A mild, efficient method for the oxidation of α-diazo-β-hydroxyesters to α-diazo-β-ketoesters

A wide variety of α-diazo-β-ketoesters can be prepared in good overall yields via a two-step sequence involving addition of ethyl lithiodiazoacetate to aliphatic, aromatic, and conjugated aldehydes followed by mild oxidation with the Dess-Martin periodinane.     

Diastereoselective and enantioselective cyclopropanation of alkenes catalyzed by cobalt porphyrins

Cobalt(II) porphyrin complexes were shown to be general and efficient catalysts for selective cyclopropanation of alkenes with ethyl diazoacetate (EDA). The catalytic system can operate with alkenes as limiting reagents, requiring only stoichiometric amounts of EDA. The protocol is performed in one-pot fashion without the need of slow addition of EDA. The diastereoselectivity of the current system can be tuned by using different porphyrin ligands or additives, giving either trans- or cis-dominant cyclopropanes. The asymmetric cyclopropanation was also demonstrated with the use of chiral cobalt porphyrin complexes.     

Surface-catalyzed growth of polymethylene-rich copolymer films on gold

We report the preparation of a new class of copolymer films that consist of polymethylene (PM) with a low percentage ( approximately 1-4%) of randomly distributed ethyl ester side groups, consistent with poly(methylene-co-ethyl acetate). The films are prepared through a surface-catalyzed polymerization on gold surfaces upon exposure to a dilute solution of diazomethane (DM) and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) in ether at 0 degrees C. While EDA alone does not polymerize at gold surfaces but DM does decompose on gold to grow PM films, the combined presence of EDA and DM results in dramatic enhancements in film growth and promotes an alternative mechanism for propagation as compared with that for the PM homopolymerization. The rate of copolymer film growth is constant over a approximately 24 h period, consistent with a controlled polymerization in which chain terminations are minimized. Carefully controlled experiments indicate that chain propagation does not occur at the outer film-solvent interface, but more likely, at the film-metal interface, suggesting a catalyzed insertion mechanism that extends the chain and pushes the outer chain termini further away from the metal-polymer interface. The results also suggest that adsorbed intermediates of EDA function as co-catalysts to promote the propagation reaction. Of particular importance for materials modification is that the ester side chains of these copolymer films can be hydrolyzed to carboxylate groups that exhibit pH-dependent wettability.     

Ruthenium porphyrin catalyzed tandem sulfonium/ammonium ylide formation and [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. A concise synthesis of (+/-)-platynecine

meso-Tetrakis(p-tolyl)porphyrinatoruthenium(II) carbonyl, [Ru(II)(TTP)(CO)], can effect intermolecular sulfonium and ammonium ylide formation by catalytic decomposition of diazo compounds such as ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) in the presence of allyl sulfides and amines. Exclusive formation of [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement products (70-80% yields) was observed without [1,2]-rearrangement products being detected. The Ru-catalyzed reaction of EDA with disubstituted allyl sulfides such as crotyl sulfide produced an equimolar mixture of anti- and syn-2-(ethylthio)-3-methyl-4-pentenoic acid ethyl ester. The analogous "EDA + N,N-dimethylcrotylamine" reaction afforded a mixture of anti- and syn-2-(N,N-dimethylamino)-3-methyl-4-pentenoic acid ethyl esters with a diastereoselectivity of 3:1. The observed catalytic activity of [Ru(II)(TTP)(CO)] for the ylide [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement is comparable to the reported examples involving [Rh(2)(CH(3)CO(2))(4)] and [Cu(acac)(2)] as catalyst. Similarly, cyclic sulfonium and ammonium ylides can be produced by intramolecular reaction of a diazo group tethered to allyl sulfides and amines under the [Ru(II)(TTP)(CO)]-catalyzed reaction conditions. The subsequent [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the cyclic ylides furnished 2-allyl-substituted sulfur and nitrogen heterocycles in good yields (>90%). By employing [Ru(II)(TTP)(CO)] as catalyst, the cyclic ammonium ylide [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement reaction was successfully applied for the total synthesis of (+/-)-platynecine starting from cis-2-butenediol.     

