Phosphorus ylide complexes, carbonyl

As discussed in previous sections, high-valent carbene complexes of early transition metals have ylide-like, nucleophilic character. Some Schrock-type carbene complexes react with carbonyl compounds in the same manner as do phosphorus ylides, namely by converting the carbonyl group into an alkene. 

It is particularly interesting, that some titanium and tantalum carbene complexes olefinate derivatives of carboxylic acids. These reagents are, moreover, much less basic than phosphorus ylides, and thus enable the olefination of strongly C-H acidic carbonyl compounds. 

In Section 10-2-2, we discussed the synthesis of Tebbe s reagent, a bridged Ti methylidene complex. This reagent converts a C=0 group to an alkene in a manner analogous to that of a phosphorus ylide (Wittig reagent).56 Conversion of a carbonyl to a terminal alkene may seem to be of limited utility until one realizes that, unlike phosphorus ylides that react only with aldehydes and ketones, Tebbe s... 

The reaction of phosphorus ylides with support-bound carbonyl compounds is commonly utiUzed. This procedure could be extended to rather complex structures (Scheme 103) [207]. 

Carbonyl-stabilized phosphorus ylides are less nucleophilic and hence do not react with (phosphine)gold(I) halides, but their gold(I) complexes can be generated from precursors such as [Au(acac)(PPh3)] or [AuCl(SC4Hg)] by reaction with phosphonium salts and ylides, respectively, and again both mono- and bis(yhde) complexes have been obtained (equation 48 and Scheme 8)206 207. The ylide carbon atoms in these complexes are centres of chirality, but no stereospecificity was observed in the coordination process and racemic mixtures are formed throughout. 

SCHEME 8. Synthesis of gold(I) complexes containing carbonyl-stabilized phosphorus ylides... 

Related dinuclear complexes with carbonyl-stabilized phosphorus ylide ligands (6) are accessible from the reaction of the phosphonium chlorides [Ph2P(CH2C02R)2]Cl (R = Me, Et) with Ag2C03 (equation 6)18. The precipitation of AgCl is regarded as the driving force of these reactions. 

A few years later, Tebbe and co-workers found that the methylene-bridged metallacycle 3, which has become known as the Tebbe reagent, is useful for the methylenation of ketones and aldehydes [5]. Titanocene-methylidene 4, the active species of this olefination, also transforms carboxylic acid derivatives into heteroatom-substituted olefins. Because the carbene complex 4 is much less basic than conventional olefination reagents such as phosphorus ylides, it can be employed for the olefination of carbonyl compounds possessing highly acidic a-protons or of highly hindered ketones, and has become an indispensable tool in organic synthesis. Various methods for the preparation of titaniumcarbonyl olefination. This chapter focuses on the use of metal-carbene complexes and some related species in carbonyl olefination (Scheme 4.2). 

Kawashima and co-workers attempted to prepare the phosphorus ylide-sta-bilized AYC ligand 129 which could, however, not be isolated because of an intramolecular rearrangement giving 130. The intermediate formation of 129 was confirmed by its reaction with sulfur to give 131 and by the formation of the rhodium complexes 132 and 133 (Scheme 1.17). Infrared spectroscopy of the carbonyl complex 133 confirmed the superb donor properties of AYC 129. A palladium complex bearing the phosphorus ylide-stabilized NHC was also prepared. Fiirstner et al. synthesized the analogous... 

---