Palladium oxidative addition

Judging from literature precedents including the two representative syntheses of pyridine alkaloids shown here, not only ate the yields for oxidative cyclizations generally low, but also the reaction consumes at least stoichiometric amounts of expensive Pd(OAc)2. Therefore, this method has limited utility in synthesis. Nonetheless, great progress has been made recently towards catalytic palladium oxidative addition <99SL596>, making the method mote attractive for preparative purposes. 

The mechanism of the direct intramolecular Buchwald-Hartwig indole synthesis is that of a traditional palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction and begins with loss of a ligand on palladium. Oxidative addition of an appropriately substituted Z-vinylhaloarene (1) generates intermediate 2. Deprotonation of 2 and displacement of a halide ligand sets up a reductive elimination on 3 to yield indole 4. 

The possibilities for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds involving arenes have been dramatically increased in recent years by the use of transition metal catalysis. Copper-mediated reactions to couple aryl halides in Ulknann-type reactions [12, 13] have been known for many years, and copper still remains an important catalyst [14, 15]. However, the use of metals such as palladium [16,17] to effect substitution has led to such an explosion of research that in 2011 transition metal-catalyzed processes comprised more than half of the reactions classified as aromatic substitutions in Organic Reaction Mechanisms [18]. The reactions often involve a sequence outlined in Scheme 6.6 where Ln represents ligand(s) for the palladium. Oxidative addition of the aryl halide to the paiiadium catalyst is followed by transmetalation with an aryl or alkyl derivative and by reductive elimination to give the coupled product and legeuCTate the catalyst. Part 6 of this book elaborates these and related processes. 

Lithiation at C2 can also be the starting point for 2-arylatioii or vinylation. The lithiated indoles can be converted to stannanes or zinc reagents which can undergo Pd-catalysed coupling with aryl, vinyl, benzyl and allyl halides or sulfonates. The mechanism of the coupling reaction involves formation of a disubstituted palladium intermediate by a combination of ligand exchange and oxidative addition. Phosphine catalysts and salts are often important reaction components. 

There are also palladium-catalysed procedures for allylation. Ethyl 3-bromo-l-(4-methylphenylsulfonyl)indole-2-carboxylate is allylated at C3 upon reaction with allyl acetate and hexabutylditin[27], Ihe reaction presumably Involves a ir-allyl-Pd intermediate formed from the allyl acetate, oxidative addition, transmetallation and cross coupling. 

The best procedures for 3-vinylation or 3-arylation of the indole ring involve palladium intermediates. Vinylations can be done by Heck reactions starting with 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles. Under the standard conditions the active catalyst is a Pd(0) species which reacts with the indole by oxidative addition. A major con.sideration is the stability of the 3-halo or 3-sulfonyloxyindoles and usually an EW substituent is required on nitrogen. The range of alkenes which have been used successfully is quite broad and includes examples with both ER and EW substituents. Examples are given in Table 11.3. An alkene which has received special attention is methyl a-acetamidoacrylate which is useful for introduction of the tryptophan side-chain. This reaction will be discussed further in Chapter 13. 

Dehalogenation of monochlorotoluenes can be readily effected with hydrogen and noble metal catalysts (34). Conversion of -chlorotoluene to Ncyanotoluene is accompHshed by reaction with tetraethyl ammonium cyanide and zero-valent Group (VIII) metal complexes, such as those of nickel or palladium (35). The reaction proceeds by initial oxidative addition of the aryl haHde to the zerovalent metal complex, followed by attack of cyanide ion on the metal and reductive elimination of the aryl cyanide. Methylstyrene is prepared from -chlorotoluene by a vinylation reaction using ethylene as the reagent and a catalyst derived from zinc, a triarylphosphine, and a nickel salt (36). 

The aforementioned reaction is an example where even quinolinyl chloride is a good substrate for the oxidative addition to palladium(O) if the chlorine atom is at the activated position (a or 5). 

