Rhodium II carboxylates

Figure 2.35 The lantern structure adopted by dimeric rhodium(II) carboxylates.

Part of the upsurge in interest in rhodium(II) carboxylates since the early 1970s results from the discovery that they have potential as anti-tumour... 

From a study of the decompositions of several rhodium(II) carboxylates, Kitchen and Bear [1111] conclude that in alkanoates (e.g. acetates) the a-carbon—H bond is weakest and that, on reaction, this proton is transferred to an oxygen atom of another carboxylate group. Reduction of the metal ion is followed by decomposition of the a-lactone to CO and an aldehyde which, in turn, can further reduce metal ions and also protonate two carboxyl groups. Thus reaction yields the metal and an acid as products. In aromatic carboxylates (e.g. benzoates), the bond between the carboxyl group and the aromatic ring is the weakest. The phenyl radical formed on rupture of this linkage is capable of proton abstraction from water so that no acid product is given and the solid product is an oxide. 

The role of the rhodium is probably two-fold. Initially due to its Lewis acidity it reversibly forms a complex with the nitrile nitriles are known to complex to the free axial coordination sites in rhodium(II) carboxylates as evidenced by the change of colour upon addition of a nitrile to a solution of rhodium(II) acetate, and by X-ray crystallography. Secondly the metal catalyses the decomposition of the diazocarbonyl compound to give a transient metallocarbene which reacts with the nitrile to give a nitrile ylide intermediate. Whether the nitrile ylide is metal bound or not is unclear. 

Stereoselective inns-cyclopropanation. Rhodium(II) carboxylates are generally the preferred catalysts for cyclopropanation of alkenes with diazoacetates (7,313 9,406,10,340) even though they show only low tram-selectivity. The tram-selectivity can be markedly enhanced by use of rhodium(II) acetamide. Use of rhodium(II) 2,4,6-triarylbenzoates favors ds-stereoselectivity.1... 

Dinuclear rhodium(II) carboxylate complexes with cage-like structures 46, in which carboxylate groups bridge the two metals and a... 

Figure 17.8. Rhodium(II) carboxylate dimer, only one bridging carboxylate drawn...

The structure of rhodium(II) carboxylate-derived carbene complexes has been assessed both by quantum mechanical calculations [19,20] and by the study of rhodium(II) carboxylate isonitrile complexes [20,21]. Recent investigations [20] suggest, that also in these highly electrophilic carbene complexes there is a significant n backbonding from rhodium to carbon. 

Because of the high nucleophilicity and reactivity of diazoalkanes, catalytic decomposition occurs readily, not only with a wide range of transition metal complexes but also with Brpnsted or Lewis acids. Well-established catalysts for diazodecomposition include zinc halides [638,639], palladium(II) acetate [640-642], rhodium(II) carboxylates [626,643] and copper(I) triflate [636]. Copper(II)... 

Few examples of preparatively useful intermolecular C-H insertions of electrophilic carbene complexes have been reported. Because of the high reactivity of complexes capable of inserting into C-H bonds, the intermolecular reaction is limited to simple substrates (Table 4.9). From the results reported to date it seems that cycloalkanes and electron-rich heteroaromatics are suitable substrates for intermolecular alkylation by carbene complexes [1165]. The examples in Table 4.9 show that intermolecular C-H insertion enables highly convergent syntheses. Elaborate structures can be constructed in a single step from readily available starting materials. Enantioselective, intermolecular C-H insertions with simple cycloalkenes can be realized with up to 93% ee by use of enantiomerically pure rhodium(II) carboxylates [1093]. 

In particular the synthetic approach to dihydrofurans (first equation in Figure 4.23) represents a useful alternative to other syntheses of these valuable intermediates, and has been used for the preparation of substituted pyrroles [1417], aflatoxin derivatives [1418], and other natural products [1419]. The reaction of vinylcarbene complexes with dienes can lead to the formation of cycloheptadienes by a formal [3 + 4] cycloaddition [1367] (Entries 9-12, Table 4.25). High asymmetric induction (up to 98% ee [1420]) can be attained using enantiomerically pure rhodium(II) carboxylates as catalysts. This observation suggests the reaction to proceed via divinylcyclopropanes, which undergo (concerted) Cope rearrangement to yield cycloheptadienes. 

