionalities. 

Furthermore, the first catalytic synthesis of allenes with high enantiomeric purity [15c, 25] was applied recently to the pheromone 12 by Ogasawara and Hayashi [26] (Scheme 18.7). Their palladium-catalyzed SN2 -substitution process of the bromo-diene 16 with dimethyl malonate in the presence of cesium tert-butanolate and catalytic amounts of the chiral ligand (R)-Segphos furnished allene 17 with 77% ee. Subsequent transformation into the desired target molecule 12 via decarboxylation and selenoxide elimination proceeded without appreciable loss of stereochemical purity and again (cf. Scheme 18.5) led to the formation of the allenic pheromone in practically the same enantiomeric ratio as in the natural sample. 

On the basis of this palladium-mediated Michael addition cyclization process, a novel two-step synthetic entry into functionalized furan derivatives 67 has also been devised (Scheme 28). Substitution of benzylidene (or alkyli-dene) malonates for their ethoxymethylene analog (65) as activating olefins gave rise to the formation of the corresponding 2-ethoxy-4-arylidene tetrahy-drofurans 66. An in situ addition of potassium ferf-buloxidc induced a decar-boxylative elimination reaction which was followed by an isomerization of the exocyclic double bond. The entire process successively involved a conjugate addition, a palladium-catalyzed cyclization-coupling reaction, a base-induced eliminative decarboxylation, and finally, a double bond isomerization [73]. 

Sequential decarboxylative azomethine ylide cycloaddition-palladium catalyzed hydrostannylation-cyclization-anion capture processes have also been achieved (Scheme 5.6.10). ... 

Tanaka D, Romeril ASP, Myers AG (2005) On the mechanism of the palladium(II)-catalyzed decarboxylative olefination of arene carboxylic acids. Crystallographic characterization of non-phosphine palladium(II) intermediates and observation of their stepwise transformation in Heck-like processes. J Am Chem Soc 127 10323-10333... 

Heck carbonylation involving the oxidative addition of aryl halides is not applicable to aliphatic halides, since alkyl halides react directly with nucleophiles. Tsuji developed a process of carbonylating allyl carbonates to form carboxylic esters by palladium-catalyzed carbonylation that is applicable to aliphatic substrates [60]. The process probably involves (a) the oxidative addition of allyl carbonates to Pd(0) species to form r/ -allyl palladium species, (b) CO insertion into the allyl-Pd bond to give acylpalladium species, (c) decarboxylation of the carbonate ligand to give alkoxide, and (d) liberation of butenoate esters by combination with the alkoxides as shown in Scheme 1.21. 

In 2002, Miura [71a] reported palladiumotalyzed multiple C-H arylations of thiophenes. For example, under optimized catalytic conditions [Pd(OAc)2/P(t-Bu)2(o-biphenyl)/Cs2C03 in refluxing o-xylene], thiophene-2Substituted thiophenes, even with electron-withdrawing groups, were also triarylated. This process involves palladium-catalyzed and base-promoted hydrolytic C-N fission, followed by decarboxylative C-C cleavage. Thereafter, Miura also reported this type of reaction [71b] and expanded it to synthesize tetraarylthiophenes [71cj. 

Another synthetic method for the production of pseudoionone, which starts from myrcene [94a], [94b], has never been commercialized for the production of fragrance materials (see also p. 45, geranylacetone). The process consists of a rhodium-catalyzed addition of methyl acetoacetate to myrcene, transesterification of the resulting ester with allyl alcohol, and an oxidative decarboxylation of the allyl ester under palladium catalysis to obtain pseudoionone. 

Myers oxidative decarboxylative Heck reaction became the prototype for a whole series of regiospecific oxidative couplings in which carboxylic acids adopt the reactivity of aryl electrophiles in the corresponding redox-neutral processes [67-72]. Crabtree et al. developed a process in which arenes react with aromatic carboxylates under C-H activation in the presence of a palladium catalyst and excess silver carbonate to yield biaryls. This reaction is useful especially for intramolecular couplings (Scheme 20) [73, 74]. Recently, a palladium-free, silver-catalyzed radical variant has been disclosed [78]. 

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