Wacker cyclization

Wacker cyclization has proved to be one of the most versatile methods for functionalization of olefins.58,59 However, asymmetric oxidative reaction with palladium(II) species has received only scant attention. Using chiral ligand 1,1 -binaphthyl-2,2 -bis(oxazoline)-coordinated Pd(II) as the catalyst, high enantioselectivity (up to 97% ee) has been attained in the Wacker-type cyclization of o-alkylphenols (66a-f) (Scheme 8-24). 

Trend, R. M., Ramtohul, Y. K., Ferreira, E. M., Stoltz, B. M. Palladium-catalyzed oxidative Wacker cyclizations in nonpolar organic solvents with molecular oxygen A stepping stone to asymmetric aerobic cyclizations. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 2003,42, 2892-2895. 

In 2003, Stoltz at CalTech described a palladium-catalyzed oxidative Wacker cyclization of o-allylphenols such as 55 in nonpolar organic solvents with molecular oxygen to afford dihydrobenzofurans such as 56.44 Interestingly, when (-)-sparteine was used in place of pyridine, dihydrobenzofuran 56 was produced asymmetrically. The ee reached 90% when Ca(OH)2 was added as an additive. Stoltz considered it a stepping stone to asymmetric aerobic cyclizations. In 2004, Mufiiz carried out aerobic, intramolecular Wacker-type cyclization reactions similar to 55—>56 using palladium-carbene catalysts.45 Hiyashi et al. investigated the stereochemistry at the oxypalladation step in the Wacker-type oxidative cyclization of an o-allylphenol. Like o-allylphenol, o-allylbenzoic acid 57 underwent the Wacker-type oxidative cyclization to afford lactone 58.47... 

As in the case of oxygen-based nucleopalladation, aza-Wacker reactions employing NHC-Ugated palladium catalysts were developed. Stahl could demonstrate that palladium complexes such as (IMes)Pd(02CCF3)2 or the biaryl-derived NHC complex 31 allowed for a clean oxidation reaction, which already proceeded in air (Scheme 16.7). Typical examples include aza-Wacker cyclization of 32 and the 2-allyl tosylaniline 32 [39]. 

Scheme 16.7 NHC-ligated palladium catalysts in aza-Wacker cyclization.

Scheme 16.12 Domino reaction including Wacker cyclization.

For direct alkynylation with TIPS-acetylene, a hypervalent iodine TIPS-acetylene reagent can also be used as demonstrated in Waser s recent works. Alkynylation on C-3 of indole was catalyzed by AuCl (eq 26) and the Wacker cyclization s intermediate was intercepted by the hypervalent iodine TIPS-acetylene (eq 27).2 ... 

In addition to the Tsuji-Wacker reaction itself, Wacker cyclizations as well as the related oxidative aminations were explored using Pd-NHC complexes. Muniz reported a Wacker cyclization of allyl phenols in 2004 using [Pd(CF3C02)2] and IMes under basic conditions [eqn (12.5)]. ... 

Scheme 12.17 Mechanism of Pd-catalyzed aerobic Wacker cyclization (Nu = O)/ oxidative amination (Nu = NTs) of alkenes.

Retrosynthetic path e in Scheme 2.2 requires a regioselective oxidation of an o-nitrostyrene to the corresponding phenylacetaldehyde. This transformation has been accomplished hy Wacker oxidation carried out in such a way as to ensure the desired regioselectivity. The required o-nitrostyrenes can be prepared by Heck vinylation. One procedure for oxidation uses 1,3-propaiiediol to trap the product as a l,3-dioxane[15]. These can then be hydrogenated over Rh/C and cyclized by treatment with dilute HCl,... 

Hegedus et al. have thoroughly studied the homogeneous hydroamination of olefins in the presence of transition metal complexes. However, most of these reactions are either promoted or assisted, i.e. are stoichiometric reactions of an amine with a coordinated alkene [98-101] or, if catalytic, give rise to the oxidative hydroamination products, as for example in the cyclization of o-allylanilines to 2-alkylindoles [102, 103], i.e. are relevant to Wacker-type chemistry [104]. 

Under the conditions of the Wacker oxidation, 4-trimethylsilyl-3-alkyn-l-ols give 7 -lactones. Similarly, A-carbamoyl or A-acetyl 4-trimethylsilyl-3-alkynamines cyclize to y -lactams. Formulate a mechanism for these reactions. (Hint In DzO,... 

Toyota, Ihara and coworkers [178] used a combination of a Wacker- and a Heck-type transformation to construct the cedrane skeleton. Thus, reaction of 6/1-374 using 10mol% Pd(OAc)2 under an atmosphere of 02 led to the domino product 6/1-375 in 30% yield. In addition, 58% of the mono-cyclized compound 6/1-376 was obtained (Scheme 6/1.94). 

It is of particular value from a synthetic viewpoint that, under Wacker-type conditions the cyclization is catalytic [Pd(OAc)2/Cu(OAc)2/MeOH,H20/ air/55°C]121 albeit not by a Wacker-type mechanism.123 Addition of the chiral alkene, (- )-/l-pinene, to the catalyzed cyclization of 2-(but-2-enyl)phenol causes asymmetric induction with an optical yield of 12%... 