We selected a series of rhodium(II) carboxylates, rhodium(II) carboxamidate [5d] (Doyle catalysts 42h, 42i, 42j), and the bridged rhodium(II) carboxylate (Lahuerta catalyst) 42g, as representatives of the various rhodium(II) catalysts generally utilized. Most of the carboxylate and Doyle catalysts were commercially available and were purified by silica gel chromatography prior to use. The Lahuerta catalyst was prepared according to the literature procedure [23]. 

Rhodium(II) carboxylate dimers and their carboxamide counterparts have been demonstrated to be exceptionally useful catalysts for carbene transfer processes involving diazocarbonyl substrates [1]. Doyle s seminal work identified Rh2(OAc)4 as the catalyst of choice for a variety of cyclopropanation, C-H insertion, and ylide rearrangement transformations using diazoketones or diazoesters [2]. Important contributions by Taber [3], Padwa [4], and Davies [5] further established the superior catalytic activity of dirho-dium catalysts and the excellent selectivity of rhodium-[Pg.417]

In 1981 it was shown that rhodium(II) carboxylates smoothly catalyze the addition of ethyl diazoacetate to a variety of alkanes11. While some differentiation between possible sites of insertion was observed, selectivity is not as high for this carbenoid process as it is for the free radical process above. Rhodium-catalyzed intermolecular C-H insertion is thought to proceed via electrophilic addition of an intermediate rhodium carbene into the alkane C—IT bond. 

While the detailed mechanism of these rhodium-catalyzed cyclizations is not known, a working hypothesis that accommodates all of the observations to date is as follows. The diazo ketone can be considered to be a stabilized ylide, 14. Association of the Lewis acidic LUMO of the rhodium(II) carboxylate with the locally electron-rich ylide yields 15. Loss of nitrogen would then give the highly electrophilic intermediate 16. In nondonating solvents, the richest source of electron density available to this reactive species is the remote C—H bond. Complexation with the electron density in this bond gives 17, which collapses to the cyclopentanone product. 

Thiophenium bis(alkoxycarbonyl)methylides (44) are obtained in high yield by rhodium(II) carboxylate-catalyzed reaction of diazomalonate esters with thiophene derivatives (88JCS(P1)1023). Likewise, ylides from benzo[b]thiophene and dibenzothiophene (e.g. 45) have also been reported by tram-ylidation using phenyliodonium bis(phenylsulfonyl)methylide (88JHC1599). 

Electron-withdrawing substituents generally increase diazo compounds stability toward decomposition. Dicarbonyl diazomethane, which bears two carbonyl groups flanking the diazomethane carbon, are more stable than diazo compounds with only one carbonyl substituent. In general, metal catalysed decomposition of dicarbonyl diazomethane requires higher temperature than does monocarbonyl substituted diazomethane. As indicated before, rhodium(II) carboxylates are the most active catalysts for diazo decomposition. With dicarbonyl diazomethane, the rhodium(II) carboxylate-promoted cyclopropanation process can also be carried out under ambient conditions to afford a high yield of products. 

Considerable variation in stereocontrol can also occur, depending on the catalyst employed (equation 125). In general, the various rhodium(II) carboxylates and palladium catalysts show little stereocontrol in intermolecular cyclopropanation162,175. Rhodium(II) acetamides and copper catalysts favour the formation of more stable trans (anti) cyclopropanes162166. The ruthenium bis(oxazolinyl)pyridine catalyst [Ru(pybox-ip)] provides extremely high trans selectivity in the cyclopropanation of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate43. Furthermore, rhodium or osmium porphyrin complexes 140 are selective catalysts... 

Aluminum chloride, 15 Arenediazonium tetrafluoroborates, 19 Rhodium(II) carboxylates, 266 Tris(dimethylamino)sulfonium difluoro-trimethylsilicate, 336 Asymmetric reactions Addition reactions to carbonyl groups Bis(2,4-dimethyl-3-pentyl) tartrate, 36 (S)-( + )-2-Methoxymethylpyrrolidine, 180... 

Rhodium(II) carboxylates, 266 Inversion reactions at sp3 hybridized CARBONS... 

Metal-containing compounds, Rhodium Compounds (Continued) Hydridotetrakis(triphenylphosphine)-rhodium(I), 144 Rhodium(II) acetate, 226, 266 Rhodium(II) carboxylates, 226, 266 Rhodium(II) trifluoroacetate, 266 Tetra-jx3-carbonyldodecacarbonylhexa-rhodium, 152, 288... 

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