Wacker reaction

In connection with mechanistic studies on the Wacker reaction, the transmetallation of ri-ethoxy- and /3-hydroxyethylmercury(II) chloride with PdCB has been carried out, giving ethyl vinyl ether and acetaldehyde[366]. The reaction proceeds by the formation of ri-ethoxy- and /3-hydroxyethylpalladium chlorides (401), which decompose as soon as they are formed. 

The Wacker reaction can also be carried out for other olefins with terminal double bonds. With propene, for example, approximately 90% yield of acetone is obtained. 1-Butene gave approximately 80% yield of methyl ethyl ketone. 

The catalyst is similar to that of the Wacker reaction for ethylene oxidation to acetaldehyde, however, this reaction occurs in presence of carbon monoxide. 

Oxidative cyclisations representing intramolecular variant of the Wacker reaction have seen significant developments. The intramolecular oxidative cyclisation of tosylamines was found to be catalysed by the [Pd(TFA)2(IMes)(OH2)] complex (TFA = trifluoroacetate) [42], The presence of a catalytic amount of acetic or benzoic acid leads to improved activity and selectivity (Scheme 10.13). 

The Wacker Reaction and Related Oxidations. An important industrial process based on Pd-alkene complexes is the Wacker reaction, a catalytic method for conversion of ethene to acetaldehyde. The first step is addition of water to the Pd(n)-activated alkene. The addition intermediate undergoes the characteristic elimination of Pd(0) and H+ to generate the enol of acetaldehyde. 

The Wacker reaction can also be applied to laboratory-scale syntheses.104 When the Wacker conditions are applied to terminal alkenes, methyl ketones are formed.105... 

This regiochemistry is consistent with the electrophilic character of Pd(II) in the addition step. Solvent and catalyst composition can affect the regiochemistry of the Wacker reaction. Use of /-butanol as the solvent was found to increase the amount of aldehyde formed from terminal alkenes, and is attributed to the greater steric requirement of /-butanol. Hydrolysis of the enol ether then leads to the aldehyde. 

The two reactions shown below are examples of the use of the Wacker reaction in multistep synthesis. In the first case, selectivity is achieved between two terminal alkene units on the basis of a difference in steric accessibility. Both reactions use a reduced amount of Cu(I) salt. In the second reaction this helps to minimize hydrolysis of the acid-sensitive dioxolane ring. 

Kragten, D. D., van Santen, R. A., Lerou, 1999, Density Functional Study of the Palladium Acetate Catalyzed Wacker Reaction in Acetic Acid , J. Phys. Chem. A, 103, 80. 

Since nucleophilic addition to a metal-coordinated alkene generates a cr-metal species bonded to an -hybridized carbon, facile 3-H elimination may then ensue. An important example of pertinence to this mechanism is the Wacker reaction, in which alkenes are converted into carbonyl compounds by the oxidative addition of water (Equation (108)), typically in the presence of a Pd(n) catalyst and a stoichiometric reoxidant.399 When an alcohol is employed as the nucleophile instead, the reaction produces a vinyl or allylic ether as the product, thus accomplishing an etherification process. 

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]. 

The metal-catalysed autoxidation of alkenes to produce ketones (Wacker reaction) is promoted by the presence of quaternary ammonium salts [14]. For example, using copper(II) chloride and palladium(II) chloride in benzene in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, 1-decene is converted into 2-decanone (73%), 1,7-octadiene into 2,7-octadione (77%) and vinylcyclohexane into cyclo-hexylethanone (22%). Benzyltriethylammonium chloride and tetra-n-butylammo-nium hydrogen sulphate are ineffective catalysts. It has been suggested that the process is not micellar, although the catalysts have the characteristics of those which produce micelles. The Wacker reaction is also catalysed by rhodium and ruthenium salts in the presence of a quaternary ammonium salt. Generally, however, the yields are lower than those obtained using the palladium catalyst and, frequently, several oxidation products are obtained from each reaction [15]. 

