Tungsten alkynes

Addition of an electrophile (see Electrophile) to metal-bound cyanides will often form an isocyanide ligand (see Electrophile), -CsN-R. For example, the compound [Fe P(OMe)3 (NO)2(j7 -C3H4R)], which is a source of the allyl cation ( -C3H4R)+, reacts with trans-[Mn(CN)(CO)(dppm)2] to alkylate the cyanide, giving an allyl isocyanide ligand (equation 8). The tungsten alkyne... 

Catalysis by alkali metal ions has recently been reported as an alternative route. In an argon matrix, acetylene forms a n complex with the metal. On irradiation, it isomerizes to the vinylidene form, M C=CH2. When complexed with metals, vinylidene is much more stable, in the same way that metal carbenoids are generally much more stable than carbenes, and rearrangement of a tungsten alkyne complex to a tungsten vinylidene complex has been reported. ... 

Chromium cyclopropylcarbene complexes react with alkynes to provide cyclopentenone derivatives in a formal [2c+2s+lCo] cycloaddition process (see Sect. 3.2). However, tungsten and molybdenum cyclopropylcarbene complexes... 

An obvious drawback in RCM-based synthesis of unsaturated macrocyclic natural compounds is the lack of control over the newly formed double bond. The products formed are usually obtained as mixture of ( /Z)-isomers with the (E)-isomer dominating in most cases. The best solution for this problem might be a sequence of RCAM followed by (E)- or (Z)-selective partial reduction. Until now, alkyne metathesis has remained in the shadow of alkene-based metathesis reactions. One of the reasons maybe the lack of commercially available catalysts for this type of reaction. When alkyne metathesis as a new synthetic tool was reviewed in early 1999 [184], there existed only a single report disclosed by Fiirstner s laboratory [185] on the RCAM-based conversion of functionalized diynes to triple-bonded 12- to 28-membered macrocycles with the concomitant expulsion of 2-butyne (cf Fig. 3a). These reactions were catalyzed by Schrock s tungsten-carbyne complex G. Since then, Furstner and coworkers have achieved a series of natural product syntheses, which seem to establish RCAM followed by partial reduction to (Z)- or (E)-cycloalkenes as a useful macrocyclization alternative to RCM. As work up to early 2000, including the development of alternative alkyne metathesis catalysts, is competently covered in Fiirstner s excellent review [2a], we will concentrate here only on the most recent natural product syntheses, which were all achieved by Fiirstner s team. 

Scheme 94 Total synthesis of the natural compound dehydrohomoancepsenolide (473) through sequential application of chemoselective ruthenium-catalyzed RCM and tungsten-catalyzed alkyne homodimerization [191]...

The reaction of alkenes with alkenes or alkynes does not always produce an aromatic ring. An important variation of this reaction reacts dienes, diynes, or en-ynes with transition metals to form organometallic coordination complexes. In the presence of carbon monoxide, cyclopentenone derivatives are formed in what is known as the Pauson-Khand reaction The reaction involves (1) formation of a hexacarbonyldicobalt-alkyne complex and (2) decomposition of the complex in the presence of an alkene. A typical example Rhodium and tungsten ... 

Tungsten(O) pentacarbonyl-methylene chloride complex and alkynes form vinylidene complexes by photo-irradiation, which react with an imine or a dialkylcarbodimide to afford /3-lactams after decomplexation of the metal.233... 

In a noteworthy series of studies, Herndon has shown that cyclopropylcarbenes can be used as four-carbon components in molybdenum- and tungsten-mediated [4 + 2 + l]-reactions with alkynes and carbon monoxide (CO). These reactions give cycloheptadienones in moderate yields and with moderate selectivity (Equations (26)—(28)). The mechanism of this reaction is proposed to proceed through a series of steps involving metathesis, GO insertion, ketene formation, cyclopropane cleavage, and finally reductive elimination (Scheme 43).133... 

Diphenyl ditelluride adds to alkynes upon irradiation with a tungsten lamp in the absence of solvent to give 1,2-bis(phenyltelluro)alkenes (Equation (67)).191 The ( )-isomers are obtained as the major product through a radical chain mechanism. Functionalized internal alkynes such as dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and dihaloalkynes XCCX (X = C1 or Br) are able to participate in the reaction.192... 

The symmetrical dienyne 58a was converted to a fused bicyclo [4.3.0] ring in 95% yield [17] (Eq. 27). With substrate 58c containing an unsymmetrical diene tether, two different products, 59c and 59c, were obtained in a ratio of 1 to 1 (Eq. 28). The reaction course in the formation of the different bicyclic rings is shown in Scheme 8. This dienyne metathesis is also catalyzed by tungsten or molybdenum complex 62 or 63 (Fig. 1), and a dienyne bearing terminal alkyne 58b could be cyclized to give 59b in 97% yield. 

In another study the kinetics and mechanism of an unprecedented T/2-vinyl isomerization of a highly fluorinated tungsten(II) metalla-cyclopropene complex was studied (92). Photolysis of a tungsten(II) tetrafluoroaryl metallacycle 1 and perfluoro-2-butyne results in the formation of the kinetic rf -vinyl complex 2 in which the fluoride is trans to the inserted acetylene and cis to both carbonyl ligands. Upon heating 2 is converted to the thermodynamic rf -vinyl complex 3 in which the fluoride ligand is now cis to the inserted alkyne and trans to one CO and cis to the second CO ligand as shown in Scheme 1. 

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