Ruthenium diyne reactions

Ruthenium-catalyzed reactions involving diynes generally lead to the intramolecular oxidative coupling of the two C=C bonds. Bicyclic compounds can be synthesized in the presence of another unsaturated molecule. 

Ruthenium-catalyzed reactions involving diynes generally lead to the intramolecular oxidative coupling of the two C=C bonds. Bicyclic compounds can be synthesized in the presence of another unsaturated molecule. The Cp RuCl(cod)-catalyzed reaction of 1,6- and 1,7-diynes in the presence of monoalkynes led to a [2-f2-f2] cycloaddition. Various substituted benzenes were thus produced in good yields [18-36]. The cycloaddition of unsymmetrical diynes usually favors meta-substituted products by means of judicious choice of substituents as inEq. (11) [18]. 

Table 2.13 Ruthenium-catalyzed reactions of diynes 2.264a-c with 1,3-dienes 2.265a-e.

In a ruthenium-catalyzed reaction with diphenylphosphine oxide, 1,6-diynes underwent a stereoselective and hydrophosphinylative cyclization to afford 1,3-dienylphosphine oxides (Scheme 50). ... 

While diene metathesis or diyne metathesis are driven by the loss of a (volatile) alkene or alkyne by-product, enyne metathesis (Fig. 2) cannot benefit from this contributing feature to the AS term of the reaction, since the event is entirely atom economic. Instead, the reaction is driven by the formation of conjugated dienes, which ensures that once these dienes have been formed, the process is no longer a reversible one. Enyne metathesis can also be considered as an alkylidene migration reaction, because the alkylidene unit migrates from the alkene part to one of the alkyne carbons. The mechanism of enyne metathesis is not well described, as two possible complexation sites (alkene or alkyne) exist for the ruthenium carbene, leading to different reaction pathways, and the situation is further complicated when the reaction is conducted under an atmosphere of ethylene. Despite its enormous potential to form mul-... 

Ruthenium(ll)-catalyzed cycloadditions of diynes with bicycloalkenes illustrate the synthetic importance of ruthena-cyclopentatrienes as biscarbenoid intermediates.380 Reaction of 1,6-diyne 448 and biscyclic alkene 449 with ruthenium catalyst afforded a mixture of biscyclopropanation product 450 and cyclotrimerization product 451 (Scheme 113). 

From the mechanistic point of view, the observed competitive reactions can be explained by considering two different pathways (Scheme 114). The intermediacy of ruthenacyclopentadiene 453 or biscarbenoid 452, formed from the reaction of a diyne and a ruthenium(ll) complex, is postulated in the proposed mechanism. Cyclopropanation of the alkene starts with the formation of ruthenacyclobutane 456, which leads to the generation of the vinylcarbene 457. Then, the second cyclopropanation occurs to afford the biscyclopropyl product 458. Insertion of the alkene 459 into the ruthenacyclopentadiene 453 affords the ruthenacycloheptadiene 454. The subsequent reductive elimination gives the cyclotrimerization product 455. The selectivity toward the bis-cyclopropyl product 458 is improved with an increasing order of haptotropic flexibility of the cyclopentadienyl-type ligand. 

Hydrative cyclization of diynes with ruthenium catalyst has been reported for the synthesis of sulfolenes or enones in aqueous medium.381 Reactions of unsymmetrical 1,6-diynes have been investigated, and some substrates are found to exhibit a directing effect of the ketone moiety in a pendant group. 

Itoh and coworkers111 carried out tandem [2 + 2 + 2]/[4 + 2] cycloadditions catalyzed by a ruthenium catalyst. The reaction of diyne 147 with excess norbomene 148 in the presence of ruthenium catalyst 153, for example, afforded 149. Adduct 150 either dissociated from the catalyst or reacted with another equivalent of norbornene. In the latter case, a ruthenium catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction occurred, affording hexacyclic adduct 152 via 151 (equation 43). Compounds 150 and 152 were obtained in yields of 78% and 10%, respectively. Both cycloaddition reactions proceeded with complete stereoselectivity. When 1,6-heptadiyne was used instead of 147, only trace amounts of a cycloadduct were obtained. Replacing norbornene by norbornadiene, which was expected to result in polymer formation, did not afford any adduct at all. 

Scheme 3.13 Allenylidene complexes from pentatetraenylidene ruthenium complexes formed in situ by reaction of [RuCl2(dppm)2] and penta-l,3-diyne derivatives.

