Unsaturated carbonyl compounds Palladium acetate

Reduction of unsaturated carbonyl compounds to the saturated carbonyl is achieved readily and in high yield. Over palladium the reduction will come to a near halt except under vigorous conditions (73). If an aryl carbonyl compound, or a vinylogous aryl carbonyl, such as in cinnamaldehyde is employed, some reduction of the carbonyl may occur as well. Carbonyl reduction can be diminished or stopped completely by addition of small amounts of potassium acetate (i5) to palladium catalysts. Other effective inhibitors are ferrous salts, such asferroussulfate, at a level of about one atom of iron per atom of palladium. The ferrous salt can be simply added to the hydrogenation solution (94). Homogeneous catalysts are not very effective in hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes because of the tendencies of these catalysts to promote decarbonylation. 

Palladium(II) acetate was found to be a good catalyst for such cyclopropanations with ethyl diazoacetate (Scheme 19) by analogy with the same transformation using diazomethane (see Sect. 2.1). The best yields were obtained with monosubstituted alkenes such as acrylic esters and methyl vinyl ketone (64-85 %), whereas they dropped to 10-30% for a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds bearing alkyl groups in a- or p-position such as ethyl crotonate, isophorone and methyl methacrylate 141). In none of these reactions was formation of carbene dimers observed. 7>ms-benzalaceto-phenone was cyclopropanated stereospecifically in about 50% yield PdCl2 and palladium(II) acetylacetonate were less efficient catalysts 34 >. Diazoketones may be used instead of diazoesters, as the cyclopropanation of acrylonitrile by diazoacenaph-thenone/Pd(OAc)2 (75 % yield) shows142). 

Finally, a,[3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds are converted to [3-keto systems when treated with 20% Na2PdCl4 catalyst in 50% acetic acid as solvent and r-butyl hydroperoxide or hydrogen peroxide as reoxidant (equation 3).9 It is not clear if the mechanism of this process is related to the other palladium(II)-catalyzed addition of oxygen nucleophiles to alkenes. 

It is remarkable that the palladium(O) complexes are inactive in the absence of chloroform.236 Palladium acetate-bipyridine complex has been reported to catalyse conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to a -unsaturated carbonyl compounds in aqueous media with high yields.237... 

The oxidation of a, -unsaturated carbonyl compounds under the usual conditions in DMF using PdCl2/CuCl/02 is very slow. However, regioselective oxidation of a, -unsaturated esters to 3-keto esters (equation IS), and a,3-unsaturated ketones to 1,3-diketones (equation 16) proceeds with NazPdCU in solvents such as S0% acetic acid, isc ropyl alcohol, and NMP. r-Butyl hydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide are used as the reoxidants of the reduced palladium. The reaction proceeds slowly at room temperature but smoothly between SO and 80 C. Some typical examples of this process are shown in Table 1. 

Methylene ( CH2) generated photochemically or thermally from diazomethane is highly reactive and is prone to incur side reactions to a substantial extent. In order to avoid these undesirable complexities, the cyclopropanation of multiple bonds with diazomethane has usually been carried out under catalytic conditions The catalysts most frequently employed are copper salts and copper complexes as well as palladium acetate. The intermediate produced in the copper salt-catalyzed reactions behaves as a weak electrophile and exhibits a preference to attack an electron-rich double bond. It is also reactive enough to attack aromatic nuclei. In contrast, the palladium acetate-catalyzed decomposition of diazomethane cyclopropanates a,a- or a,jS-disubstituted a,jS-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in high yields (equation 47). The trisubstituted derivatives, however, do not react. The palladium acetate-catalyzed reaction has been applied also for the cyclopropanations of some strained cyclic alkenesstyrene derivatives and terminal double bondsHowever, the cyclopropanation of non-activated, internal double bonds occurs only with difficulty. The difference, thereby. 

