Zinc-copper couple compounds

An organozmc compound that occupies a special niche m organic synthesis is lodo methyhinc iodide (ICH2ZnI) It is prepared by the reaction of zinc-copper couple [Zn(Cu) zinc that has had its surface activated with a little copper] with diiodomethane m diethyl ether... 

Copper sulfate, in small amounts, activates the zinc dust by forming zinc—copper couples. Arsenic(III) and antimony(TTT) oxides are used to remove cobalt and nickel they activate the zinc and form intermetaUic compounds such as CoAs (49). Antimony is less toxic than arsenic and its hydride, stibine, is less stable than arsine and does not form as readily. Hydrogen, formed in the purification tanks, may give these hydrides and venting and surveillance is mandatory. The reverse antimony procedure gives a good separation of cadmium and cobalt. 

In similar work, CF3CCI2CO2CH3 yields methyl a-trifluoromethyl-a,(i-un-saturated carboxylates when reacted with a zinc-copper couple, aldehydes, and acetic anhydride [67] (equation 55). This methodology gives (Z)-a-fluoro-a- -un-saturated carboxylates from the reaction of carbonyl compounds with CFCI2CO2CH3 and zinc and acetic anhydride [6 ]. 

More useful for synthetic purposes, however, is the combination of the zinc-copper couple with methylene iodide to generate carbene-zinc iodide complex, which undergoes addition to double bonds exclusively to form cyclopropanes (7). The base-catalyzed generation of halocarbenes from haloforms (2) also provides a general route to 1,1-dihalocyclopropanes via carbene addition, as does the nonbasic generation of dihalocarbenes from phenyl(trihalomethyl)mercury compounds. Details of these reactions are given below. 

Luche reported that when a zinc-copper couple was used, alkyl halides reacted with conjugated carbonyl compounds and nitriles to give 1,4-addition products in good yields under sonication conditions (Eq. 10.26).57... 

The direct reaction of zinc metal with organic iodides dates back to the work of Frankland(67). Several modifications have been suggested since that time to increase the reactivity of the metal. The majority of these modifications have employed zinc-copper couples(68-72), sodium-zinc alloys(73), or zinc-silver couples(77). Some recent work has indicated that certain zinc-copper couples will react with alkyl bromides to give modest yields of dialkylzinc compounds(74,73). However, all attempts to react zinc with aryl iodides or bromides have met with failure. The primary use of zinc couples has been in the Simmons-Smith reaction. This reaction has been primarily used with diiodomethane as 1,1-dibromides or longer chain diiodides have proven to be too unneactive even with the most reactive zinc couples. 

A convenient method for the conversion of aldehydes (RCHO) to alkenes (RCH = CHj), knovm as methylenation, involves the reaction of a zinc/copper couple with diiodomethane in the presence of the carbonyl compound dissolved in tetrahy-drofuran. The reaction first generates an organometallic intermediate (ICH2ZnI) which then reacts with the carbonyl compound. The conversion of benzaldehyde to styrene using this conventional methodology required a reaction time of 6 h at 40 °C. When the reaction was sonicated however comparable yields of around 70%... 

Zinc dust is frequently covered with a thin layer of zinc oxide which deactivates its surface and causes induction periods in reactions with compounds. This disadvantage can be removed by a proper activation of zinc dust immediately prior to use. Such an activation can be achieved by a 3-4-minute contact with very dilute (0.5-2%) hydrochloric acid followed by washing with water, ethanol, acetone and ether [/55]. Similar activation is carried out in situ by a small amount of anhydrous zinc chloride [156 or zinc bromide [157 in alcohol, ether or tetrahydrofuran. Another way of activating zinc dust is by its conversion to a zinc-copper couple by stirring it (180g) with a solution of 1 g of copper sulfate pentahydrate in 35 ml of water [/55]. 

Divalent chromium salts show very strong reducing properties. They are prepared by reduction of chromium(III) compounds with zinc [187] or a zinc-copper couple and form dark blue solutions extremely sensitive to air. Most frequently used salts are chromous chloride [7SS], chromous sulfate [189], and less often chromous acetate. Reductions of organic compounds are carried out in homogeneous solutions in aqueous methanol [190], acetone [191], acetic acid [192], dimethylformamide [193] or tetrahydrofuran [194] (Procedure 37, p. 214). 

