Vinylarenes hydroboration

New mechanistic studies with [Cp2Ti(CO)2] led to the observation that the tita-nocene bis(borane) complex [Cp2Ti(HBcat)2] (Hbcat = catecholborane) generated in situ is the active catalyst.603 It is highly active in the hydroboration of vinylarenes to afford anti-Markovnikov products exclusively, which is in contrast to that of most Rh(I)-catalyzed vinylarene hydroboration. Catecholborane and pinacolborane hydroborate various terminal alkynes in the presence of Rh(I) or Ir(I) complexes in situ generated from [Rh(COD)Cl2] or [Ir(COD)Cl2] and trialkylphosphines.604 The reaction yields (Z)-l-alkenylboron compounds [Eq. (6.107)] that is, anti addition of the B—H bond occurs, which is opposite to results found in catalyzed or uncatalyzed hydroboration of alkynes ... 

Ligand Effects in Rhodium-catalyzed Hydroboration of Vinylarenes 269... 

Attempts to utilize rhodium complexes for hydroboration of vinylarenes (Equation (2)) were somewhat complicated by discrepancies in the results from different research groups. Thus, it was found that [Rh(PPh3)3Cl] catalyzed the addition of HBcat to styrene to afford a quantitative yield of the branched product 15... 

An extensive array of chiral phosphine ligands has been tested for the asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration of aryl-substituted alkenes. It is well known that cationic Rh complexes bearing chelating phosphine ligands (e.g., dppf) result in Markovnikoff addition of HBcat to vinylarenes to afford branched boryl compounds. These can then be oxidized through to the corresponding chiral alcohol (11) (Equation (5)) ... 

The QUINAP ligands are highly active for reaction of -substituted vinylarenes, thus, p-methoxystyrene gives the corresponding branched alcohol in 95% yield (57% ee) within 15 min at room temperature. Similarly, a combination of hydroboration/amination using (13) has allowed primary amines to be formed in a one-pot reaction of vinylarenes upon reaction of the B H addition product with MeMgCl/H2N0S03H (Scheme 10).5°... 

The uncatalyzed hydroboration-oxidation of an alkene usually affords the //-Markovnikov product while the catalyzed version can be induced to produce either Markovnikov or /z/z-Markovnikov products. The regioselectivity obtained with a catalyst has been shown to depend on the ligands attached to the metal and also on the steric and electronic properties of the reacting alkene.69 In the case of monosubstituted alkenes (except for vinylarenes), the anti-Markovnikov alcohol is obtained as the major product in either the presence or absence of a metal catalyst. However, the difference is that the metal-catalyzed reaction with catecholborane proceeds to completion within minutes at room temperature, while extended heating at 90 °C is required for the uncatalyzed transformation.60 It should be noted that there is a reversal of regioselectivity from Markovnikov B-H addition in unfunctionalized terminal olefins to the anti-Markovnikov manner in monosubstituted perfluoroalkenes, both in the achiral and chiral versions.70,71... 

Table 1 Differences in regioselectivity between catalyzed and uncatalyzed hydroboration of vinylarenes with catecholborane...

PHENAP 65 was prepared and resolved98 in a similar manner to QUINAP 60 and tested in asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration-oxidations." Impressive enantioselectivities were obtained and the sterically demanding cyclic substrates were hydroborated with 64-84% ee. Compared to the corresponding results obtained with diphosphine ligands, it is clear that QUINAP 60, and structural relatives 61-64 and PHENAP 65, give superior results in the asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration of several vinylarenes, and are essentially the only practical solution for / -substituted alkenes.100 The reasons for this are not well understood, but thought to be due to the particular... 

Ligand 73 was prepared directly from a single enantiomer of the corresponding naphthol of QUINAP 60, an early intermediate in the original synthesis, and both enantiomers of BINOL. Application in hydroboration found that, in practice, only one of the cationic rhodium complexes of the diastereomeric pair proved effective, (aA, A)-73. While (aA, A)-73 gave 68% ee for the hydroboration of styrene (70% yield), the diastereomer (aA, R)-73 afforded the product alcohol after oxidation with an attenuated 2% ee (55% yield) and the same trend was apparent in the hydroboration of electron-poor vinylarenes. Indeed, even with (aA, A)-73, the asymmetries induced were very modest (31-51% ee). The hydroboration pre-catalyst was examined in the presence of catecholborane 1 at low temperatures and binuclear reactive intermediates were identified. However, when similar experiments were conducted with QUINAP 60, no intermediates of the same structural type were found.100... 

Cationic rhodium complexes of these ligands were prepared and applied in the enantioselective hydroboration-oxidation of a range of vinylarenes,106,107 carefully chosen to highlight the effect on reactivity and enantioselectivity of different aryl substituents and / -substitution. Like QUINAP 60 and PHENAP 65, the ( -ligand gave rise to the (A)-secondary alcohol. 

The two-substituted-Quinazolinap-derived rhodium complexes proved extremely efficient catalysts for the hydro-boration-oxidation of vinylarenes (Table 6). For styrene derivatives, in most cases quantitative conversions were obtained after just 2 h at the relevant temperature (entries 1-6). Higher enantioselectivities were afforded with a 4-methoxy substituent (up to 95% ee, entry 3) compared to the 4-chloro or unsubstituted styrene analogs (entries 5 and 1), a trend also observed in hydroboration with rhodium complexes of QUINAP 60. This highlights that both the electronic nature of the substrate combined with the inherent steric properties of the catalyst are important for high asymmetric induction. It is noteworthy that in most cases, optimum enantioselectivities were afforded by the... 