Ce(III) immobilized on aminated poly(vinyl chloride): high-performance synergistic bifunctional acid–base catalyst for one-pot synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles

A bifunctional acid–base catalyst of Ce^III immobilized on ethylenediamine (EDA)-grafted poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) has been prepared by a simple approach. First, PVC was treated with EDA to afford aminated poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC–EDA). Thereafter, the PVC–EDA were used in the mobilization of CeCl₃ to obtain a bifunctional catalyst (PVC–EDA–Ce^III) in which a harmonious coexistence of Lewis acid (Ce³⁺) sites and Lewis base (amine) moieties on PVC was achieved. The obtained PVC–EDA–Ce^III complex was characterized by EA, ICP–AES, FT-IR, SEM, EDS, TGA, and DTG techniques. The as-prepared catalyst can efficiently catalyze the one-pot four-component reactions of aromatic aldehydes, malononitrile, ethyl acetoacetate, and hydrazine in ethanol under mild conditions to afford polyfunctionalized 1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazoles with excellent yields. The high catalytic performance of the PVC–EDA–Ce^III bifunctional catalyst is attributed to a synergistic effect of Lewis acid sites (Ce^III) and Lewis base sites (amino moieties). The significant features of the present protocol are environmentally benign, simple operation, short reaction time, high yields, and without chromatographic separation. Moreover, the catalyst can easily be separated by simple filtration and reused for five runs without obvious decline or losing its catalytic activity.

     

Unusual Reaction of Diazo Compounds with Enamines

Transition metal catalyzed decomposition of diazo compounds and consequent transformations constitute various synthetic useful reactions in the past decades. The catalytic addition of diazo compounds to olefins generally provides cyclopropanes in high yield. However the reaction of electron-rich enamines with diazo compounds gave variable results. Wenkert et al. reported the reaction of enamines with ethyl diazoacetae (EDA) in the presence of cuprous chloride or silver oxide unexpectedly gave…     

BH3-catalyzed oligomerization of ethyl diazoacetate: the role of C-boron enolates

In contrast to trialkyl boranes, the reaction of borane (BH3) and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) generates dimer, trimer, and oligomers of EDA. The products arise from double, triple, and multiple insertions of CHCO2Et groups in B-C bonds. On the basis of NMR spectroscopic data, trapping experiments, and computational studies, a novel C-boron enolate has been identified as a key intermediate in this reaction. This C-boron enolate species is calculated to be 7.1 kcal/mol (gas phase) more stable than its isomeric O-boron enolate form. Both spectroscopic data and trapping results also reveal the formation of a doubly borylated enolate generated as a side product by a proton transfer between the C- and O-boron monoenolates.     

Vitamin B12 derivatives as natural asymmetric catalysts: enantioselective cyclopropanation of alkenes

Vitamin B(12) derivatives were found for the first time to be general and efficient catalysts for asymmetric cyclopropanation of alkenes with ethyl diazoacetate (EDA). Among several common derivatives, aquocobalamin (B(12a)) was shown to be the most effective catalyst for a variety of alkenes, providing cis-dominant cyclopropanes in excellent yields and moderate enantioselectivity. Reactivity studies under different conditions suggest that the active species in the proposed catalytic cycle is the base-on cob(II)alamin (B(12r)) that is generated possibly via in situ reduction of B(12a) by EDA.     

A kinetic and spectroscopic study of the interaction between a M(CO)5 (M=Cr, W) fragment and ethyl diazoacetate

The reaction between Cr(CO)₅[C₆H₆] and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) has been studied using the technique of laser flash photolysis. Results indicate that the Cr(CO)₅ fragment reacts very rapidly with the EDA ligand. Low temperature spectroscopic studies suggest that in the case of W(CO)₅, and by analogy also in the case of Cr(CO)₅, the initial adduct between the pentacarbonyl fragment and EDA is one where the oxygen atom of the diazocarbonyl ligand is bound to the metal center. This kinetic product is then converted to a thermodynamically favored complex which is tentatively assigned as the nitrogen bound W(CO)₅-EDA complex that appears to be stable at r.t.     

Complete control of the chemoselectivity in catalytic carbene transfer reactions from ethyl diazoacetate: an N-heterocyclic carbene-Cu system that suppresses diazo coupling

The complex IPrCuCl (1) catalyzes the transfer of the :CHCO2Et group from ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) to unsaturated and saturated substrates (olefins, amine, alcohols) with very high yields. In the absence of substrate, the complex 1 does not react with EDA to give the diazo coupling products (fumarate and maleate), a rare example in the field of metal-catalyzed diazocompounds decomposition.     

