Vinylketene Chromium 0 Complexes

Carbonylation of the chromium carbene complex (CO)5Cr=C(OCH3)Ph at 150bar pressure in the presence of l-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone resulted in Cr(CO)6 and organic products that were rationalized by the intermediate formation of methoxyphenylk-etene [33]. The formation of a free vinylketene and vinylketene chromium complexes were found in the reaction of (CO)5Cr=C(OCH3)Ph and bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene at 50 °C (reaction 8.19) [34-36]. 

Structural analogues of the /]4-vinylketene E were isolated by Wulff, Rudler and Moser [15]. The enaminoketene complex 11 was obtained from an intramolecular reaction of the chromium pentacarbonyl carbene complex 10. The silyl vinylketene 13 was isolated from the reaction of the methoxy(phenyl)-carbene chromium complex 1 and a silyl-substituted phenylacetylene 12, and -in contrast to alkene carbene complex 7 - gave the benzannulation product 14 after heating to 165 °C in acetonitrile (Scheme 6). The last step of the benzannulation reaction is the tautomerisation of the /]4-cyclohexadienone F to afford the phenol product G. The existence of such an intermediate and its capacity to undergo a subsequent step was validated by Wulff, who synthesised an... 

Cycloaddition of the carbene chromium complexes 97 with CO incorporation provides a versatile method for naphthol synthesis, in which the metallacy-clic intermediates 99 are involved [47]. An alternative entry to 101 is achieved by metal carbonyl-catalyzed rearrangement of the cyclopropenes 98 via the same metalla-cyclobutenes 99 and vinylketene complexes 100 [52], Mo(CO)6 shows a higher activity than Cr(CO)6 and W(CO)6. The vinylketene complex 103 is formed by the regioselective ring cleavage of 1,3,3-trimethylcyelopropene 102 with an excess of Fe2(CO)9 [53]. (Scheme 35 and 36)... 

Many of the syntheses we have seen within this review depend on the carbonylation of a vinylcarbene complex for the generation of the vinylketene species. The ease of this carbonylation process is controlled, to some degree, by the identity of the metal. The electronic characteristics of the metal will clearly have a great effect on the strength of the metal-carbon double bond, and as such this could be a regulating factor in the carbene-ketene transformation. It is interesting to note the comparative reactivity of a (vinylcarbene)chromium species with its iron analogue The former is a fairly stable species, whereas the latter has been shown to carbonylate readily to form the appropriate (vinylketene)iron complex. 

The intermediate vinylketene complexes can undergo several other types or reaction, depending primarily on the substitution pattern, the metal and the solvent used (Figure 2.27). More than 15 different types of product have been obtained from the reaction of aryl(alkoxy)carbene chromium complexes with alkynes [333,334]. In addition to the formation of indenes [337], some arylcarbene complexes yield cyclobutenones [338], lactones, or furans [91] (e.g. Entry 4, Table 2.19) upon reaction with alkynes. Cyclobutenones can also be obtained by reaction of alkoxy(alkyl)carbene complexes with alkynes [339]. 

In a general illustration of the Dotz reaction a terminal or internal alkyne reacts with a carbene 123 and one carbonyl ligand at a [Cr(CO)3] template in a formal [3 + 2+1] cycloaddition reaction producing a chromium-complexed naphthol (124) under mild reaction conditions via the vinylketene intermediate 125 (see Scheme 57). Terminal alkynes (R1C = CR2 R HjR H) react with total regioselectivity, while the regiocontrol in the reaction course of internal alkynes... 

The reactivity of carbene-metal complexes, amongst others the reactivity with respect to alkenes and alkynes, has been reviewed by Dotz Just like free carbenes the coordinated carbenes add to triple bonds to give cyclopropene derivatives. Other reaction products, however, are also possible. For instance, the carbene ligand of chromium complex 23 reacts with diphenylacetylene to a mixture of products, including naphthalene derivative 24 and furan derivative 25 (equation 18). A carbonyl ligand has participated. Molecular orbital calculations by Hofmann and Hammerle " on this system reveal that the reaction would pass through an y-vinylcarbene type of complex (26) instead of through a planar chromacyclobutene 27. The subsequent steps to yield either phenol or furan could involve vinylketene 28, but this still is a matter of debate. Similar, but more selective, furan syntheses have been observed for carbene complexes based on iron and cobalt. ... 

By a photochemically induced elimination of CO, a chromium carbene complex with a free coordination site is generated. That species can coordinate to an alkyne, to give the alkyne-chromium carbonyl complex 4. The next step is likely to be a cycloaddition reaction leading to a four-membered ring compound 5. A subsequent electrocyclic ring opening and the insertion of CO leads to the vinylketene complex 6 ... 

The thermal benzannulation of Group 6 carbene complexes with alkynes (the Dotz reaction) is highly developed and has been used extensively in synthesis [90,91]. It is thought to proceed through a chromium vinylketene intermediate generated by sequential insertion of the alkyne followed by carbon monoxide into the chromium-carbene-carbon double bond [92]. The realization that photodriven CO insertion into Z-dienylcarbene complexes should generate the same vinylketene intermediate led to the development of a photochemical variant of the Dotz reaction (Table 14). 

