Vinylidene alkylation

Poly(vinyhdene chloride) (PVDC) film has exceUent barrier properties, among the best of the common films (see Barrier polymers). It is formulated and processed into a flexible film with cling and tacky properties that make it a useful wrap for leftovers and other household uses. As a component in coatings or laminates it provides barrier properties to other film stmctures. The vinyUdene chloride is copolymerized with vinyl chloride, alkyl acrylates, and acrylonitrile to get the optimum processibUity and end use properties (see Vinylidene chloride monomer and polymers). 

Vinyhdene chloride copolymers are available as resins for extmsion, latices for coating, and resins for solvent coating. Comonomer levels range from 5 to 20 wt %. Common comonomers are vinyl chloride, acrylonitrile, and alkyl acrylates. The permeability of the polymer is a function of type and amount of comonomer. As the comonomer fraction of these semicrystalline copolymers is increased, the melting temperature decreases and the permeability increases. The permeability of vinylidene chloride homopolymer has not been measured. 

Since Bruce s pioneering work in the area of ruthenium vinylidene chemistry (1), it has been well known that isomerization of a terminal alkyne to a vinylidene on a metal center is not only favorable but also effects a reversal in the reactivity of the carbon atoms. However, hydration catalysis was not possible, because alkyl migration from a proposed acyl intermediate led to an... 

In this instance the thermal stability of vinylidene chloride /alkyl acrylate copolymers in which the alkyl groups are isomeric butyl units has been examined by thermogravimetry. The butyl ester comonomers incorporated are shown below (scheme 7). 

Both methyl acrylate and butyl acrylate have been used to prepare vinylidene chloride copolymers with sufficient stability to permit thermal processing. The presence of alkyl acrylate units in the polymer mainchain limits the size of vinylidene chloride sequences and thus the propagation of degradative dehydrochlorination. More importantly it lowers the melt... 

Figure 13. Thermal Degradation of Vinylidene Chloride/ Alkyl Acrylate Copolymers.

Beside the aromatic vinylidene complexes also alkyl vinylidene complexes [Ru(bdmpza)Cl(=C=CHPr)(PPh3)] (33c) and [Ru(bdmpza) Cl(=C=CHBu)(PPh3)] (33d) have been synthesized (Scheme 20), following the same procedure as earlier by using 1-pentyne or 1-hexyne. IR and NMR spectroscopic data of 33c and 33d are similar to those of 33a and 33b. Again only one major isomer was isolated in the case of [Ru(bdmpza)Cl(=C=CHPr)(PPh3)] (33c), though the... 

This section deals with alkylidene complexes L M=CR2 and vinylidene complexes LnM=(C)n,=CR2 in which the metal-bound carbon atom bears only hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl groups, but neither heteroatoms (halogen, nitrogen, oxygen, or sulfur) nor electron-withdrawing groups. Dimetallacyclopropanes and ketene complexes will not be discussed. 

Protonation of alkenyl complexes has been used [56,534,544,545] for generating cationic, electrophilic carbene complexes similar to those obtained by a-abstraction of alkoxide or other leaving groups from alkyl complexes (Section 3.1.2). Some representative examples are sketched in Figure 3.27. Similarly, electron-rich alkynyl complexes can react with electrophiles at the P-position to yield vinylidene complexes [144,546-551]. This approach is one of the most appropriate for the preparation of vinylidene complexes [128]. Figure 3.27 shows illustrative examples of such reactions. 

The electrophilic reactivity of lithium carbenoids (reaction b) becomes evident from their reaction with alkyl lithium compounds. A, probably metal-supported, nucleophilic substitution occurs, and the leaving group X is replaced by the alkyl group R with inversion of the configuration . This reaction, typical of metal carbenoids, is not restricted to the vinylidene substitution pattern, but occurs in alkyl and cycloalkyl lithium carbenoids as well ". With respect to the a-heteroatom X, the carbenoid character is... 

Another feature of carbenoid-type reactivity is the cyclopropanation (reaction c). Again, this reaction does not only take place in vinylidene but also in alkyl carbenoids . On the other hand, the intramolecular shift of a /3-aryl, cyclopropyl or hydrogen substituent, known as the Fritsch-Buttenberg-Wiechell rearrangement, is a typical reaction of a-lithiated vinyl halides (reaction d) . A particular carbenoid-like reaction occurring in a-halo-a-lithiocyclopropanes is the formation of allenes and simultaneous liberation of the corresponding lithium halide (equation 3). ... 

The question of configurational stability has been investigated first for vinylidene carbenoids and, more recently, for alkylcarbenoids. Vinyl anions are usually considered to be configurationally stable" ° the calculated inversion barrier of the ethenyl anion 10 (R = H) is about 35 kcal mol (equation 4)" . Concerning lithioalkenes, this configurational stability has been confirmed experimentally for a-hydrogen, a-alkyl and a-aryl substituted derivatives . The inversion of vinylidene lithium carbenoids was already... 

The degree of polymerization is obtained by dividing the propagation rate by the sum of all chain-breaking (transfer) reactions. For the simple situation where the only P-hydride transfer is that described by Eqs. 8-37 and 8-38 (which produce vinylidene end groups in polypropene) and no P-alkyl transfer occurs, the degree of polymerization is... 

In the absence of H2 and other transfer agents, polymer molecular weight is limited by various P-hydride transfers—from normal (1,2-) and reverse (2,1-) propagating centers, before and after rearrangement [Lehmus et al., 2000 Resconi et al., 2000 Rossi et al., 1995, 1996 Zhou et al., 2001] (Sec. 8-4i-2). Vinylidene, vinylene, and trisubstituted double-bond end groups are formed in 1-alkene polymerizations, vinyl and vinylene in ethylene polymerization. [Vinyl groups are also produced in some 1-alkene polymerizations, not by P-hydride transfer, but by P-alkyl transfer (Sec. 8-4i-2).]... 

