The olefin addition method

The basis of this method is to react a compound containing Si—H groups with unsaturated organic compounds. For example, ethylene may be reacted with trichlorosilane 

The method may also be used for the introduction of vinyl groups CH=CH + SiHCl3------------ CH2 = CH SiCl3 

The trichlorosilane may be obtained by reacting hydrogen chloride with silicon in yields of 70% and thus is obtainable at moderate cost. As the olefins are also low-cost materials this method provides a relatively cheap route to the intermediates. It is, of course, not possible to produce chloromethylsilanes by this method. 

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Similar reactions can also be written for the alkoxysilanes but in commercial practice the chlorosilanes are favoured. These materials may be prepared by many routes, of which four appear to be of commercial value, the Grignard process, the direct process, the olefin addition method and the sodium condensation method. 

The polyorganosiloxanes are generally prepared via chlorsilanes which are hydrolyzed to give hydroxyl compounds and which in turn condense to form polymers. Several methods are available for the production of the chlorsilane intermediates including the Grignard method, the Rochow direct process, the olefin addition method, the sodium condensation method and certain rearrangement techniques. 

The participation of a monomeric form of the organoaluminium compound in the olefin addition may result in a preliminary interaction between the olefin and vacant p-orbitals of the aluminium ion with the formation of a 7t-coraplex before insertion of the olefin into the At—C bond. The first-order kinetics of this process with respect to monomer implies that the concentration of the n-complexes with respect to the monomer OAC form is low at elevated reaction temperatures these complexes were not identified by physical methods. 

Again, a chromium-free oxidation method is employed. Sodium chlorite oxidizes aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes. In the process it forms hypochloric acid (HOCl) or sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), which are even more reactive than sodium chlorite and therefore must be quenched in situ by the olefinic additive 2-methyl-2-butene in an acidic buffer medium. 

The synthesis of the C1-C7 fragment, which corresponds to the lactone, starts with the homoallylic alcohol 2 which was prepared from 1. The existing stereocenter and the conjugate addition method of Evans [21] allow the control of the C5 stereocenter. The homoallylic alcohol 2 was oxidatively cleaved and homologated to the trans enoate 3 by a Wittig olefination. Treatment of 3 with benzaldehyde and a catalytic amount of KHMDS provided acetal 4. The internal Michael addition of the hemiacetal intermediate proceeds with complete stereoselectivity [22]. After deprotection and oxidation, the corresponding aldehyde was treated with Amberlyst-15 and then with camphor sulfonic acid (CSA), to yield pyrane 5 as a mixture of (3- and a-anomers (1.8/1). This compound was converted to the thiophenyl acetal 6 (4 steps) as this compound can be hydrolyzed later under mild conditions (Hg +) with subsequent oxidation of the lactol to the desired lactone. Compound 6 represents the C1-C7 fragment of discodermolide (Scheme 1). 

Addition of HCN to unsaturated compounds is often the easiest and most economical method of making organonitnles. An early synthesis of acrylonitrile involved the addition of HCN to acetylene. The addition of HCN to aldehydes and ketones is readily accompHshed with simple base catalysis, as is the addition of HCN to activated olefins (Michael addition). However, the addition of HCN to unactivated olefins and the regioselective addition to dienes is best accompHshed with a transition-metal catalyst, as illustrated by DuPont s adiponitrile process (6—9). 

The most common method of epoxidation is the reaction of olefins with per-acids. For over twenty years, perbenzoic acid and monoperphthalic acid have been the most frequently used reagents. Recently, m-chloroperbenzoic acid has proved to be an equally efficient reagent which is commercially available (Aldrich Chemicals). The general electrophilic addition mechanism of the peracid-olefin reaction is currently believed to involve either an intra-molecularly bonded spiro species (1) or a 1,3-dipolar adduct of a carbonyl oxide, cf. (2). The electrophilic addition reaction is sensitive to steric effects. 

The phosphonium salt method works best with nucleophilic olefins [//, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19] (Table 1 and equations 1-3) and has been used m mechanistically important studies of difluorocarbene additions to norbornadienes [20 21, 22, 23] that provided the first example of a concerted homo-l,4-addition (equation 4) A recent modification uses catalytic 1,4,7,10,13,16 hexaoxacyclooctadecane (18-crown-6) to shorten reaction times and increase yields with less nucleophilic olefins [12] (Table 1) Neither procedure, however, compares with the use of phenyl(tri-f1uoromethyl)mercury or (trifluoromethyl)trimethyltin reagents [efficient reactions with less nucleophilic olefins (equations 3 and 5) and cyclic dienes [24, 25] (equations 6 and 7)... 