The Stille coupling of an aryl triflate normally calls for the addition of at least one equivalent of LiCl. Presumably, the transmetallation is facilitated by replacing triflate with CP at the palladium intermediate generated from oxidative addition. As Stille demonstrated in 1988, 4-quinolinyl triflate 100 was coupled with phenylstannane 101 in the presence of Pd(Ph3P)4 and LiCl in refluxing 1,4-dioxane to furnish biaryl 102, which was used as an intermediate for the first total synthesis of antibiotic amphimedine (88JA4051). 

This reaction is not a bona fide Heck reaction per se for two reasons (a) the starting material underwent a Hg Pd transmetallation first rather than the oxidative addition of an aryl halide or triflate to palladium(O) (b) instead of undergoing a elimination step to give an enone, transformation 134 136... 

The mechanism of action of the cyanation reaction is considered to progress as follows an oxidative addition reaction occurs between the aryl halide and a palladium(O) species to form an arylpalladium halide complex which then undergoes a ligand exchange reaction with CuCN thus transforming to an arylpalladium cyanide. Reductive elimination of the arylpalladium cyanide then gives the aryl cyanide. 

Oxidative addition—Reaction of the carbon electrophile with palladium-(0) complex 5 to give a palladium-(II) complex 6. 

The ease of formation of the carbene depends on the nucleophilicity of the anion associated with the imidazolium. For example, when Pd(OAc)2 is heated in the presence of [BMIM][Br], the formation of a mixture of Pd imidazolylidene complexes occurs. Palladium complexes have been shown to be active and stable catalysts for Heck and other C-C coupling reactions [34]. The highest activity and stability of palladium is observed in the ionic liquid [BMIM][Brj. Carbene complexes can be formed not only by deprotonation of the imidazolium cation but also by direct oxidative addition to metal(O) (Scheme 5.3-3). These heterocyclic carbene ligands can be functionalized with polar groups in order to increase their affinity for ionic liquids. While their donor properties can be compared to those of donor phosphines, they have the advantage over phosphines of being stable toward oxidation. 

The electrophilic character of the palladium atom in the complexes formed by oxidative addition of aryl halides and alkenyl halides to palladium(o) complexes can be exploited in useful ways. 

The intramolecular Heck reaction presented in Scheme 8 is also interesting and worthy of comment. Rawal s potentially general strategy for the stereocontrolled synthesis of the Strychnos alkaloids is predicated on the palladium-mediated intramolecular Heck reaction. In a concise synthesis of ( )-dehydrotubifoline [( )-40],22 Rawal et al. accomplished the conversion of compound 36 to the natural product under the conditions of Jeffery.23 In this ring-forming reaction, the a-alkenylpalladium(n) complex formed in the initial oxidative addition step engages the proximate cyclohexene double bond in a Heck cyclization, affording enamine 39 after syn /2-hydride elimination. The latter substance is a participant in a tautomeric equilibrium with imine ( )-40, which happens to be shifted substantially in favor of ( )-40. 

In an extension of this work, the Shibasaki group developed the novel transformation 48—>51 shown in Scheme 10.25c To rationalize this interesting structural change, it was proposed that oxidative addition of the vinyl triflate moiety in 48 to an asymmetric palladium ) catalyst generated under the indicated conditions affords the 16-electron Pd+ complex 49. Since the weakly bound triflate ligand can easily dissociate from the metal center, a silver salt is not needed. Insertion of the coordinated alkene into the vinyl C-Pd bond then affords a transitory 7t-allylpalladium complex 50 which is captured in a regio- and stereocontrolled fashion by acetate ion to give the optically active bicyclic diene 51 in 80% ee (89% yield). This catalytic asymmetric synthesis by a Heck cyclization/ anion capture process is the first of its kind. 