The Simmons-Smith reaction " and its variants are widely used for the stereospecific synthesis of cyclopropane compounds. The methodology involves the use of copper-treated zinc metal (the zinc-copper couple) with diiodomethane to add methylene to a carbon-carbon double bond. Alternative use of diazomethane in catalytic reactions does not offer the same synthetic advantages and is usually avoided because of safety considerations. As significant as is the Simmons-Smith reaction for cyclopropane formation, its employment for organic synthesis was markedly advanced by the discovery that allylic and homoallylic hydroxyl groups accelerate and exert stereochemical control over cyclopropanation of alkenes (e.g, Eq. 21), and this acceleration has been explained by a transition state model... 

A branched-chain iodo sugar derivative, l,5-anhydro-4,6-0-benzyl-idene-2,3-dideoxy-3-C-(iodomethyl)-D-rifoo-hex-l-enitol [4,6-O-ben-zylidene-3-deoxy-3-C-(iodomethyl)-D-allal] (200), is one of the products formed on treatment of methyl 4,6-0-benzylidene-2,3-dideoxy-a-D-en/thro-hex-2-enopyranoside (77) with the Simmons-Smith reagent (diiodomethane and zinc-copper couple).123,212 Compound 200 displays high solvolytic reactivity, an observation that has been rationalized by supposing the formation of the highly stabilized carbonium ion213 (201). Thus, under conditions wherein methyl 2,3,4-tri-0-acetyl-6-deoxy-6-iodo-a-D-glucopyranoside required more than 24 hours to react appreciably with an excess of silver nitrate in 50% aqueous p-dioxane buffered with silver carbonate, the iodide 200 was hydrolyzed completely in less than 1 minute the product of hydrolysis of 200 is the cyclopropyl aldehyde 202. Methanolysis of... 

Not only a zinc-copper couple, but also a zinc-lead couple forms a gem-dimetal species from diiodomethane, according to the 1975 Nysted patent5. He also insisted that treatment of dibromethane with a zinc-lead couple in THF at 80 °C forms a characteristic gem-dizinc species 1 (equation 3). However, there was no further evidence concerning the structure except H NMR data, which was not enough for the complete structural determination. The obtained compound was definitely a gem-dizinc species, but the written structure 1 was not fully characterized. The white solid 1 is obtained as a dispersion in THF, and does not dissolve in DMF and DMI (l,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone). This THF dispersion is commercially available from Aldrich Co. as Nysted reagent. Nysted also showed that this dizinc compound is effective for the methylenation of a-hydroxy ketone moiety in steroid derivatives5. 

A more comprehensive study on the behavior of 5-acetylenic iodides in the presence of zinc was later reported21 and clearly revealed that when iodide 14 was treated with acid-washed zinc (pre-treated with Mel for activation and removal of traces of moisture) in a mixture of benzene and DMF, the acyclic organozinc iodide 21 and the cyclic vinyl iodide 22 were both produced. The amount of 22 increased significantly when the reaction mixture was sonicated rather than stirred or if a zinc-copper couple was used. The accumulation of compound 22 was consistent with its inability to be converted to an alkenyl organozinc species by reaction with metallic zinc under these conditions. However, no substantial cyclization of the open-chain organozinc 21 was observed. The formation of the five-membered ring compound 22 was attributed to a free-radical process... 

In dissociating solvents, perfluoroalkyl iodides react with a zinc-copper couple to give perfluoroalkylzmc compounds, R Znl, which react with alkyl carbonates or pyrocarbonates to give perfluorocarboxylic acids or esters, respectively [55] (equations 47 and 48)... 

Phosphomolybdic acid-Potassium di-chromate-Copper(II) sulfate, 248 Tin(II) trifluoromethanesulfonate, 301 Other unsaturated carbonyl compounds Lead tetraacetate, 155 Pyrylium perchlorate, 263 Zinc-copper couple, 348 a-Substituted-a, p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds... 

H. E. Simmons, T. L. Cairns, S. A. Vladuchick, C. M. Hoiness, Cyclopropanes from Unsaturated Compounds, Methylene Iodide, and Zinc-Copper Couple, Org. React. 1973, 20, 1-131. 

For many years the elucidation of the mechanism of the McMurry reaction has been complicated by the fact that the most commonly used low-valent titanium was derived from hour-long pre-reducing DME-complexed TiCl3 with a zinc/copper couple (DME is 1,2-dimethoxyethane). Apparently, however, the zinc/copper couple reacts with TiCl3 only if the carbonyl compound is present, too. This fact has become part of the current mechanistic view of the McMurry reaction (Figure 17.58). At the same time, it became the starting point of the following variants of the McMurry reaction ... 

Reactions of this type have been reported tor reactions of a,a -dibromoketones with iron carbonyl compounds or zinc-copper couple as catalysts (4, 157-158 5, 221-224). 

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