Palladium-based catalysts also bring about cyclopropanations in high-yield. With palladium acetate/CHjNj, styrene , unactivated terminal olefins strained olefins , 1,3-dienesan enamine , as well as a,3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds have been cyclopropanated (Table 1). Contrary to an earlier report, the reaction also works well with cyclohexene if the conditions are chosen appropriately it seems that the notniyst is rapidly deactivated in the presence of this olefin >. Trisubstituted a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds were found to be unreactive, and the same is true for the double bonds in diethyl fumarate, maleic anhydride, coumarin and 1,3-dimethyluracil. Whereas the latter two were totally unreactive, [3-1-2] cycloaddition of diazomethane gave pyrazolines in the former two cases. The last entry of Table 1 shows that an allyl alcohol function can still be cyclopropanated, but methylene insertion into the O—H bond is a competing process. 

One major feature of palladium(II) catalysts, the most simple one being palladium(II) acetate, is their ability to transform a,/ -unsaturated carbonyl compounds into the corresponding cyclopropanes V The stereospecificity of this process is illustrated by the high yield conversion of methyl ( >2-butenoate to methyl trans-2-methylcydopropanecarboxylate 3. For further examples and a procedure, see Vol. E19b, p289. 

Some synthetic modification for Pd(II)-catalyzed oxidation of silyl enol ethers is also developed. Silyl enol ethers prepared from aldehydes and ketones are converted to the corresponding a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compound in good yields by 10 mol % of palladium(II) acetate in the presence of 1 atm pressure of O2 in DMSO as solvent (Scheme... 

Apart from routine applications to cyclopropane synthesis,the application of new catalysts to the decomposition of diazo-compounds has received considerable attention. The use of palladium acetate, originally reported in 1972 by Paulissen et o/., has been extended and applied to diazomethane and ethyl diazoacetate in the presence of aP-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. With a- and a-substituted aP-unsaturated ketones, stereospecific cis-addition occurs in excellent yields, but the catalyst proves to be ineffective with analogous trisubstituted olefins, as illustrated for the formation of (110) with diazomethane. The use of palladium chloride with the... 

Allyltrimethylsilyl ethers, e.g. (73), react with aryl iodides in the presence of stoicheiometric amounts of palladium acetate and lithium chloride to afford moderate yields of E-/3-aryl-a,/3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, e.g. (74). " When the products are ketones they are contaminated with the corresponding saturated species. 

This one-step transformation of an alkene to an allylic acetate compares well with other methods of preparation such as hydride reduction of a, 8-unsaturated carbonyl compounds followed by esterification. The scope and limitations of the reaction have been investigated. The allylic acetoxylation proceeds via a TT-allylpalladium intermediate, and as a result, substituted and linear alkenes generally give several isomeric allylic acetates. With oxygen nucleophiles the reaction is quite general, and reactants and products are stable towards the reaction conditions. This is normally not yet the case with nitrogen nucleophiles, although one intramolecular palladium-catalyzed allylic amination mechanistically related to allylic acetoxylation has been reported. ... 

Since palladium complexes have proven to be efficient in activating diboron compounds throughout transmetalation, a wide range of applications have been considered in the last decade, such as palladium-catalyzed transformation of aUyhc alcohols to allylboronates, borylation of allylic hahdes or aUyhc acetates, and the P-boration of a,P-unsaturated carbonyl substrates.Interestingly, both palladium and nickel showed to be similarly efficient to activate B2pin2 and catalyze the addition to unsaturated substrates. Oshima postulated that Ni(0) species react with substrate a,P-unsaturated esters and amides to generate the r -coordinated complex, which activates the B2pin2 to favor the formation of T -coordinated... 

Allylic Oxidation. The Wacker reaction and related palladium-catalyzed oxidations which proceed via nucleophilic attack on coordinated alkene have been widely practiced in industry to produce acetaldehyde, acetone, and vinyl acetate. An alternative pathway is available to alkenes in the coordination sphere of palladium(ll) complexes, which could lead to another important family of oxidation products. Insertion into the allylic C-H bond of 1-alkenes gives TT-allyl complexes which, on attack by external nucleophiles, would produce a family of allylic oxidation products including a,fi-unsaturated alcohols, carbonyl compounds, and carboxylic acids. Electron- withdrawing anionic ligands such as trifluoroacetate enhance the ability of the palladium center to insert into C-H bonds in this manner [26] (Fig. lA). Catalytic conversion of propylene to allyl acetate has been achieved in high selectivity in the presence of catalytic quantities of palladium(ll) trifluoroacetate [27]. 

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