Catalytic Transformations

From bark, valuable chemicals, such as betulinol, can be obtained [5]. Betulinol is used as a health-promoting agent. Recently Holmbom et al. [27, 28] discovered that hydroxymatairesinol (HMR) is concentrated in the stems and knots of Norway spruce Picea abies). It can be extracted and transformed catalytically to matairesinol (MAT), which is an antioxidant and anticarcinogenic agent [29-31]. 

To catalyze asymmetric transformations, catalytically active sites can be incorporated in different areas of a dendrimer a) chiral sites at the periphery, b) chiral sites in cavities or at the core, c) achiral sites which are surrounded by chiral branches in the interior of the dendrimer. 

Scheme 150).225 227 The pyran products predominate when the ratio of triphenylphosphine to palladium catalyst exceeds two whereas the linear oligomers are the major products when this ratio is close to unity. The suggested227 mechanism (Scheme 151) includes a step of insertion of C=0 into a C—Pd palladium-catalyzed reactions leading to the formation of pyranones (see Scheme 152)228 and piperidones (see Scheme 139 in Section V,A,2).211 It is useful to note that the 2,5-divinyltetrahydropyran derivative can be transformed catalytically by ruthenium trichloride into synthetically useful 3,4-dihydro-2//-pyran derivatives (Scheme 153).229... 

Finally, whilst rhenium hydride complexes have not been reported to hydrogenate alkenes, there are several reports of the dehydrogenation of alkanes in the presence of tBuCH=CH2 as an hydrogen acceptor (Scheme 6.14) [136-142]. For example, cycloalkanes are transformed catalytically into the corresponding cyclic alkene, which shows that, in principle, a Re-based catalyst could be designed. 

From the seminal studies of Sabatier [43] and Adams [44] to the more recent studies of Knowles [45] and Noyori [46], catalytic hydrogenation has been regarded as a method of reduction. The results herein demonstrate the feasibility of transforming catalytic hydrogenation into a powerful and atom-economical method for reductive C-C bond formation. Given the profound socioeconomic impact of al-kene hydroformylation, the development of catalysts for the hydrogen-mediated... 

The nature of the diazo compound and the identity of the catalyst are important variables for the success of these transformations. Catalytic methods are not... 

Additionally, Boger and Panek reported an intramolecular amine arylation mediated by stoichiometric quantities of Pd (0), Eq. (2) [15]. Efforts to render this transformation catalytic in palladium were fruitless, however. The resulting heterocycle was utilized in the total synthesis of lavendamycin. 

High-valent iron-oxo intermediates are commonly invoked in catalytic cycles of mononuclear iron enzymes that activate O2 to effect metabolically important oxidative transformations. Catalytic pathways of many mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes are proposed to involve high-valent iron-oxo intermediates as the active oxidizing species. Two isomeric pentadentate bispidine Fe(II) complexes (bispi-dine = 3,7 - diazabicyclo l,3,3,nonane) in the presence of H2O2 are catalytically active for the epoxidation and 1,2-dihydroxylation of cyclooctene [78, 79]. Spectral and mechanistic studies indicate that in all these cases a Fe(IV) = O intermediate is responsible for the catalytic process [80]. 

In the last 15 years, our work has shown that spillover hydrogen Hso or spillover oxygen Oso, can react with catalyst surfaces to create new sites, or transform catalytic sites poorly active or active in other reactions, to sites very selective for given transformations (2-4). We call this phenomenon the Remote Control (RC), because the phase which dissociates H2 or O2 acts as a sort of "control room" sending a message (Hso or Oso) which modifies the way the "chemical plant", namely the active site, operates. 

By aims membrane mass transport processes can be classified as controlled release, separation, separation and enrichment, chemical transformation (catalytic or noncatalytic), and biochemical transformation processes. 

Can we use energy in the place of matter to effectively carry out transformations catalytically on a commercial scale ... 

Acetylenic silyl ethers can be transformed catalytically into synthetically useful conjugated dienol silyl ethers by treatment with ruthenium hydride complexes at 150 C in sealed tubes/ ... 

More interest, however, has been focused on the photochemistry of phosphine complexes of the second- and third-row transition metals in their lower oxidation states. This interest is primarily the result of the fact that such complexes are widely used as homogeneous catalysts in the solution phase, and it is theorized that photochemical techniques can be used to generate reactive excited states, or at least to generate reactive, coordinately unsaturated species. A primary goal of such work is the generation of a photocatalytic system whereby the photoproduct is a thermal catalyst, thereby making the transformation catalytic in the number of incident photons. Many of these ideas that have been pursued with tertiary phosphine complexes have also been followed for transition metal carbonyl complexes, with this latter photochemistry being discussed in Chapter 6. 

To explain how solid acids such as Nafion-H or HZSM-5 can show remarkable catalytic activity in hydrocarbon transformations, the nature of activation at the acidie sites of such solid acids must be eon-sidered. Nafion-H contains acidic -SO3H groups in clustered pockets. In the acidic zeolite H-ZSM-5 the active Bronsted and Tewis acid sites are in close proximity (—2.5 A). 

