Vinylcarbenes carbon-alkene reactions

Reaction of atomic carbon with alkenes generally involves both DBA and vinyl C—H insertion. An interesting example is the reaction of C atoms with styrene in which the major products are phenylallene (21) and indene (22). The synthesis of a number of specifically deuterated styrenes and the measurement of the deuterium isotope effects on the 21/22 ratio led to the conclusion that 21 was formed by DBA followed by ring expansion and by C—H(D) insertion into and followed by rearrangement of the resultant frawi-vinylcarbene (23). The indene was formed by C—H(D) insertion into Xb followed by cyclization of the resultant cw-vinylcarbene (24) (Eq. 18). An examination of the product ratios and their label distributions when atoms are used leads to the conclusion that the ratio of C=C addition to C—H insertion is 0.72 1 in this case. 

Recently, cyclopropane derivatives were produced by a ruthenium-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes using propargylic carboxylates as precursors of vinylcarbenoids [51] (Eq. 38). The key intermediate of this reaction is a vinylcarbene complex generated by nucleophilic attack of the carboxylate to an internal carbon of alkyne activated by the ruthenium complex. Then, a [2+1] cycloaddition between alkenes and carbenoid species affords vinylcyclo-propanes. 

Mechanistically, on the basis of the above reactions, it can be assumed that either nickelacy-clobutenes or the tautomeric nickel vinylcarbenes 26 are reactive intermediates of these [2-1-1] cycloadditions. Insertion of an electron-poor alkene into a nickel-carbon bond of 26 would result in the formation of 27, that can produce the substituted ethenylcyclopropanes via a reductive elimination step. 

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