Titanium carbonyl coupling with -

Reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds to yield olefins is achieved with titanium (0), which is freshly prepared by reduction of titanium(III) salts with LiAIH4 or with potassium. The removal of two carbonyl oxygen atoms is driven by T1O2 formation- Yields are often excellent even with sensitive or highly hindered olefins. (J.E. McMurry, 1974, 1976A,B). 

Titanium(IV) is a powerful but selective Lewis acid which can promote the coupling of allylsilanes with carbonyl compounds and derivatives In the presence of titanium tetrachlonde, benzalacetone reacts with allyltnmethylsilane by 1,4-addition to give 4-PHENYL-6-HEPTEN-2-ONE. Similarly, the enol silyl ether of cyclopentanone is coupled with f-pentyl chloride using titanium tetrachlonde to give 2-(tert-PENTYL)CYCLOPENTANONE, an example of a-tert-alkylation of ketones. 

Reductive coupling of dialdehydes may also be accomplished by use of samarium(II) iodide514. The reactions is stereoselective and has been used to prepare myo-inositol derivatives (equation 132)515. The equivalent reaction, using low-valent titanium species as catalysts, results in a mixture of products516. The production of cyclic /1-amino alcohols may be accomplished in good yields, and with a high degree of cis selectivity by the treatment of carbonyl hydrazones with samarium(II) iodide (equation 133)517. This reaction is effectively equivalent to an aza-Barbier reaction. 

The reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds with formation of C-C double bonds was developed in the early seventies and is now known as McMurry reaction [38, 39]. The active metal in these reactions is titanium in a low-valent oxidation state. The reactive Ti species is usually generated from Ti(IV) or Ti(III) substrates by reduction with Zn, a Zn-Cu couple, or lithium aluminum hydride. A broad variety of dicarbonyl compounds can be cyclized by means of this reaction, unfunctionalized cycloalkenes can be synthesized from diketones, enolethers from ketone-ester substrates, enamines from ketone-amide substrates [40-42], Cycloalkanones can be synthesized from external keto esters (X = OR ) by subsequent hydrolysis of the primary formed enol ethers (Scheme 9). 

The McMurry35 uses low-valent titanium to couple two carbonyl groups together and works very well when the two compounds are the same the symmetrical stilbene -174 can be made in 95% yield and in almost perfect (99.92 0.04 E Z) -selectivity from 3-fluorobenzaldehyde 173. The low-valent titanium is produced by reduction of Ti(III) with lithium metal.36... 

The oxophilicity of titanium has been exploited in the well-known reductive carbonyl coupling reactions pioneered by McMurry [37-41] and others [42,43] using low-valent titanium. This reaction has been shown to occur with many other early transition metals [44, 45]. The oxophilicity of the early transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides is well known. The standard enthalpies of... 

Organotitanium and -zirconium chemistry already has an established place in organic synthesis and many reactions are covered elsewhere in the Practical Approach series. Examples include reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds with low valent titanium to form 1,2-diols or alkenes methylenation of ester carbonyl groups with titanocene methylidene (Cp2Ti=CH2) zirconium-catalysed methylalumination of alkynes and hydrozirconation of alkynes and alkenes with the Schwartz reagent, Cp2ZrHCl. ... 

R)-Benzoins and (/ )-2-hydroxypropiophcnonc derivatives are formed on a preparative scale by benzaldehyde lyase (BAL)-catalyzed C-C bond formation from aromatic aldehydes and acetaldehyde in aqueous buffer/DMSO solution with remarkable ease in high chemical yield and high optical purity (Eq. 8.112).303 Less-stable mixed benzoins were also generated via reductive coupling of benzoyl cyanide and carbonyl compounds by aqueous titanium(III) ions.304... 

Another well-known transformation of carbonyl derivatives is their conversion to pinacols (1,2-diols) via an initial one-electron reduction with highly active metals (such as sodium, magnesium, aluminum, samarium iodide, cerium(III)/ I2, yttrium, low-valent titanium reagents (McMurry coupling), etc.), amines, and electron-rich olefins and aromatics as one-electron donors (D).43 Ketyl formation is rapidly followed by dimerization44 (equation 22). 

Mikami and co-workers16-19 have done extensive work for developing catalysts for the asymmetric carbonyl-ene reaction. Excellent enantioselectivites are accessible with the binol-titanium catalyst 17 (Equation (10)) for the condensation of 2-methyl butadiene (R1 = vinyl) and glyoxalates (binol = l,T-binaphthalene-2,2 -diol).16 The products were further manipulated toward the total synthesis of (i )-(-)-ipsdienol. The oxo-titanium species 18 also provides excellent enantioselectivity in the coupling of a-methyl styrene with methyl glyoxalate.17 Reasonable yields and good enantioselectivites are also obtained when the catalyst 19 is formed in situ from titanium isopropoxide and the binol and biphenol derivatives.18... 

---