Reagents allylic-carbon monoxide reactions

Kondo and Watanabe developed allylations of various types of aldehydes and oximes by using nucleophilic (7r-allyl)ruthenium(ll) complexes of type 154 bearing carbon monoxide ligands (Equation (29)).345 These 73-allyl-ruthenium complexes 154 are ambiphilic reagents and the presence of the carbon monoxide ligands proved to be essential to achieve catalytic allylation reactions. Interestingly, these transformations occur with complete regioselectivity only the more substituted allylic terminus adds to the aldehyde. 

Hydrocarboxylation can also be used in the synthesis of heterocycles if the heterofunction is introduced at an appropriate position within the substrate. Thus, preparation of 2,4-disub-stituted 2-buten-4-olides can be achieved via stoichiometric transformation of a protected optically active propargyl alcohol without loss of optical activity30. Sequential treatment with zirconocene chloride hydride (Schwartz s reagent), carbon monoxide, and iodine gives a 55% yield of (S)-2-ethyl-4-isobutyl-2-buten-4-olide30. This reaction resembles the intramolecular hydrocarboxylation of allylic alcohols. 

A typical reaction involving nickel(O) treats an allylic halide such as 3-chloro-2-methyl-l-propene with Ni(CO)4 to form 439,288 a nickel dimer analogous to the palladium chloride dimer discussed in the previous section. This complex reacts with an alkene to form a new complex (440), and subsequent reaction with a variety of electrophilic reagents removes nickel. In this example, the chlorine was converted to an acetate ligand (in 441) and reacted with methanolic carbon monoxide to give the ester (442).288... 

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