The catalytic hydroboration of vinylarenes has also been well studied and, depending on the rhodium or iridium catalytic system used, the product distribution can be tuned. [lrCl2(T -C5Me5)]2 catalyzed the hydroboration of 4-vinylanisole in the presence of HBcat with the exclusive formation of the terminal hydroboration product, in contrast to the analogue rhodium complexes which mainly afford the branched alkylboronate ester (Scheme 7.13) [14]. 

In an attempt to rationalize the factors that control selectivity in the Rh- and Ir-catalyzed hydroboration reactions, Fernandez and Bo [35] carried out experimental and theoretical studies on the H—B addition of catecholborane to vinylarenes with [M(C0D)(R-QUINAP)]BF4, (QUINAP = l-(2-diphenylphosphino-l-naphthyl) isoquinoHne). A considerable difference was found in the stability of the isomers when the substrate was coordinated to the iridium(I) or rhodium(I) complexes. In particular, the difference between pro-R B1 and pro-S B2 isomers was not so great when the metal center was iridium and not rhodium (Figure 7.1), which explains the low ee-values observed experimentally when asymmetric iridium-catalyzed hydroboration was performed. Structurally, the energy analysis of the n2 and Tti interactions [36] seems to be responsible for the extra stabilization of the B2 isomer in the iridium intermediates (Figure 7.1). The coordination and insertion of alkenes, then, could be considered key steps in the enantiodifferentiation pathway. 

Figu re 7.1 Relative stability of the most stable isomers in the hydroboration of vinylarenes with cationic metal complexes modified with QUINAP. 

As is generally the case with Rh-catalyzed hydroborations, genuinely successful enantioselective reaction (> 90 % ee) has been recorded only for vinylarenes. Since the normal regiochemistry of these reactions places the rhodium at the benzylic position, some favorable interaction with the ring is to be expected the the reactive rhodium benzyl intermediate this may formally be represented as an -complex, for which literature precedents exist [104] (Scheme 33). 

Hydroboration. [Rh(cod)(dppb)]BF4 is an efficient catalyst for the hydroboration of a range of vinylarenes. Addition of Catecholborane to various styrene derivatives in the... 

In many catalytic processes and transition metal mediated reactions, a-bor-ane complexes have been shown to be intermediates. The bis(borane) complex Cp2Ti( 72-HBcat/)2 (HBcaT = HBcat-4-f-Bu) is a highly active catalyst for the hydroboration of vinylarenes [37]. A mechanism, shown in Scheme 3, has been proposed for the Ti-catalyzed hydroboration on the basis of a detailed mechanistic study [37]. Theoretical calculations provided further support to the proposed reaction mechanism and showed that the reductive elimination step, giving the product molecules, is rate-determining [38]. In the Cp2Ti(CO)2 catalyzed hydroboration of alkynes [36,37], the proposed reaction mechanism (Scheme 4) also involves a a-borane complex similar to 11 and 14. In the titanium-catalyzed decaborane-olefin hydroborations [47,48], a-borane complexes were also considered as intermediates. In the Cp2MH (M = Nb, Ta) mediated hydroboration reactions of olefins [39,41], Smith and his coworkers observed several interesting cr-borane complexes, such as 21-23 discussed above. 

The examples in Equation 16.45 show that the regiochemistry of the metal-catalyzed hydroboration of alkenes contrasts with that of tlie metal-catalyzed hydroboration of vinylarenes. The predominant products from the metal-catalyzed hydroborations of 1-alkenes are terminal boranes. - " These terminal boranes can also be formed from internal alkenes, as shown in Equation 16.46. Similar to hydrosilylation witli Speier s catalyst, the... 

Early transition metal and lanthanide complexes also catalyze the hydroboration of alkenes. As shown in Equation 16.44, titanocene complexes catalyze the hydroboration of vinylarenes, and as shown in Equation 16.45, lanthanocene complexes catalyze the hydroboration of alkenes. Ligand-less lanthanides and zirconocene complexes have also been reported to catalyze these reactions, but the apparent catalysis of the hydroboration in these cases more likely occurs by catalytic generation of BH3 from catecholborane and uncatalyzed addition of BHj to the olefin. 

Reactions catalyzed by titanocene and lanthanocene complexes occur by different mechanisms (Schemes 16.13 and 16.14). The mechanism of the hydroboration of vinylarenes catalyzed by titanium complexes is shown in Scheme 16.13. In this mechanism, a titanocene bis-borane complex dissociates borane to generate a 16-electron complex that coordinates the alkene or alkyne. Coupling of one carbon of the resulting metallacycle with the boron of the coordinated borane forms the final product. The mechanism of the lanthanocene-catalyzed reactions, shown in Scheme 16.14, relates to the mechanism of... 

In this chapter, origin of enantioselectivity in the hydroboration/ oxidation of vinylarenes with catecholborane by cationic rhodium complexes is discussed based on computational work of Fernandez and Bo as... 

Segarra, A. M. Daura-Oller, E. Claver, C. Foblet, J. M. Bo, C. Fernandez, E. In Quest of Factors That Control the Enantioselective Catalytic Markovnikov Hydroboration/Oxidation of Vinylarenes. Chem. 2004,10, 6456-6467. 

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