In addition there are certain other methods for the preparation such compounds. Upon heating of the thionocarbonate 2 with a trivalent phosphorus compound e.g. trimethyl phosphite, a -elimination reaction takes place to yield the olefin 3. A nucleophilic addition of the phosphorus to sulfur leads to the zwitterionic species 6, which is likely to react to the phosphorus ylide 7 via cyclization and subsequent desulfurization. An alternative pathway for the formation of 7 via a 2-carbena-l,3-dioxolane 8 has been formulated. From the ylide 7 the olefin 3 is formed stereospecifically by a concerted 1,3-dipolar cycloreversion (see 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition), together with the unstable phosphorus compound 9, which decomposes into carbon dioxide and R3P. The latter is finally obtained as R3PS ... 

Since double bonds may be considered as masked carbonyl, carboxyl or hydroxymethylene groups, depending on whether oxidative or reductive methods are applied after cleavage of the double bond, the addition products from (E)-2 and carbonyl compounds can be further transformed into a variety of chiral compounds. Thus, performing a second bromine/lithium exchange on compound 4, and subsequent protonation, afforded the olefin 5. Ozonolysis followed by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride gave (S)-l-phenyl-l,2-ethanediol in >98% ee. 

Jones and Lewton250 have also demonstrated the utility of the intramolecular addition of sulfenic acids to olefins as a stereospecific method for the synthesis of thiolan 1-oxides. 

Abstract Many similarities between the chemistry of carbon and phosphorus in low coordination numbers (i.e.,CN=l or 2) have been established. In particular, the parallel between the molecular chemistry of the P=C bond in phosphaalkenes and the C=C bond in olefins has attracted considerable attention. An emerging area in this field involves expanding the analogy between P=C and C=C bonds to polymer science. This review provides a background to this new area by describing the relevant synthetic methods for P=C bond formation and known phosphorus-carbon analogies in molecular chemistry. Recent advances in the addition polymerization of phosphaalkenes and the synthesis and properties of Tx-con-jugated poly(p-phenylenephosphaalkene)s will be described. 

The addition of hydrogen halide to alkene is another classical electrophilic addition of alkene. Although normally such reactions are carried out under anhydrous conditions, occasionally aqueous conditions have been used.25 However, some difference in regioselectivity (Markovnikov and anti-Markovnikov addition) was observed. The addition product formed in an organic solvent with dry HBr gives exclusively the 1-Br derivative whereas with aq. HBr, 2-Br derivative is formed. The difference in the products formed by the two methods is believed to be due primarily to the difference in the solvents and not to the presence of any peroxide in the olefin.26... 

The synthetic method leading to Nb-alkylidenes and Nb-alkylidynes was particularly successful, due to a quite remarkable difference in the reaction rate of 29 with ketones or aldehydes, vs the subsequent reaction of the alkylidene with ketones and aldehydes (see Scheme 37). The former reaction takes a few minutes at -40°C, while the latter one occurs in hours at room temperature.88 The reaction between 178 and benzaldehyde led to triphenylethylene and the niobyl derivative 184. Due to the difference in reaction rates between a and b in Scheme 37, it was found that the sequential addition of two different ketones or aldehydes to a THF solution of 29 produced a nonsymmetric olefin in a stepwise McMurry-type reaction.84 This is exemplified in the coupling shown in reaction c (Scheme 37). The proposed reaction pathway does not involve the intermediacy of a pinacolato ligand and therefore differs from the mechanism of the McMurry reaction and related reductive couplings at activated metal sites.89... 

Ono and coworkers have extended the radical elimination of v/c-dinitro compounds to P-nitro sulfones151 and P-nitro sulfides.138,152 As P-nitro sulfides are readily prepared by the Michael addition of thiols to nitroalkenes, radical elimination of P-nitrosulfides provides a useful method for olefin synthesis. For example, cyclohexanone is converted into allyl alcohol by the reaction shown in Eq. 7.110. Treatment of cyclohexanone with a mixture of nitromethane, PhSH, 35%-HCHO, TMG (0.1 equiv) in acetonitrile gives ahydroxymethylated-P-nitro sulfide in 68% yield, which is converted into the corresponding allyl alcohol in 86% yield by the reaction with Bu3SnH.138 Nitro-aldol and the Michael addition reactions take place sequentially to give the required P-nitro sulfides in one pot. 

Our interest in silicon chemistry quite naturally led to a study of the hydrosilation reaction, the addition of the Si-H group across an olefin or an acetylene. This reaction is one of the most useful methods of making silicon-carbon bonds and is an important industrial process. Typically, homogeneous catalysts based on platinum, rhodium or ruthenium are used, and while very efficient, they are not recoverable(46). 

This reaction is extended to the intramolecular ring closure of the intermediate radical 224 with olefinic or trimethylsilylacetylenic side chains [121]. Cu(BF4)2 is also effective as an oxidant (Scheme 89) [122]. Conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to 2-eyclopenten-l-one followed by cyclopropanation of the resulting silyl enol ethers gives the substituted cyclopropyl silyl ethers, which are oxidized to 4-substituted-2-cyclohexen-l-ones according to the above-mentioned method [123]. (Scheme 88 and 89)... 

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