A catalytic enantio- and diastereoselective dihydroxylation procedure without the assistance of a directing functional group (like the allylic alcohol group in the Sharpless epox-idation) has also been developed by K.B. Sharpless (E.N. Jacobsen, 1988 H.-L. Kwong, 1990 B.M. Kim, 1990 H. Waldmann, 1992). It uses osmium tetroxide as a catalytic oxidant (as little as 20 ppm to date) and two readily available cinchona alkaloid diastereomeis, namely the 4-chlorobenzoate esters or bulky aryl ethers of dihydroquinine and dihydroquinidine (cf. p. 290% as stereosteering reagents (structures of the Os complexes see R.M. Pearlstein, 1990). The transformation lacks the high asymmetric inductions of the Sharpless epoxidation, but it is broadly applicable and insensitive to air and water. Further improvements are to be expected. 

The reactions of the second class are carried out by the reaction of oxidized forms[l] of alkenes and aromatic compounds (typically their halides) with Pd(0) complexes, and the reactions proceed catalytically. The oxidative addition of alkenyl and aryl halides to Pd(0) generates Pd(II)—C a-hondi (27 and 28), which undergo several further transformations. 

All these intermediate complexes undergo various transformations such as insertion, transmetallation, and trapping with nucleophiles, and Pd(0) is regenerated at the end in every case. The regenerated Pd(0) starts the catalytic cycle again, making the whole process catalytic. These reactions catalyzed by Pd(0) are treated in Chapter 4. 

Several Pd(0) complexes are effective catalysts of a variety of reactions, and these catalytic reactions are particularly useful because they are catalytic without adding other oxidants and proceed with catalytic amounts of expensive Pd compounds. These reactions are treated in this chapter. Among many substrates used for the catalytic reactions, organic halides and allylic esters are two of the most widely used, and they undergo facile oxidative additions to Pd(0) to form complexes which have o-Pd—C bonds. These intermediate complexes undergo several different transformations. Regeneration of Pd(0) species in the final step makes the reaction catalytic. These reactions of organic halides except allylic halides are treated in Section 1 and the reactions of various allylic compounds are surveyed in Section 2. Catalytic reactions of dienes, alkynes. and alkenes are treated in other sections. These reactions offer unique methods for carbon-carbon bond formation, which are impossible by other means. 

In Grignard reactions, Mg(0) metal reacts with organic halides of. sp carbons (alkyl halides) more easily than halides of sp carbons (aryl and alkenyl halides). On the other hand. Pd(0) complexes react more easily with halides of carbons. In other words, alkenyl and aryl halides undergo facile oxidative additions to Pd(0) to form complexes 1 which have a Pd—C tr-bond as an initial step. Then mainly two transformations of these intermediate complexes are possible insertion and transmetallation. Unsaturated compounds such as alkenes. conjugated dienes, alkynes, and CO insert into the Pd—C bond. The final step of the reactions is reductive elimination or elimination of /J-hydro-gen. At the same time, the Pd(0) catalytic species is regenerated to start a new catalytic cycle. The transmetallation takes place with organometallic compounds of Li, Mg, Zn, B, Al, Sn, Si, Hg, etc., and the reaction terminates by reductive elimination. 

In addition to the catalytic allylation of carbon nucleophiles, several other catalytic transformations of allylic compounds are known as illustrated. Sometimes these reactions are competitive with each other, and the chemo-selectivity depends on reactants and reaction conditions. 

Among several propargylic derivatives, the propargylic carbonates 3 were found to be the most reactive and they have been used most extensively because of their high reactivity[2,2a]. The allenylpalladium methoxide 4, formed as an intermediate in catalytic reactions of the methyl propargylic carbonate 3, undergoes two types of transformations. One is substitution of cr-bonded Pd. which proceeds by either insertion or transmetallation. The insertion of an alkene, for example, into the Pd—C cr-bond and elimination of/i-hydrogen affords the allenyl compound 5 (1.2,4-triene). Alkene and CO insertions are typical. The substitution of Pd methoxide with hard carbon nucleophiles or terminal alkynes in the presence of Cul takes place via transmetallation to yield the allenyl compound 6. By these reactions, various allenyl derivatives can be prepared. 

Another interesting transformation is the intramolecular metathesis reaction of 1,6-enynes. Depending on the substrates and catalytic species, very different products are formed by the intramolecular enyne metathesis reaction of l,6-enynes[41]. The cyclic 1,3-diene 71 is formed from a linear 1,6-enyne. The bridged tricyclic compound 73 with a bridgehead alkene can be prepared by the enyne metathesis of the cyclic enyne 72. The first step of... 

Catalytic hydrogenation would not be suitable for this transformation because H2 adds to carbon-carbon double bonds faster than it reduces carbonyl groups... 

One of the newer and more fmitful developments in this area is asymmetric hydroboration giving chiral organoboranes, which can be transformed into chiral carbon compounds of high optical purity. Other new directions focus on catalytic hydroboration, asymmetric aHylboration, cross-coupling reactions, and appHcations in biomedical research. This article gives an account of the most important aspects of the hydroboration reaction and transformations of its products. For more detail, monographs and reviews are available (1—13). 

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