Ruthenium substituted alkynes

By using the hypersensitive molecular mechanistic probe 2-(2-methoxy-3-phenylcy-clopropyl)-5-methylhexa-2,4-diene in the 2 + 2-photocycloaddition of [60]fullerene, it was shown that the reaction proceeds via a biradical and not a dipolar intermediate.6 Zirconium-induced cyclodimerization of heteroaryl-substituted alkynes produces tetrasubstituted cyclobutenes with high regio- and stereo-selectivity.7 The ruthenium-... 

The addition of a phosphine group to the organic fragment has been studied in some detail in compounds with cluster-bound vinyl ligands. The zwitterionic adducts which are formed can then undergo nucleophilic addition reactions (411, 461, 462). A reaction of this type also occurs with amine-substituted alkynes coordinated to osmium and ruthenium complexes (117). 

Ruthenium-catalyzed [2 + 2] cycloadditions involving bicyclic alkadienes (377) and alkynyl phosphonates (378) have been investigated by Tam and co-workers. The corresponding cyclobutene cycloadducts (379) were obtained in low to excellent yield (up to 96%) (Scheme 87). Alkynyl phosphonates showed a lower reactivity than other heteroatom-substituted alkynes such as alkynyl halides, ynamides, alkynyl sulfides, and alkynyl sulfones and required a higher reaction temperature and much longer reaction times. 

Various situations are analyzed where the two metal centers play a role in one of the coordination modes A-E. There are many cases in which bimetallic catalysis can occur with the two metals acting cooperatively, for instance, in the dimerization of alkynes at two ruthenium metal centers, where a ruthenium-vinylidene species is formed, which is able to subsequently activate the second alkyne reactant through a C-H cleavage on the second ruthenium center. The coupling of these two moieties occurs on this dinuclear platform to provide the enyne product molecule. Examples are also presented where bimetallic catalysts cooperatively activate substituted alkynes in the catalyzed formation of heterocycles. 

In the presence of copper and palladium catalysts, terminal alkynes 1222 react with trimethylsilyl azide and allyl methyl carbonate to provide 2,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles 1223 in moderate to good yield. Isomerization of the allyl substituent in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst gives 4-substituted 2-(l-propen-l-yl)-2//-l,2,3-triazoles 1224. 

Similarly, enolsilanes 44 and 45 are afforded when silyl-protected alcohols and alkynes are reacted with ruthenium catalyst 41 (Equation (27)).40 The linear to branched ratio typically ranged from 2-4 1, except when the alkyne terminus was substituted with a TMS group. These internal alkynes afforded only the branched products. 

Trost and others have extensively studied the ruthenium-catalyzed intermolecular Alder-ene reaction (see Section 10.12.3) however, conditions developed for the intermolecular coupling of alkenes and alkynes failed to lead to intramolecular cycloisomerization due the sensitivity of the [CpRu(cod)Cl] catalyst system to substitution patterns on the alkene.51 Trost and Toste instead found success using cationic [CpRu(MeCN)3]PF6 41. In contrast to the analogous palladium conditions, this catalyst gives exclusively 1,4-diene cycloisomerization products. The absence of 1,3-dienes supports the suggestion that the ruthenium-catalyzed cycloisomerization of enynes proceeds through a ruthenacycle intermediate (Scheme 11). 

Terminal alkynals (113) of appropriate length (n = 1, 2) and substitution [X = C(C02-Me)2, C(CH2OR)2, NTs, and others] have been cyclized with decarbonylation to cycloalkenes (114), using a ruthenium(I) catalyst.348 In some cases, cycloisomerization to give conjugated aldehyde occurred. Both processes are believed to involve catalytic ruthenium vinylidenes. 

In the synthesis of alkylidenecyclobutenes from propargyl alcohols, stoichiometric experiments show that the first step involves [2+2] oxidative head-to-head coupling of the alkynes, leading to an isolable cyclobutadiene-ruthenium complex. Addition of acid generates a cyclobutenyl metal intermediate which undergoes carboxylate addition on the less substituted allylic carbon atom (Scheme 7). 

A ruthenium based catalytic system was developed by Trost and coworkers and used for the intermolecular Alder-ene reaction of unactivated alkynes and alkenes [30]. In initial attempts to develop an intramolecular version it was found that CpRu(COD)Cl catalyzed 1,6-enyne cycloisomerizations only if the olefins were monosubstituted. They recently discovered that if the cationic ruthenium catalyst CpRu(CH3CN)3+PF6 is used the reaction can tolerate 1,2-di- or tri-substituted alkenes and enables the cycloisomerization of 1,6- and 1,7-enynes [31]. The formation of metallacyclopentene and a /3-hydride elimination mechanism was proposed and the cycloisomerization product was formed in favor of the 1,4-diene. A... 

