Transmetalation

Chemical Resources Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-0853, Japan 

Current Methods in Inorganic Chemistry, Volume 3 Editors H. Kurosawa and A. Yamamoto 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved 

The formation of the dinuclear intermediate and its dissociation to two metal complexes in a concerted pathway suggest a reversible intermolecular exchange of the two ligands. Most of the transmetalation reactions, however, occur smoothly 

The latter reachon is the alkylahon of AICI3 with organometalhc compounds such as a Grignard reagent and alkyllithium, which has been used in the preparation of a number of organoaluminum compounds (Eq. 5.2) [11]. 

The combination of the metals involved in the reachon leads to another classih-cation of transmetalahon into three categories (1) organic ligand transfer between 

Only about a gram of Ph4Sn dissolves in a litre of ether at room temperature. Allyl-lithium can be made similarly, in solution using ether as solvent, 

Reactions between metallic lithium and organic compounds of more electronegative metals are not properly classed as transmetalations, but 

The reaction between diphenylmercury and lithium has often been used to obtain halide-free phenyl-lithium, 

Since -butyl-lithium is readily available it is a very suitable source of ar /-lithium compounds, since aryl groups are substantially more electro- 

The preparation of crystalline phenyl-lithium is an interesting and recent application 

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Organic compounds M—R and hydrides M—H of main group metals such as Mg, Zn, B, Al, Sn, SI, and Hg react with A—Pd—X complexes formed by oxidative addition, and an organic group or hydride is transferred to Pd by exchange reaction of X with R or H. In other words, the alkylation of Pd takes place (eq. 9). A driving force of the reaction, which is called transmetallation, is ascribed to the difference in the electronegativities of two metals. A typical example is the phenylation of phenylpalladium iodide with phenyltributyltin to form diphenylpalladium (16). 

Palladation of aromatic compounds with Pd(OAc)2 gives the arylpalladium acetate 25 as an unstable intermediate (see Chapter 3, Section 5). A similar complex 26 is formed by the transmetallation of PdX2 with arylmetal compounds of main group metals such as Hg Those intermediates which have the Pd—C cr-bonds react with nucleophiles or undergo alkene insertion to give oxidized products and Pd(0) as shown below. Hence, these reactions proceed by consuming stoichiometric amounts of Pd(II) compounds, which are reduced to the Pd(0) state. Sometimes, but not always, the reduced Pd(0) is reoxidized in situ to the Pd(II) state. In such a case, the whole oxidation process becomes a catalytic cycle with regard to the Pd(II) compounds. This catalytic reaction is different mechanistically, however, from the Pd(0)-catalyzed reactions described in the next section. These stoichiometric and catalytic reactions are treated in Chapter 3. 

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. 

The silyl enol ethers 209 and 212 are considered to be sources of carbanions. and their transmetallation with Pd(OAc)2 forms the Pd enolate 210. or o.w-tt-allylpalladium, which undergoes the intramolecular alkene insertion and. 1-elimination to give 3-methylcyclopentenone (211) and a bicyclic system 213[199], Five- and six-membered rings can be prepared by this reaction[200]. Use of benzoquinone makes the reaction catalytic. The reaction has been used for syntheses of skeletons of natural products, such as the phyllocladine intermediate 214[201], capnellene[202], the stemodin intermediate 215[203] and hir-sutene [204]. 

Aryl- or alkenylpalladium comple.xcs can be generated in situ by the trans-metallation of the aryl- or alkenylmercury compounds 386 or 389 with Pd(Il) (see Section 6). These species react with 1,3-cydohexadiene via the formation of the TT-allylpalladium intermediate 387, which is attacked intramolecularlv by the amide or carboxylate group, and the 1,2-difunctionalization takes place to give 388 and 390[322]. Similarly, the ort/trt-thallation of benzoic acid followed by transmetallation with Pd(II) forms the arylpalladium complex, which reacts with butadiene to afford the isocoumarin 391, achieving the 1,2-difunctionalization of butadiene[323]. 

The transmetallation of various organometallic compounds (Hg, Tl, Sn, B, Si, etc.) with Pd(II) generates the reactive cr-aryl, alkenyl, and alkyl Pd compounds. These carbopalladation products can be used without isolation for further reactions. Pd(II) and Hg(II) salts have similar reactivity toward alkenes and aromatic compounds, but Hg(II) salts form stable mercuration products with alkenes and aromatic rings. The mercuration products are isolated and handled easily. On the other hand, the corresponding palladation products are too reactive to be isolated. The stable mercuration products can be used for various reactions based on facile transmetallation with Pd(II) salts to generate the very reactive palladation products 399 and 400 in rim[364,365]. 

In connection with mechanistic studies on the Wacker reaction, the transmetallation of ri-ethoxy- and /3-hydroxyethylmercury(II) chloride with PdCB has been carried out, giving ethyl vinyl ether and acetaldehyde[366]. The reaction proceeds by the formation of ri-ethoxy- and /3-hydroxyethylpalladium chlorides (401), which decompose as soon as they are formed. 

Pd(II) salts promote the carbonylation of organomercury compounds. Reaction of phenylmercury chloride and PdCh under CO pressure affords benzophenone (429)[387]. Both esters and ketones are obtained by the carbonylation of furylmercury(Il) chloride in alcohol[388]. Although the yields are not satisfactory, esters are obtained by the carbonylation of aryl- and alkylmercuryfll) chlorides[389,390]. One-pot catalytic carbonylation of thiophene, furan, and pyrrole (430) takes place at the 2-position via mercuration and transmetallation by the use of PdCb, Hg(N03), and CuCl2[391]. 

