Rhodium catalysis nitrene reactions

The comparison of thiophene with thioethers on the one hand and with enol thioethers on the other, in regard to its behaviour towards conventional electrophiles, has been made in Section 3.02.2.3. Attack on carbon is the predominant mode of reaction (Section 3.14.2.4) reaction at sulfur is relatively rare (Section 3.14.2.5). Carbenes are known to act as electrophiles attack at both carbon and sulfur of thiophene has been reported. The carbene generated from diazomalonic ester by rhodium(II) catalysis attacks the sulfur atom of thiophene, resulting in an ylide. It has also been shown that the carbenoid species derived by thermolysis of such an ylide functions as an electrophile, attacking the a-carbon of a second molecule of thiophene (Section 3.14.2.9). Singlet nitrene is electrophilic. However, in contrast to carbenes, it invariably attacks only the carbon atom (Section 3.14.2.9). 

Exposure of the (cycloalkenyl)methyl carbamates 304 to iodosylbenzene in the presence or absence of Rh2(OAc)4 gives the tricyclic aziridines 305 (Scheme 88) (02OL2137). Reactions of 305 with nucleophiles, facilitated with tosic acid or lithium perchlorate, proceed with cleavage of the C-N edge bond and afford the tf 7 z-spirooxazolidinones 306. Intramolecular aziridination of the indolyl carbamate 307 with DAIB, on the other hand, requires Rh(II)-catalysis and leads directly to the acetoxy-substituted YDi-spirooxazolidinone 308 (Scheme 88) (02OL2137). When iodosylbenzene is used instead of DAIB and alcohols are available in the reaction medium, alkoxy-substituted syn-spirooxazolidinones 309 are obtained. Whereas the conversion of 304 to 305 appears to proceed by direct cyclization of intermediate iminoiodanes, the production of 308 from 307 was attributed to the intervention of a rhodium nitrene, which collapses to 308 through zwitterionic intermediates (02OL2137). 

While major advances in the area of C-H functionalization have been made with catalysts based on rare and expensive transition metals such as rhodium, palladium, ruthenium, and iridium [7], increasing interest in the sustainability aspect of catalysis has stimulated researchers toward the development of alternative catalysts based on naturally abundant first-row transition metals including cobalt [8]. As such, a growing number of cobalt-catalyzed C-H functionalization reactions, including those for heterocycle synthesis, have been reported over the last several years to date (early 2015) [9]. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of such recent advancements with classification according to the nature of the catalytically active cobalt species involved in the C-H activation event. Besides inner-sphere C-H activation reactions catalyzed by low-valent and high-valent cobalt complexes, nitrene and carbene C-H insertion reactions promoted by cobalt(II)-porphyrin metalloradical catalysts are also discussed. 

C-H alkylation and amination reactions involving metal-carbenoid and metal-nitrenoid species have been developed for many years, most extensively with (chiral) dirhodium(ll) carboxylate and carboxamidate complexes as catalysts [45]. When performed in intramolecular settings, such reactions offer versatile methods for the (enantioselective) synthesis of hetero- and carbocy-cles. In the past decade, Zhang and coworkers had explored the catalysis of cobalt(II)-porphyrin complexes for carbene- and nitrene-transfer reactions [46] and revealed a radical nature of such processes as a distinct mechanistic feature compared with typical metal (e.g., rhodium)-catalyzed carbenoid and nitrenoid reactions [47]. Described below are examples of heterocycle synthesis via cobalt(II)-porphyrin-catalyzed intramolecular C-H amination or C-H alkylation. 

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