In the presence of a ruthenium catalyst, 3-diazochroman-2,4-dione 716 undergoes insertion into the O-H bond of alcohols to yield 3-alkyloxy-4-hydroxycoumarins 717 (Equation 285) <2002TL3637>. In the presence of a rhodium catalyst, 3-diazochroman-2,4-dione 716 can undergo insertion into the C-H bond of arenes to yield 3-aryl-4-hydroxy-coumarins (Equation 286) <2005SL927>. In the presence of [Rh(OAc)2]2, 3-diazochroman-2,4-dione 716 can react with acyl or benzyl halides to afford to 3-halo-4-substituted coumarins (Equation 287) <2003T9333> and also with terminal alkynes to give a mixture of 477-furo[3,2-f]chromen-4-ones and 4/7-furo[2,3-3]chromen-4-ones (Equation 288) <2001S735>. 

Reduction of [Mo(CO)(Bu C=CH)2Cp] + BF4 with KBHBu3(s) at — 78°C in an atmosphere of carbon monoxide yields a complex of a vinyl substituted y-lactone linked tj3 t]2 (220). The allylidene ruthenium complex 64, obtained by photochemical addition of one alkyne molecule to a /x-carbene derivative, is transformed into pentadienylidene complexes 65 and 66 on photolysis with more alkyne substrate. These reactions show clearly the stepwise growth of chains in alkyne oligomerizations at dimetal centers [Eq. (31)] (221). Similar reactions are also known for dinuclear iron (222), molybdenum (223), and tungsten (224) complexes. 

A similar mechanism,based on a ruthenacyclopentene, can be proposed for the coupling of alkynes and allylic alcohols to lead to y,<5-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones. When (C5H5)RuC1(COD) was used as a catalyst, the ruthenium-catalyzed coupling between alkynes and substituted allylic alcohols afforded y,<5-unsaturated ketones. The linear isomer was the major product [39] (Eq. 28). Similarly, the linear derivative was also obtained when an allylsi-lylether or an allylic amide was used in place of the allyl alcohol, leading to 1,4-dienes [40]. 

One of the first examples of ruthenium-catalyzed C-C bond formation afforded the synthesis of cyclobutenes, from norbornene derivatives with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, and was reported by Mitsudo and coworkers [45, 46] by using various catalysts such as RuH2(CO)[P(p-C6H4F)3]3 or RuH2(PPh3)4. More recently, the complex Cp RuCl(COD) has shown to be an excellent catalyst for the [2+2] cycloaddition of norbornenes with various internal alkynes [45] (Eq. 33) and with a variety of substituted norbornenes and norbornadienes [47]. The ruthenacycle intermediate, formed by oxidative coupling, cannot undergo /1-hydride elimination and leads to cyclobutene via a reductive elimination. 

Research on intermolecular hydroacylation has also attracted considerable attention. The transition-metal-catalyzed addition of a formyl C-H bond to C-C multiple bonds gives the corresponding unsymmetrically substituted ketones. For the intermolecular hydroacylation of C-C multiple bonds, ruthenium complexes, as well as rhodium complexes, are effective [76-84]. In this section, intermolecular hydroacylation reactions of alkenes and alkynes using ruthenium catalysts are described. 

Until recently, intermolecular enyne metathesis received scant attention. Competing CM homodimerisation of the alkene, alkyne metathesis and polymerisation were issues of concern which hampered the development of the enyne CM reaction. The first report of a selective ruthenium-catalysed enyne CM reaction came from our laboratories [106]. Reaction of various terminal alkynes 61 with terminal olefins 62 gave 1,3-substituted diene products 63 in good-to-excellent yields (Scheme 18). It is interesting that in these and all enyne CM reactions subsequently reported, terminal alkynes are more reactive than internal analogues, and 1,2-substituted diene products are never formed thus, in terms of reactivity and selectivity enyne CM is the antithesis of enyne RCM. The mechanism of enyne CM is not well understood. It would appear that initial attack is at the alkyne however, one report has demonstrated initial attack at the alkene (substrate-dependent) is also possible, see Ref. [107]. 

Several ruthenium complexes are able to promote the classical Markovnikov addition of O nucleophiles to alkynes via Lewis-acid-type activation of triple bonds. Starting from terminal alkynes, the anti-Markovnikov addition to form vinyl derivatives of type 1 (Scheme 1) is less common and requires selected catalysts. This regioselectivity corresponding to the addition of the nucleophile at the less substituted carbon of the C=C triple bond is expected to result from the formation of a ruthenium vinylidene intermediate featuring a highly reactive electrophilic Ca atom. 

Another example is the ruthenium-catalysed alkenylation of pyridine which is performed in the presence of the same catalyst precursor RuCl(Cp)(PPh3)2 (20 mol %)/NaPF6 (20 mol %) at 150 °C [63]. The use of trimethylsilylalkynes, which are also known to produce vinylidene complexes rather than terminal alkynes, avoids the dimerization of the alkyne and favours the formation of the (E)-vinylpyridine (Scheme 17). The reaction has been applied to a variety of silylated alkynes and substituted pyridines (Fig. 8). 

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