The postulated steps that constitute the Suzuki coupling process are shown in Scheme 25. After oxidative addition of the organic halide to the palladium(o) catalyst, it is presumed that a metathetical displacement of the halide substituent in the palladium(ii) complex A by ethoxide ion (or hydroxide ion) takes place to give an alkoxo-palladium(ff) complex B. The latter complex then reacts with the alkenylborane, generating the diorganopalladium complex C. Finally, reductive elimination of C furnishes the cross-coupling product (D) and regenerates the palladium(o) catalyst. 

In the direct coupling reaction (Scheme 30), it is presumed that a coordinatively unsaturated 14-electron palladium(o) complex such as bis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(o) serves as the catalytically active species. An oxidative addition of the organic electrophile, RX, to the palladium catalyst generates a 16-electron palladium(n) complex A, which then participates in a transmetalation with the organotin reagent (see A—>B). After facile trans- cis isomerization (see B— C), a reductive elimination releases the primary organic product D and regenerates the catalytically active palladium ) complex. 

For trisubstituted olefins, the nucleophile attacks predominantly at the less substituted end of the allyl moiety, e.g. to afford a 78 22 mixture of 13 and 14 (equation 7). Both the oxidative addition of palladium(O) and the subsequent nucleophilic attack occur with inversion of configuration to give the product of net retention7. The synthesis of the sex pheromone 15 of the Monarch butterfly has been accomplished by using bis[bis(l,2-diphenylphosphinoethane)]palladium as a catalyst as outlined in equation 87. A substitution of an allyl sulfone 16 by a stabilized carbon nucleophile, such as an alkynyl or vinyl system, proceeds regioselectively in the presence of a Lewis acid (equation 9)8. The... 

Carbon-carbon bond formation reactions and the CH activation of methane are another example where NHC complexes have been used successfully in catalytic applications. Palladium-catalysed reactions include Heck-type reactions, especially the Mizoroki-Heck reaction itself [171-175], and various cross-coupling reactions [176-182]. They have also been found useful for related reactions like the Sonogashira coupling [183-185] or the Buchwald-Hartwig amination [186-189]. The reactions are similar concerning the first step of the catalytic cycle, the oxidative addition of aryl halides to palladium(O) species. This is facilitated by electron-donating substituents and therefore the development of highly active catalysts has focussed on NHC complexes. 

Palladium(II) complexes provide convenient access into this class of catalysts. Some examples of complexes which have been found to be successful catalysts are shown in Scheme 11. They were able to get reasonable turnover numbers in the Heck reaction of aryl bromides and even aryl chlorides [22,190-195]. Mechanistic studies concentrated on the Heck reaction [195] or separated steps like the oxidative addition and reductive elimination [196-199]. Computational studies by DFT calculations indicated that the mechanism for NHC complexes is most likely the same as that for phosphine ligands [169], but also in this case there is a need for more data before a definitive answer can be given on the mechanism. 

Although, as has already been mentioned, under matrix conditions between 10 and 77 K, there is no oxidative addition of a chloroolefin to nickel or palladium atoms (141), it is evident that this is simply a function of reaction and processing conditions, as it has been shown (68) that oxidative addition to C-C or C-H bonds by nickel atoms leads to pseudocomplexes having Ni C H ratios of 2-5 1 2. Klabunde and co-workers investigated the oxidative addition-reactions of palladium atoms with alkyl halides (73) and benzyl chlorides (74). 

As far as the reactions with benzyl chlorides are concerned (74), the oxidative addition of benzyl chloride and substituted benzyl chlorides to palladium atoms yields rj -benzylpalladium chloride dimers. The parent compound, bis(l,2,3-7 -benzyl)di-/i,-chloro-palladium(II), quantitatively adds four molecules of PEts by first forcing the rj -benzyl-iy -benzyl transformation, with subsequent breakage of the Pd-Cl bridges to form trans-bistPEtsKbenzyDchloroPddI). The spectral characteristics of the parent molecule are indicative of the allylic type of bonding. Similar i7 -benzyl compounds were formed from 4-methylbenzyl chloride, 2-chloro-l,l,l-trifluoro-2-phenylethane, and 3,4-dimethylbenzyl chloride. 

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