Wolff rearrangement mechanisms

Recent studies have confirmed the singlet state Wolff rearrangement mechanism. 

Photochemical Wolff rearrangement of 2-diazo-3-ketones, though not widely used as a source of A-norsteroids, is discussed in section V in connection with the mechanism of the important photochemical synthesis of D-norsteroids. Photochemical rearrangement of epoxy ketones is a source of A-nosteroids these rearrangements are discussed in chapter 13. Other photochemical routes to A-norsteroids are known." " ... 

The photolysis of o-quinone diazides was carefully investigated by Stis in 1944, many years before the development of photoresists. Scheme 10-102 shows the photolysis sequence for the diazoquinone 10.75 formed in the diazotization of 2-amino-1-naphthol. The product of the photolytic step is a ketocarbene (10.76), which undergoes a Wolff rearrangement to a ketene (10.77). In the presence of water in-dene-3-carboxylic acid (10.78) is formed this compound is highly soluble in water and can be removed in the development step. The mechanism given in Scheme 10-102 was not postulated as such by Stis, because in 1944 ketocarbenes were unknown (for a mechanistic discussion of such Wolff rearrangements see review by Zollinger, 1995, Sec. 8.6, and Andraos et al., 1994). 

When the Wolff rearrangement is carried out photochemically, the mechanism is basically the same, but another pathway can intervene. Some of the ketocarbene orieinallv formed can undergo a carbene-carbene rearrangement, through an oxi-... 

The mechanism through which a-methylmercury substituents eliminate Wolff rearrangements of acyl- and carboalkoxymethylenes is not clearly evident. 

The one-step mechanism, depicted in path a, consists simply of a 1,2-shift of an ortho carbon. While this process is an all-carbon version of the Wolff rearrangement, the bond order of the migrating bond is substantially greater than 1.0. Hence this would represent an unprecedented reaction of carbenes. 

Taking into account the following facts, suggest a mechanism for the Wolff rearrangement. (a) The kinetics are clearly first-order in substrate and first-order overall, (b) In... 

Fig. 11.24. Mechanisms of the photochemically initiated and Ag(I)-catalyzed Wolff rearrangements with formation of the ketocarbene E and/or the ketocarbenoid F by dediazotation of the diazoketene D in the presence of catalytic amounts ofAg(I). E and F are converted into G via a [1 2]-shift of the alkyl group R1. N2 and an excited carbene C are formed in the photochemically initiated reaction. The excited carbene usually relaxes to the normal ketocarbene E, and this carbene E continues to react to give G. The ketocarbene C may on occasion isomerize to B via an oxacyclopropene A. The [l,2-]-shift of B also leads to the ketene G.

Wolff rearrangements, involving shifts of alkyl groups, are effectively intramolecular insertions into C-C bonds. Carbenes will also insert into other bonds, especially O-H and N-H bonds, though the mechanism in these cases involves initial attack on the lone pair of the heteroatom. 

Due to its high efficiency and regioselectivity, the Wolff rearrangement was extensively studied and reviewed, with copper or silver being the most efficient metals for this transformation (121). Similar reactivity can be achieved via ultraviolet (UV) light, sonication, or microwave irradiation (122). A free carbene-based pathway was proposed as a general mechanism. Basic additives are usually required when silver is used as the catalyst Silver nanoclusters are known to form under such conditions, which may serve as the real catalyst (Fig. 24) (123,124). 

Knowledge that silyl substituents may be incorporated into standard resist chemistry to effect etching resistance has prompted several workers to evaluate silylated novolacs as matrix resins for conventional positive-photoresist formulations. Typically, these resists operate via a dissolution inhibition mechanism whereby the matrix material is rendered insoluble in aqueous base through addition of a diazonaphthoquinone. Irradiation of the composite induces a Wolff rearrangement to yield an indenecarboxylic acid (Figure 4), which allows dissolution of the exposed areas in an aqueous-base developer (35). 

The ester group in II is suggestive—although it is not a proof—of the intermediacy of a ketene, and ketene production in diazocarbonyl chemistry usually implies a Wolff rearrangement. The construction of a three-carbon chain on the other side of the ketone is a confirmation of this prediction. In turn, the Wolff rearrangement requires an a-keto carbene precursor that is the fate of diazo compounds exposed to ultraviolet light (wavelength lower than 3200 A). All this is translated into the mechanism depicted in Scheme 43.1. 

Both V and VII are highly unstable species, as is copper carbenoid IV. It is conceivable that both evolutionary alternatives follow downhill energy profiles. Whatever the particular mechanism, the transformation of I into II has been termed the vinylogous Wolff rearrangement, since it was taken as a homolog of the classical Wolff transposition. 

The reaction is a Schmidt reaction and its mechanism closely resembles that of the Beckman and Wolff rearrangements. The final step is deprotonation, followed by tautomerization to the lactam. Note that the alternate lactam formed by migration of the secondary carbon was not found. 

The rearrangement has a mechanism similar to those of the Hofmann rearrangement of amides, the Lossen rearrangement of acylhydroxamic esters, the Schmidt rearrangement of carbonyl compounds and the Wolff rearrangement of diazoketones. Evidence concerning the mechanism of one can often be applied to the others, and the whole family has been reviewed briefly . Sometimes the distinction is made that the conversion of an acyl azide into an isocyanate or urethane is the Curtius rearrangement whereas the overall sequence is the Curtius reaction, but usually the former name is used for both processes. 

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