Early mechanistic studies have indicated that the oxypalladation step in the Wacker process proceeds through an <37z/z-pathway,399 although recent deuterium-labeling experiments have shown the viability of a yy/z-mechanism involving insertion of a metal-coordinated oxygen into the alkene.400,401 For example, with excess chloride ion present, the Wacker-type cyclization of a deuterated phenol system occurred in a primarily //-pathway, whereas the oxypalladation step favored a yy/z-mode in the absence of excess chloride ion (Scheme 16). Thus, either mechanism may be operative under a given set of experimental conditions. 

A survey of Wacker-type etherification reactions reveals many reports on the formation of five- and six-membered oxacycles using various internal oxygen nucleophiles. For example, phenols401,402 and aliphatic alcohols401,403-406 have been shown to be competent nucleophiles in Pd-catalyzed 6- TZ /fl-cyclization reactions that afford chromenes (Equation (109)) and dihydropyranones (Equation (110)). Also effective is the carbonyl oxygen or enol of a 1,3-diketone (Equation (111)).407 In this case, the initially formed exo-alkene is isomerized to a furan product. A similar 5-m -cyclization has been reported using an Ru(n) catalyst derived in situ from the oxidative addition of Ru3(CO)i2... 

Asymmetric induction has also been achieved in the cyclization of aliphatic alcohol substrates where the catalyst derived from a spirocyclic ligand differentiates enantiotopic alcohols and alkenes (Equation (114)).416 The catalyst system derived from Pd(TFA)2 and (—)-sparteine has recently been reported for a similar cyclization process (Equation (115)).417 In contrast to the previous cases, molecular oxygen was used as the stoichiometric oxidant, thereby eliminating the reliance on other co-oxidants such as GuCl or/>-benzoquinone. Additional aerobic Wacker-type cyclizations have also been reported employing a Pd(n) system supported by A-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands.401,418... 

Oxidative addition consumes one equivalent of expensive Pd(OAc)2 in most cases. However, progress has been made towards the catalytic oxidative addition pathway. Knolker s group described one of the first oxidative cyclizations using catalytic Pd(OAc)2 in the synthesis of indoles [19]. They reoxidized Pd(0) to Pd(II) with cupric acetate similar to the Wacker reaction, making the reaction catalytic with respect to palladium [20]. 

Hegedus proposed the probable course of the cyclization reaction, which follows a Wacker-type reaction mechanism. Coordination of the olefin to Pd(II) results in precipitate 110, which upon treatment with Et3N undergoes intramolecular amination to afford intermediate 111. As expected, the nitrogen atom attack occurs in a 5-exo-trig fashion to afford 112. Hydride... 

The phenolic oxygen on 2-allyl-4-bromophenol (7) readily underwent oxypalladation using a catalytic amount of PdCl2 and three equivalents of Cu(OAc)2, to give the corresponding benzofuran 8. This process, akin to the Wacker oxidation, was catalytic in terms of palladium, and Cu(OAc)2 served as oxidant [17]. Benzofuran 10, a key intermediate in Kishi s total synthesis of aklavinone [18], was synthesized via the oxidative cyclization of phenol 9 using stoichiometric amounts of a Pd(II) salt. 

The method involves a regioselective, trans-diastereoselective, and enantioselective three-component coupling, as shown in Scheme 7.26. In this case, the zinc enolate resulting from the 1,4-addition is trapped in a palladium-catalyzed allyla-tion [64] to afford trans-2,3-disubstituted cyclohexanone 96. Subsequent palladium-catalyzed Wacker oxidation [82] yields the methylketone 97, which in the presence of t-BuOK undergoes an aldol cyclization. This catalytic sequence provides the 5,6-(98) and 5,7- (99) annulated structures with ees of 96%. 

Stoichiometric Pd(II)-mediated oxidative cyclization of alkenyl anilines to indoles. Cf. Wacker oxidation. 

Bis(oxazoline) ligands have also been used in Wacker-type cycUzations. " For example, the phenolic derivative 238 was cyclized in the presence of ligand 13b complexed with palladium(ll) to yield the 2,3-dihydrobenzofuran 239 in 86% yield with an ee of 94% (Fig. 9.70). 

Palladium-catalyzed, Wacker-type oxidative cycHzation of alkenes represents an attractive strategy for the synthesis of heterocycles [139]. Early examples of these reactions typically employed stoichiometric Pd and, later, cocat-alytic palladium/copper [140-142]. In the late 1970s, Hegedus and coworkers demonstrated that Pd-catalyzed methods could be used to prepare nitrogen heterocyles from unprotected 2-allylanilines and tosyl-protected amino olefins with BQ as the terminal oxidant (Eqs. 23-24) [143,144]. Concurrently, Hosokawa and Murahashi reported that the cyclization of allylphenol substrates can be accomplished by using a palladium catalyst with dioxygen as the sole stoichiometric reoxidant (Eq. 25) [145]. 

A palladium-mediated Wacker-type cyclization process was applied in an efficient single-step synthesis of furofur-ans and furopyrroles 489 from propargyl alcohols (or amines) 487 and arylidene (or alkylidene) /3-ketosulfones 488 <2000JOC3223>. 

Not only acetylene derivatives do undergo palladium catalysed intarmolecular carbon-nitrogen bond formation with amines. The similar reaction of olefins in a Wacker-type process also leads to ring closure. (0-Aminopentenes bearing a suitable leaving group in the 4-position were converted to pyrroles in a cyclization-isomerisation-elimination sequence (3.65.),82... 

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