If one would be able to derive from the experimental data an accurate rate equation like (12) the number of terms in the denominator gives us the number of reactions involved in forward and backward direction that should be included in the scheme of reactions, including the reagents involved. The use of analytical expressions is limited to schemes of only two reaction steps. In a catalytic sequence usually more than two reactions occur. We can represent the kinetics by an analytical expression only, if a series of fast pre-equilibria occurs (as in the hydroformylation reaction, Chapter 9, or as in the Wacker reaction, Chapter 15) or else if the rate determining step occurs after the resting state of the catalyst, either immediately, or as the second one as shown in Figure 3.1. In the examples above we have seen that often the rate equation takes a simpler form and does not even show all substrates participating in the reaction. 

The nucleophilic attack of the water or hydroxide species takes place in an anti fashion i.e. the oxygen attacks from outside the palladium complex and the reaction is not an insertion of ethene into the palladium oxygen bond. This has been demonstrated in a model reaction by Backvall [4], The reaction studied was the Wacker reaction of dideuterio-ethene (cis and trans) in the presence of excess of LiCl, which is needed to form 2-chloroethanol as the product instead of ethanal. The latter product would not reveal the stereochemistry of the attack Note that all of the mechanistic work has been carried out, necessarily, on systems deviating in one aspect or another from the real catalytic one. The outcome depends strongly on the concentration of chloride ions [5],... 

At present the Wacker reaction should be regarded as a relatively slow process, with only a few hundred turnovers per hour at elevated temperatures and pressures. For internal alkenes the rate is one or two orders of magnitude lower and the reaction affords mixtures of products due to isomerisation. In the absence of isomerisation, the product of the Wacker oxidation of a 1-alkene is a... 

Figure 15.5. Giant palladium cluster in Wacker reactions...

Figure 15.8. Cascade reactions involving a Wacker reaction and methoxycarbonylation...

Polyethylene glycols (PEG) have been employed as phase transfer agents (and as solvents) in a number of reactions(11). Application of PEG-400 to the Wacker reaction results in the oxidation of both terminal and internal olefins (e.g., isomeric butenes to butanone) (12). 

It is known of the Wacker reaction, that at low chloride concentration (< 1 M) it yields exclusively acetaldehyde. However, at [Cl ] > 2.5 M, chloroethanol is produced in appreciable quantities. In a detailed kinetic study it was established, that when a chloride ligand in [PdCU] " is replaced by pyridine, the intermediate hydroxyethylpalladium complex is stable enough to undergo reaction with [CUCI2] with the formation of chloroethanol up to a yield of 98 % in 8 M chloride solutions (Scheme 8.2) [13]. 

Figure 9.2 Mechanism of the Wacker reaction. Source White)...

Palladium-catalyzed addition of oxygen nucleophiles to alkenes dates back to the Wacker process and acetoxylation of ethylene (Sects. 1 and 2). In contrast, catalytic methods for intermolecular oxidative amination of alkenes (i.e., aza-Wacker reactions) have been identified only recently. Both O2 and BQ have been used as oxidants in these reactions. 

The palladium catalysed conversion of alkenes to enols, also known as the Wacker reaction, has also been used in the formation of oxygen heterocycles. In the example shown in 3.68. the subsequent formation of two carbon-oxygen bonds leads to the desired dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane derivative. The first Wacker reaction gives selectively a six membered ring formation (other possible routes would lead to even larger rings), while in the second Wacker reaction the selective formation of the five membered ring is observed.86... 

Selective oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde was carried out over carbon-supported Pd and Pt membrane catalysts.1322 The concept of supported liquid-phase catalysis was also successfully applied in the Wacker oxidation.1323 The Wacker reaction can be performed in alcohol-supercritical C02.1324 C02 as cosolvent accelerates reaction rates and remarkably affects the selectivity towards methyl ketone in the presence of an alcohol. 

Promising results were observed in Friedel-Crafts alkylation77 and epoxidation.78 Higher rates or better selectivities were found for hydroformylations in supercritical C02.79-84 Simple trialkyl phosphines, for examples, were shown to provide highly active Rh catalysts.81 Hydroboration showed enhanced regioselec-tivity.85 The Wacker reaction performed in alcohol-supercritical C02 exhibits high reaction rates and markedly increased selectivity toward methyl ketone.86... 

WACKER REACTION. The oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde in the presence of palladium chloride and cupric chloride. 

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