Many other crosslinking reactions are used in commercial applications. A variety of halogen-containing elastomers are crosslinked by heating with a basic oxide (e.g., MgO or ZnO) and a primary diamine [Labana, 1986 Schmiegel, 1979]. This includes poly(epichlorohydrin) (Sec. 7-2b-6) various co- and terpolymers of fluorinated monomers such as vinylidene fluoride, hexafluoropropene, perfluoro(methyl vinyl ether), and tetrafluoroethylene (Sec. 6-8e) and terpolymers of alkyl acrylate, acrylonitrile, and 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether (Sec. 6-8e). 

Cp has been discussed [170b]. Alkylation with haloalkanes (often iodoalkanes), triflates (alkyl, benzyl, cyclopropyl), or [RsO] (R = Me, Et) is often the best entry to vinylidenes of any particular system. Other common electrophiles, such as halogens (Cl, Br, I), acylium ([RCO] ), azoarenes ([ArN2] ), tropylium ([C7H7] ), triphenylcarbenium (trityl, [CPhs] ), arylthio (ArS) and arylseleno (ArSe) have also been used. 

Ready addition of nucleophiles (Nu ) to metal-allenylidene complexes affords alkynyl derivatives. Subsequent protonation or alkylation, as described in Section 1.2.3 above, then gives the corresponding vinylidene complexes (Equation 1.8) ... 

In fact, the first isolation ofthe vinylidene pentacarbonyltungsten complexes was reported by Mayr et al. in 1984 [6]. The vinylidene complexes 16 were obtained by the alkylation of anionic pentacarbonyltungsten t-butylacetylide complex 15, obtained by the reaction of [Et4N ] [W(CO)5Cl ] with lithium acetylide, with FS03Me or [Et30 ] [Bp4 ]. Further protonation with CF3SO3H in the presence of Me4N P afforded a unique method for the preparation of carbyne complexes 17 (Scheme 5.4). 

On the basis of these findings, a pathway for this cydoaddition is proposed in Scheme 7.24. The first step is the nucleophilic attack of the carbon atom in the 2-position of 1,3-cyclohexanedione on the Cy atom of the allenylidene complex to give a vinylidene complex, which is transformed into an alkenyl complex by intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the oxygen atom of a hydroxy group of an enol on the C, atom of the vinylidene complex. By the use of Ic with its bulkier alkanethio moiety as a catalyst and at lower temperature, a subsequent intramolecular cyclization may be slow enough to make isolation of the alkylated product possible. 

This stoichiometric reaction constitutes a new contribution to vinylidene chemistry and a novel method to generate alkenylcarbene ligand from simple propargyl alkyl ethers rather than via activation of cyclopropenes [4] or by stoichiometric activation of butadiene [6[. When linked to a suitable metal-ligand moiety this carbene constitutes an alkene metathesis initiator. 

The ability to harness alkynes as effective precursors of reactive metal vinylidenes in catalysis depends on rapid alkyne-to-vinylidene interconversion [1]. This process has been studied experimentally and computationally for [MC1(PR3)2] (M = Rh, Ir, Scheme 9.1) [2]. Starting from the 7t-alkyne complex 1, oxidative addition is proposed to give a transient hydridoacetylide complex (3) vhich can undergo intramolecular 1,3-H-shift to provide a vinylidene complex (S). Main-group atoms presumably migrate via a similar mechanism. For iridium, intermediates of type 3 have been directly observed [3]. Section 9.3 describes the use of an alternate alkylative approach for the formation of rhodium vinylidene intermediates bearing two carbon-substituents (alkenylidenes). 

Uemura and coworkers discovered another unique rhodium vinylidene-mediated cycloisomerization reaction [11]. They found that in the presence of an electron-rich Rh(I)-complex, [ RhCl(iPr3P)2]2, (Z)-hexa-3-en-l,5-diynes bearing an alkyl substituent at one terminus undergo cycloisomerization to give allylbenzenes (Equation 9.3). 

When the electrophile is an alkyl halide, a C—C a-bond is forged thus, alkenylidene formation is irreversible. Vinylidene formation by 1,2-migration, on the other hand, is generally reversible. Because of this contrast, alkenylidenes can offer access to new catalytic reaction manifolds, in addition to unique molecular architecture. 

The Lee group originated rhodium alkenylidene-mediated catalysis by combining acetylide/alkenylidene interconversion with known metal vinylidene functionalization reactions [31], Thus, the first all-intramolecular three-component coupling between alkyl iodides, alkynes, and olefins was realized (Scheme 9.17). Prior to their work, such tandem reaction sequences required several distinct chemical operations. The optimized reaction conditions are identical to those of their original two-component cycloisomerization of enynes (see Section 9.2.2, Equation 9.1) except for the addition of an external base (Et3N). Various substituted [4.3.0]-bicyclononene derivatives were synthesized under mild conditions. Oxacycles and azacycles were also formed. The use of DMF as a solvent proved essential reactions in THF afforded only enyne cycloisomerization products, leaving the alkyl iodide moiety intact. 

Like alcohols, arenes can attack the electrophilic a-position of metal vinylidenes (see Section 9.4.6). Substrate IIS was transformed into tetracycle 117 in high yield, presumably via 6it-electrocyclization and subsequent rearomatization (Equation 9.10). To date, no intermolecular examples of metal alkenylidene-mediated catalysis have come to light. The extension of Lee s alkylative approach to catalysis by other metals may prove fmitfiil in this regard. 

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