Thallation of aromatic compounds with thallium tris(trifluoroacetate) proceeds more easily than mercuration. Transmetallation of organothallium compounds with Pd(II) is used for synthetic purposes. The reaction of alkenes with arylthallium compounds in the presence of Pd(Il) salt gives styrene derivatives (433). The reaction can be made catalytic by use of CuCl7[393,394], The aryla-tion of methyl vinyl ketone was carried out with the arylthallium compound 434[395]. The /9-alkoxythallium compound 435, obtained by oxythallation of styrene, is converted into acetophenone by the treatment with PdCh[396]. 

Organoboranes undergo transmetallation. 1-Hexenylboronic acid (438) reacts with methyl acrylate via the transmetallation with Pd(OAc)2, giving methyl 2,4-nonadienoate (439)[399], The ( )-alkenylboranes 440, prepared by the hydroboration of terminal alkynes, are converted into the alkylated ( )-alkenes 441 by treatment with an equivalent amount of Pd(OAc)2 and triethylamine[400]. The ( )-octenylborane 442 reacts with CO in MeOH in the... 

Alkenylmercury compounds are coupled to give conjugated dienes by the transmetallation with Pd(II). A mixture of ( )- and (Z)-dibenzylidenesuccinic acids (451 and 452) was obtained by the transmetallation of 2-chloromercurio-3-phenylacrylic acid (450) with Li2PdCl4 in the presence of CuCl2[409,410], III6-6... 

Organotelluriumfll and IV) compounds undergo transmetallation with Pd(II)[414], The carbonylation of the alkenylphenyltellurium(II) 459 gives the a,/3-Unsaturated ester 460 and benzoate, 460 being the main product[415], Reductive coupling of diaryl, dialkyl, and aryl alkyltellurides 461 to give 462 proceeds by treatment with Pd(OAc)2[416,417],... 

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. 

Oxidative addition of alkyl halides to Pd(0) is slow. Furthermore, alkyl-Pd complexes, formed by the oxidative addition of alkyl halides, undergo facile elimination of /3-hydrogen and the reaction stops at this stage without undergoing insertion or transmetallation. Although not many examples are available, alkynyl iodides react with Pd(0) to form alkynylpalladium complexes. 

An Q-arylalkanoate is prepared by the reaction of aryl halide or triflate with the ketene silyl acetal 74 as an alkene component. However, the reaction is explained by transmetallation of Ph - Pd—Br with 74 to generate the Pd eno-late 75, which gives the a-arylalkanoate by reductive elimination[76]. 

Formation of ketones. Ketones can be prepared by the carbonylation of halides and pseudo-halides in the presence of various organometallic compounds of Zn, B, Al, Sn, Si, and Hg, and other carbon nucleophiles, which attack acylpalladium intermediates (transmetallation and reductive elimination). 

The carbonylation of aryl iodides in the presence of alkyl iodides and Zn Cu couple affords aryl alkyl ketones via the formation of alkylzinc species from alkyl iodides followed by transmetallation and reductive elimination[380]. The Pd-catalyzed carbonylation of the diaryliodonium salts 516 under mild conditions in the presence of Zn affords ketones 517 via phenylzinc. The a-diketone 518 is formed as a byproduct[381],... 

Organotin compounds such as aryl-, alkenyl-, and alkynylstannanes are useful for the ketone synthesis by transmetallation of acylpalladium 529 and reductive elimination of 530 as shown[389-393]. Acetophenone (531) is obtained by the carbonylation of iodobenzene with Me4Sn. Diaryl ketones... 

Reactions with Orgunometullic Compounds of the Main Group Metals via Transmetallation... 

Another important reaction via transmetallation is carbon-metal bond formation by reaction with bimetallic reagents. This is a useful synthetic method for various main group organometallic reagents. 

Organolithium and -magnesium compounds. Compared with extensive studies carried out on the Ni-catalyzed transmetallation reaction of Grignard reagents[43I,432], few examples of the Pd-catalyzed reactions of Mg are... 

Tin enolates of ketones can be generated by the reaction of the enol acetate 733 with tributyltin methoxide[60i] and they react with alkenyl halides via transmetallation to give 734. This reaction offers a useful method for the introduction of an aryl or alkenyl group at the o-carbon of ketones[602]. Tin enolates are also generated by the reaction of siiyl enol ethers with tributyltin fluoride and used for coupling with halides[603]. 

The transmetallation of the siloxycyclopropane 751 with the aryl- or alke-nylpalladium 752 generates the Pd homoenolate 753. and subsequent reductive elimination gives the /3-aryl or alkenyl ketone 754[618]. It should be noted that the Pd homoenolate 753 generated in this reaction undergoes reductive elimination without d-elimination. 

Hydrogenolysis of aryl and alkenyl halides and triflates proceeds by the treatment with various hydride sources. The reaction can be explained by the transmetallation with hydride to form palladium hydride, which undergoes reductive elimination. Several boro hydrides are used for this purpose[680], Deuteration of aromatic rings is possible by the reaction of aryl chlorides with NaBD4681]. 

Acyl halides react with organometallic reagents without catalysts, but sometimes the Pd-catalyzed reactions give higher yields and selectivity than the Lincatalyzed reactions. Acyl halides react with Pd(0) to form the acylpalladium complexes 846, which undergo facile transmetallation. 

The Pd-catalyzed coupling of an acyl chloride with benzyl chloride to form the benzyl ketone 854 proceeds in the presence of an excess of Zn. In this reaction, benzyl chloride reacts with Zn to form benzylzinc, which undergoes transmetallation with acylpaliadium complex[729]. The reaction has been applied to the synthesis of riccardin B (855)[730]. 

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