Rhodium decarbonylation

Cases of the S-coordinated rhodium and iridium are quite scarce. To complete the picture, we next consider the possibilities of S-coordination using complicated derivatives of thiophene. 2,5-[Bis(2-diphenylphosphino)ethyl]thiophene is known to contain three potential donor sites, two phosphorus atoms and the sulfur heteroatom, the latter being a rather nucleophilic center (93IC5652). A more typical situation is coordination via the phosphorus sites. It is also observed in the product of the reaction of 2,5-bis[3-(diphenylphosphino)propyl]thiophene (L) with the species obtained after treatment of [(cod)Rh(acac)] with perchloric acid (95IC365). Carbonylation of [Rh(cod)L][C104]) thus prepared yields 237. Decarbonylation of 237 gives a mixture of 238 and the S-coordinated species 239. Complete decarbonylation gives 240, where the heterocycle is -coordinated. The cycle of carbonylation decarbonylation is reversible. 

Anionic carbonyl complexes of both rhodium(I) and (III) are synthesized by decarbonylation of formic acid, with reduction to rhodium(I) occurring... 

Aldehydes, both aliphatic and aromatic, can be decarbonylated by heating with chlorotris(triphenylphosphine)rhodium or other catalysts such as palladium. The compound RhCl(Ph3P)3 is often called Wilkinson s catalyst.In an older reaction, aliphatic (but not aromatic) aldehydes are decarbonylated by heating with di-tert-peroxide or other peroxides, usually in a solution containing a hydrogen donor, such as a thiol. The reaction has also been initiated with light, and thermally (without an initiator) by heating at 500°C. 

Carbon monoxide insertion and decarbonylation reactions of rhodium complexes have been studied mainly in the context of investigations concerned with catalysis. 

Rhodium(I) complexes are effective reagents and/or catalysts for the decarbonylation of acyl halides and aldehydes 9 11,34,195,230,231,236). The compound Rh(PPh3)3Cl, especially, has received considerable attention. The first step in such reactions involves oxidative addition to Rh(I) of the organic molecule, exemplified by the following ... 

Cyclopropanes 13 have been prepared from a NHC-rhodium catalysed decarbonylation of cyclobutanones 11 (Scheme 5.4) [6]. The isolated complex 12... 

The carbonylation step that is involved in both hydroformylation and the Fischer-Tropsch reaction can be reversible. Under appropriate conditions, rhodium catalyst can be used for the decarbonylation of aldehydes285 and acyl chlorides.286... 

Increasing use is being made of pyran syntheses based upon [4 + 2] cycloadditions of carbonyl compounds. The appropriate unsaturated aldehyde with ethyl vinyl ether yields 53 with peracids this affords an epoxide that undergoes ring contraction to the aldehyde 54 (Scheme 23) and rhodium catalyzed decarbonylation affords the required 3-alkylfuran with the optical center intact.116 Acetoxybutadiene derivatives add active carbonyl compounds giving pyrans that contract under the influence of acids to give... 

However, the decarbonylation reaction can be suppressed by the use of specially tailored chelating groups. Intermolecular processes involving dienes and salicylaldehydes are now known, and are thought to proceed via a double chelation mechanism, akin to the Jun-type system. Rhodium-catalyzed reactions lead to hydroacylated products, under relatively mild conditions (Equation (134)).117... 

The facile formation of metal carbonyl complexes makes rhodium a very useful catalyst for both the hydroformylation of multiple bonds and the decarbonylation of the aldehydes. Two groups have independently utilized the metal carbonyl complex obtained from decarbonylation of aldehydes in the PK reaction (Scheme 11.11) [24]. 

Reaction of cyclobutanecarbaldehydes with tris(triphenylphosphane)rhodium(I) chloride (Wilkinson s catalyst) gives the decarbonylated compounds in moderate yields.9,10,12 14 For example, (l/ ,25, 3R)-3-acetoxymethyl-2-tci7-butyfdiphenyfsiloxycyclobutanecarbaldehyde was refluxed with the catalyst to give (l/ ,2/ )-l-acetoxymethyl-2-/tr/-butyldiphenylsiloxycyclobu-tane (6).9... 

Rhodium(II) acetate catalyzes C—H insertion, olefin addition, heteroatom-H insertion, and ylide formation of a-diazocarbonyls via a rhodium carbenoid species (144—147). Intramolecular cyclopentane formation via C—H insertion occurs with retention of stereochemistry (143). Chiral rhodium (TT) carboxamides catalyze enantioselective cyclopropanation and intramolecular C—N insertions of CC-diazoketones (148). Other reactions catalyzed by rhodium complexes include double-bond migration (140), hydrogenation of aromatic aldehydes and ketones to hydrocarbons (150), homologation of esters (151), carbonylation of formaldehyde (152) and amines (140), reductive carbonylation of dimethyl ether or methyl acetate to 1,1-diacetoxy ethane (153), decarbonylation of aldehydes (140), water gas shift reaction (69,154), C—C skeletal rearrangements (132,140), oxidation of olefins to ketones (155) and aldehydes (156), and oxidation of substituted anthracenes to anthraquinones (157). Rhodium-catalyzed hydrosilation of olefins, alkynes, carbonyls, alcohols, and imines is facile and may also be accomplished enantioselectively (140). Rhodium complexes are moderately active alkene and alkyne polymerization catalysts (140). In some cases polymer-supported versions of homogeneous rhodium catalysts have improved activity, compared to their homogenous counterparts. This is the case for the conversion of alkenes direcdy to alcohols under oxo conditions by rhodium—amine polymer catalysts... 

Tihe decarbonylation reaction utilizing chlorotris (triphenylphosphine)-- rhodium(I) is a potentially useful method for converting acid chlorides to olefins or alkyl chlorides. Acid chlorides which contain a f3 hydrogen produce olefins (Reaction 1) while an alkyl chloride is the product when no / hydrogen is present (J, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) (Reaction 2). 

The mechanism that has been proposed for the decarbonylation of acid chlorides by chlorotris (triphenylphosphine) rhodium (I) involves acyl- and alkyl- or arylrhodium complexes (2). Three of the intermediates in the catalytic cycle, II, III, and IV (see Reaction 3), can be isolated in this unique reaction. Both acyl complexes (II) and alkyl... 

In an attempt to resolve this question of stereochemistry and also to determine whether or not the decarbonylation of an acid chloride containing a f3 hydrogen takes place stereospecifically, erythro- (XI) and fhreo-2,3-diphenylbutanoyl chlorides (XII), obtained by the reaction of the known acids (13, 14) with oxalyl chloride, were synthesized. The reaction of these acid chlorides (see Reaction 8) with chlorotris( triphenyl-phosphine) rhodium gave the corresponding acyl complexes of type lib [R = C6H5CH(CH3)CH(C6H5)]. Decarbonylation of the erythro- cy complex in benzene at 30 °C gave a 90% yield of frans-a-methylstilbene while decarbonylation of the threo-acyl complex under similar reaction... 

Although much effort has been devoted to decarbonylation of cyclopropylcarbonyl metal complexes (vide supra), only (cyclopentadienyl)dicarbonyliron (Fp) derivatives have been successfully decarbonylated either photochemically22,24 or using Wilkinson s rhodium catalyst [(PPh3)2RhCl]2 (equation 35). Further decarbonylation by irradiation led to metallacyclopentane formation, whereas thermal decomposition resulted in the formation of the corresponding Cp(CO)Fe(allyl) complexes. 

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