Along with diene and diyne metathesis, ene-yne metathesis has also been employed to form macrocycles. This type of metathesis is performed with the catalysts used for olefin metathesis, and the yields are improved in the presence of ethylene, which forms the highly reactive [Ru]=CH2 species. Shair and coworkers took advantage of this reaction twice in the course of their total synthesis of longithorone A [40]. When ene-ynes 51 and 52 are treated with ruthenium complex G1 under an atmosphere of... 

The catalytic intramolecular coupling of two C=C bonds at a ruthenium site leads to cyclization reactions. For example, although generally less reactive than a,co-diynes or enynes, 1,6-dienes react with [RuC12(COD)] in 2-propanol, leading to exo-methylenecyclopentanes in excellent yields [13] (Eq. 8). The mechanism suggests the formation of the ruthenacyclopentane(hydrido) intermediate 19. 

Woodgate et al. [51] applied the C-H/acetylene coupling to the ortho-selective alkenylation of terpene derivatives (Eq. 27). The basic feature of this reaction is the same as the alkenylation reaction of Murai et al. The combination of acetophenone and diynes provides a new entry for the copolymerization of aromatic ketones with acetylenes. Weber et al. [50] studied extensive reactions of ruthenium-catalyzed C-H/acetylene coupling with respect to the step-growth copolymerization of aromatic ketones and acetylenes (Eq. 28). These coupling reactions provide a new route to the preparation of trisubstituted styrene derivatives. 

Ruthenium-catalyzed cycloisomerization of diyn-ols to diene-ones or diene-als was discovered by Trost and Rudd [34], and provided the potential for the intramolecular aldol condensation. In the reaction, water acts as a reactant (Eqs. 15,16). The reaction was proposed to proceed via a ruthenacyclopenta-diene intermediate. 

Enyne metathesis reactions in the context of natural product synthesis have been reviewed recently by Mori <2007ASC121>. Using the same ruthenium catalyst, a novel tandem diyne cycloisomerization-CM process has been devised to furnish 3,4-divinyl-2,5-dihydrofurans (Equation 57) <1999CC237>. 

Tetrahedrane (11) is the ruthenium analog of the much-studied tricobaltnonacarbonyl clusters Co3(CO)9CR see Cobalt Organometallic Chemistty). The substitution chemistry of (11) has been studied. A starting material is prepared from (11) by reaction with BX3 (equation 2), which gives the chloro and bromo compounds (12). In addition, (11) can also be treated directly with compounds such as diynes to yield interesting substitution products. For example, when (11) is refluxed in THF with diphenylbutadiyne, cis- and trans-alkene isomers of two alkyne insertion regioisomers are formed (equation 3). The product seems to arise from dehydrogenation of one end of the diyne to yield cis and trans enynes and an imsaturated monohydride cluster intermediate, which then reacts with the enynes to yield the allylic derivative products... 

Ru(CO)5 is less frequently used than Fe(CO)5 for organic synthesis or as a starting material as a zero-valent ruthenium complex because of its ease of decomposition to Ru4(CO),2 [99]. Dodecacarbonyltriruthenium is very useful for these purposes. It has been showm to be an active catalyst for the hydrogenation of olefins [100], carbonyla-tion of ethylene [101], hydroformylation of alkenes [102], water-gas shift reaction [103], and reduction of nitro groups [104], and recently, C—H bond activation [105] and coupling of diynes with CO [106]. 

Another way in which dihydrobenzo[c]furans can be produced is through Ni(0)-catalyzed [2+2+2] cocyclotrimerization of arynes with diynes, as depicted in the following scheme <05CC2459>. Similar ruthenium- <05CC4438> and rhodium-catalyzed reactions <05CC3971>, as well as a carbene-Zn catalyzed reaction <050L3065> led to the formation of dihydrobenzo[c]furans. 

Ruthenium(II) complexes of the type CpRu(dppm)SR (R = Ph, CH2CH2Ph, CH2(2-furyl), CH2C02Et, CH2CH(NHAc)C02H) have been synthesized by both conventional and microwave heating and the product yields found to be quite similar. Several planar chiral cobalt metallocenes have been prepared via diastereoselec-tive reactions between ether- or ester-linked chiral diynes and CpCo(CO)2 (Scheme 7.19). The five-membered-ring ether complexes were prepared in similar yields to conventional approaches (YIF = 1.0-1.1), while the seven-membered-ring ester... 

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