Ruthenium allenylidene complexes formation

Scheme 8.11 Formation of indenylidene ruthenium complex accelerated bythe protonation of ruthenium allenylidene complex.

The formation of allenylidene derivatives from ethynyl-hexanol and alkenyl-vinylidene mononuclear complexes (9), the formation of mononuclear ruthenium allenyl complexes from terminal alkynes (10), the intermediacy of ruthenium-allenylidene complexes in forming propargylic alcohols (II), and in the cyclization of propargyl alcohols (12), and the use of mononuclear ruthenium compounds in allylic alkylation catalysis (13) have also been reported. 

The formation of other mono- [27-29] or even bis[alkoxy(alkenyl)allenylidene[ ruthenium complexes [28, 30] from the corresponding ruthenium chlorides and 5,5 -diphenyl-penta-1,3 -diynyl alcohol or trimethylsilyl ether in the presence of methanol (Scheme 3.13) and of the allenylidene complex 18 in the absence of methanol (Scheme 3.13) [30, 31] was also suggested to proceed via pentatetraenylidene intermediates. Neither one of these pentatetraenylidene complexes could be isolated or spectroscopically detected although their formation as an intermediate was very likely. 

Highly reactive organic vinylidene and allenylidene species can be stabilized upon coordination to a metal center [1]. In 1979, Bruce et al. [2] reported the first ruthenium vinylidene complex from phenylacetylene and [RuCpCl(PPh3)2] in the presence of NH4PF6. Following this report, various mthenium vinylidene complexes have been isolated and their physical and chemical properties have been extensively elucidated [3]. As the a-carbon of ruthenium vinylidenes and the a and y-carbon of ruthenium allenylidenes are electrophilic in nature [4], the direct formation of ruthenium vinylidene and ruthenium allenylidene species, respectively, from terminal alkynes and propargylic alcohols provides easy access to numerous catalytic reactions since nucleophilic addition at these carbons is a viable route for new catalysis (Scheme 6.1). 

A proposed reaction pathway is shown in Scheme 7.29, where either the aromatic carbon or oxygen atom of naphthol may work as a nucleophile. Thus, the first step is the nucleophilic attack of the carbon atom of 1 -position of 2-naphthol on the C. atom of an allenylidene complex A to give a vinylidene complex B, which is then transformed into an alkenyl complex C by nucleophilic attack of the oxygen atom of a hydroxy group upon the Co, atom of B. Another possibility is the nucleophilic attack ofthe oxygen of 2-naphthol upon the Co, atom of the complex A. In this case, the initial attack of the naphthol oxygen results in the formation of a ruthenium-carbene complex, which subsequently leads to the complex B via the Claisen rearrangement of the carbene complex. 

The ability of the binuclear complex [Cp RuCl(p2-SR)2RuCl(Cp )] to generate cationic allenylidene complexes by activation of terminal prop-2-ynols in the presence of NH4BF4 as a chloride abstractor opens the way to a variety of catalytic transformations of propargylic alcohols involving nucleophilic addition at the Cy atom of the ruthenium allenylidene intermediate (Scheme 19). This leads to the formation of a functional ruthenium vinylidene species which tau-tomerizes into an -coordinated alkyne that is removed from the ruthenium centre in the presence of the substrate. 

Here, we shall focus on ruthenium-catalyzed nucleophilic additions to alkynes. These additions have the potential to give a direct access to unsaturated functional molecules - the key intermediates for fine chemicals and also the monomers for polymer synthesis and molecular multifunctional materials. Ruthenium-catalyzed nucleophilic additions to alkynes are possible via three different basic activation pathways (Scheme 8.1). For some time, Lewis acid activation type (i), leading to Mar-kovnikov addition, was the main possible addition until the first anfi-Markovnikov catalytic addition was pointed out for the first time in 1986 [6, 7]. This regioselectiv-ity was then explained by the formation of a ruthenium vinylidene species with an electron-deficient Ru=C carbon site (ii). Although currently this methodology is the most often employed, nucleophilic additions involving ruthenium allenylidene species also take place (iii). These complexes allow multiple synthetic possibilities as their cumulenic backbone offers two electrophilic sites (hi). 