The most common citation of rj4-vinylketene complexes in the literature is to be found in mechanistic discussions of the Dotz annulation.8 In the years since the reaction was discovered,2 there has been an enormous amount of research conducted to determine a definitive mechanism. Nevertheless, certain transformations in the mechanism are still open to speculation, the most recent reassessment having been postulated by Sola.911 is not within the scope of this review to comprehensively discuss a subject which has been extensively covered elsewhere.8,10,11 However, the reactions of i74-vinylketene complexes of chromium, and indeed of all the other metals in this review, are so intrinsically linked with the Dotz annulation that we must acquaint ourselves with its intricacies. We shall see the same structures occurring in mechanisms time after time, and the same classes of organic molecules being isolated as final products. 

Mori has reported that in the reaction of chromium carbene 25 with an alkyne containing a tethered 4-amidobutyne unit (26), a postulated vinylketene complex (27) is intercepted by nucleophilic amide attack, yielding a mixture of lactams (28 and 29).15 The expected naphthol 30 was also isolated in low yield. 

The single best piece of evidence for the intermediacy of vinylketene complexes is however the isolation and characterization by Wulff22 of amine-stabilized T74-vinylketenechromium(0) complexes (42) from the thermolysis of the chromium carbene complexes 43, containing a tethered alkyne functionality. This was the first time that a d6-rf-vinylketene complex of any group 6 metal had been isolated. 

Although the preparative chemistry of (vinylketene)cobalt(I) complexes is relatively limited in the literature, the methods used include all the major procedures that have been more widely exploited in the analogous chromium and iron systems. There are many similarities between the intermediates involved in the synthesis of vinylketene complexes of iron, chromium, and cobalt, but as the metal is varied the complexes containing analogous ligands often exhibit significant differences in stability and reactivity (see Sections II and VI). Comparison of such species has often been an important aim of the research in this area. The (vinylketene)cobalt(I) complexes have also been shown to be synthetically useful precursors to a variety of naphthols, 2-furanones, ce-pyrones, phenols,6,22,95 >8, y-unsaturated esters,51 and furans.51,96a... 

The 774-vinylketene complex (85) could be oxidatively decomplexed with Ce(IV) to afford the lactone (87). Although no reaction was observed with methanol (unlike a postulated chromium analogue16,18 26), treatment with sodium methoxide produced the expected /3, y-unsaturated ester (88). Thermolysis of complex 85 afforded no trace of the naphthol that one would expect33 from a proposed chromium vinylketene complex with the same syn relationship between the phenyl group and the ketene moiety. Instead, only the furan (89.a) was seen. Indeed, upon exhaustive reaction of tricarbon-ylcobalt carbenes (84 and 90) with different alkynes, the furans (89.a-d) were isolated as the exclusive products in moderate to excellent yields. 

Similar pyrone complexes were isolated by Semmelhack97a as the products of the reaction between tetracarbonyl[ethoxy(alkyl)carbene]iron(0) complexes and various acetylenes. Vinylketene complexes are proposed as key intermediates in the mechanism of this conversion, which closely matches analogous reactions with cobalt carbenes51 (see Section V,B), while showing crucial differences with the analogous reaction of a chromium carbene (see Section II,B). 

Cyclobutanones3 The reaction of pentacarbonyl(methoxymethylmethylene)-chromium (1) with the enyne 2 in acetonitrile results in two isomeric bicyclohep-tanones [(E)-3 and (Z)-3] as the major products. These probably arise by initial reaction with the triple bond to give a vinylcarbene complex (a), which undergoes insertion of CO to give a vinylketene complex (b). An intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition results in the cyclobutanones (3). 

Whereas Fischer-type chromium carbenes react with alkenes, dienes, and alkynes to afford cyclopropanes, vinylcyclopropanes, and aromatic compounds, the iron Fischer-type carbene (47, e.g. R = Ph) reacts with alkenes and dienes to afford primarily coupled products (58) and (59) (Scheme 21). The mechanism proposed involves a [2 -F 2] cycloaddition of the alkene the carbene to form a metallacyclobutane see Metallacycle) (60). This intermediate undergoes jS-hydride elimination followed by reductive elimination to generate the coupled products. Carbenes (47) also react with alkynes under CO pressure (ca. 3.7 atm) to afford 6-ethoxy-o -pyrone complexes (61). The unstable metallacyclobutene (62) is produced by the reaction of (47) with 2-butyne in the absence of CO. Complex (62) decomposes to the pyrone complex (61). It has been suggested that the intermediate (62) is transformed into the vinylketene complex... 

Cyclobutenones are fairly common side-products in the reaction of chromium arylalkoxy-carbenes with internal alkynes. As indicated in Scheme 5-1, the branch point in the formation of cyclobutenone versus naphthol products is believed to be vinylketene intermediate 4, which may undergo electrocyclic ring closure to 9, followed by reductive elimination to the product [7 a]. Cyclobutenone formation occurs only in the presence of internal or external ligands that can coordinate to unsaturated chromium species sufficiently well to prevent complexation to an internal n-system and thus divert the system toward 9. Depending on the alkyne and aryl substitution patterns and the reaction conditions, cyclobutenone formation can be made to predominate. Thus, solvents of good coordinating ability such as acetonitrile, o-OMe aryl substitution (which allows internal coordination to chromium), and bulky alkynyl substituents all favor cyclobutenone formation [Eq. (23)] [13]. In fact, the effect of solvent alone can be even more dramatic for the reaction partners in Eq. (21), a 0.5 M concentration of the carbene complex in acetonitrile gives instead a 78 % yield of cyclobutenone and only a combined 17 yield of quinone and indene products [9]. 

---