PropargyUc alcohol 124 was fragmented into the alkene 128 and CO in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst (Scheme 7.47) [66]. Oxidative addition of the C-H bond to ruthenium affords alkynylruthenium 125, which is converted into the allenylidene complex 126 with elimination of hydroxide anion. The hydroxide then adds to the allenylidene carbon directly connected to the ruthenium center, leading to the formation of acylruthenium 127 via tautomerization. Subsequent migratory deinsertion of CO followed by reductive elimination gives 128. 

In contrast to many studies on cycloaromatization via transition metal-vinylidene complexes as key reactive intermediates, only one example of such a reaction via transition metal-allenylidene complexes has been reported to date. In 2008, Yada et al. reported the formation of substituted fiirans 78 from 3-butyne-l,2-diols 77 in the presence of a catalytic amount of thiolate-bridged diruthenium complex (Scheme 21.33) [45]. This methodology was also applied to the formation of a substituted pyrrole 80 from l-amino-2-butyn-2-ol 79. It is noteworthy that thiolate-bridged diruthenium complexes worked as effective catalysts toward cyclization involving both ruthenium-allenylidene and ruthenium-vinylidene complexes as key reactive intermediates. 

Kinetic studies of diallyltosylamide RCM reaction monitored by NMR and UV/VIS spectroscopy showed that thermal activation of the catalyst precursors la and Ib (25-80 °C) led to the in situ formation of a new species which could not be identified but appeared to be the active catalytic species [52]. Attempts to identify this thermally generated species were made in parallel by protonation of the catalysts I. Indeed, the protonation of allenylidene-ruthenium complex la by HBF4 revealed a significant increase in catalyst activity in the RCM reaction [31,32]. The influence of the addition of triflic acid to catalyst Ib in the ROMP of cyclooctene at room temperature (Table 8.2, entries 1,3) was even more dramatic. For a cyclooctene/ruthenium ratio of 1000 the TOF of ROMP with Ib was 1 min and with Ib and Sequiv. of TfOH it reached 950min [33]. 

Thiolate-bridged diruthenium complexes such as Cp RuCl(p2-SR)2RuCp Cl catalyze the propargylic substitution reaction of propargylic alcohol derivatives with various carbon-centered nucleophiles [118-120]. Ketones [119] (Eq. 88), aromatic compounds [120] (Eq. 89), or alkenes thus selectively afford the corresponding propargylated products with C-C bond formation. An allenylidene intermediate is proposed in these reactions. They are detailed in the chapter Ruthenium Vinylidenes and Allenylidenes in Catalysis of this volume. 

From a methodological point of view, it should be pointed out the formation of 51, which is a result of the addition of acetone to an allenylidene ligand. Heteroatom-containing cyclic metal-carbene complexes [24] have been conveniently prepared via metal co-haloacyl, carbamoyl, alkoxycarbonyl, or imido intermediates [25], opening of epoxides by deprotonated Fischer-type carbene complexes [26], and activation of homopropargylic alcohols with low-valent d complexes [27], including ruthenium(II) derivatives [28]. In general, the preparation of unsaturated cyclic carbene complexes requires the previous preparation of functional carbenes to react with P-dicarbonyl derivatives, acrylates, and enol ethers [29]. 

The use of Me3NO to induce substitution of dppm (bis(diphenylphosphino)-methane) for CO molecules on dinuclear iron complexes led to insertion of CO into C-C bonds of alkyne-derived metallacycles. Similar behavior was observed when [PPNJCl salts were used to favor the formation of alkyne-substituted triruthenium dppm-containing clusters.I This behavior should be compared with the insertion of CO into allenylidene and phosphido-bridging ligands occurring when dppm coordinates to binuclear ruthenium complexes as shown in Fig. 3. This reaction is a nucleophilic attack of the coordinated allenylidene and phosphido groups on a coordinated CO (see Section 2.8.2.2). 

In 1999, Fiirstner [33] reported the reaction of the allenylidene ruthenium complex 3 with [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2, which led to the formation of a diruthenium complex bearing chloride bridges and mixed, arene-allenylidene ligands of... 

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