Rhodium-mediated stereoselective polymerization of "carbenes"

Unprecedented rhodium-catalyzed stereoselective polymerization of "carbenes" from ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) to give high molecular mass poly(ethyl 2-ylidene-acetate) is described. The mononuclear, neutral [(N,O-ligand)M(I)(cod)] (M = Rh, Ir) catalytic precursors for this reaction are characterized by (among others) single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These species mediate formation of a new type of polymers from EDA: carbon-chain polymers functionalized with a polar substituent at each carbon of the polymer backbone. The polymers are obtained as white powders with surprisingly sharp NMR resonances. Solution and solid state NMR data for these new polymers reveal a highly stereoregular polymer, with a high degree of crystallinity. The polymer is likely syndiotactic. Material properties are very different from those of atactic poly(diethyl fumarate) polymer obtained by radical polymerization of diethyl fumarate. Other diazoacetates are also polymerized. Further studies are underway to reveal possible applications of these new materials.     

Asymmetric Induction of Chiral 1,1''''-Bis(oxazolinyl)ferrocenes as Ligands in Metal-Catalyzed Cyclopropanation and Diels-Alder Reactions

Bis(oxazoline) ligands1 have been successfully used in a variety of metal-catalyzed asymmetric reactions, such as cyclopropanation, allylic oxidation reactions, etc; Chiral ferrocene derivatives2 have also been proved as effective ligands in numerous asymmetric reactions, for example, chiral ferrocenylphosphines exhibited high enantioselectivity for the reduction of olefins, Heck reactions and Aldol reactions of aldehydes. These results stimulated us to study the behaviour the bis(oxazoline) …     

DNA‐Accelerated Catalysis of Carbene‐Transfer Reactions by a DNA/Cationic Iron Porphyrin Hybrid

A novel DNA‐based hybrid catalyst comprised of salmon testes DNA and an iron(III) complex of a cationic meso‐tetrakis(N‐alkylpyridyl)porphyrin was developed. When the N‐methyl substituents were placed at the ortho position with respect to the porphyrin ring, high reactivity in catalytic carbene‐transfer reactions was observed under mild conditions, as demonstrated in the catalytic enantioselective cyclopropanation of styrene derivatives with ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) as the carbene precursor. A remarkable feature of this catalytic system is the large DNA‐induced rate acceleration observed in this reaction and the related dimerization of EDA. It is proposed that high effective molarity of all components of the reaction in or near the DNA is one of the key contributors to this unique reactivity. This study demonstrates that the concept of DNA‐based asymmetric catalysis can be expanded into the realm of organometallic chemistry.     

Highly regioselective functionalization of aliphatic carbon-hydrogen bonds with a perbromohomoscorpionate copper(I) catalyst

The complex Tp(Br3)Cu(NCMe) (1) is an excellent catalyst for the regioselective carbene transfer reaction to tertiary C-H bonds of hydrocarbons, at room temperature, using the readily available ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) as the carbene source.     

Acid catalyzed reactions of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and ethyl diazoacetate

The formation of cyclopropanes from α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and diazo compounds has been a rather challenging goal due to the extremely reactive aldehyde starter. Herein, our group reports the first formation of ethyl 2-formyl-1-cyclopropanecarboxylate in 100% yield from the acid catalyzed reaction between acrolein and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA).     

Synthesis of a bio-based plasticizer from oleic acid and its evaluation in PVC formulations

The bio-based plasticizers have been extensively developed due to their high compatibility and low toxicity. In this study, the bio-based plasticizers of methyl 10-(2-methoxy-2-oxoethansulfonyl) octadecanoate (MDA) and ethyl 10-(2-ethoxy-2-oxoethanesulfonyl) octadecanoate (EDA) were synthesized from the oleic acid and thioglycolic acid and characterized by ¹HNMR and FT-IR. The prepared materials were applied as plasticizers in Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and their properties were compared with the commercial plasticizer, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DOP). The viscosities of prepared plastisols from novel designed plasticizers were lower than DOP. The results of mechanical properties showed that the synthesized plasticizers of MDA and EDA have the ability of plasticizing effects similar to DOP on PVC. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) indicated that both MDA and EDA have higher thermal stability than DOP. Two polar ester as well as polar sulfone groups in the chemical structure of MDA and EDA led to lower migration, volatility and exudation than DOP.     

DABCO catalyzed facile synthesis of highly functionalized pyrazolines from Baylis-Hillman acetates and ethyl diazoacetate

A convenient synthesis of pyrazolines is reported via DABCO mediated reaction of ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) with Baylis-Hillman acetates. The products were obtained in good to excellent yields (70-95%).     

Stable N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-palladium(0) complexes as active catalysts for olefin cyclopropanation reactions with ethyl diazoacetate

The Pd(0) complexes [(NHC)PdL(n)] (NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene ligand; L=styrene for n=2 or PR(3) for n=1) efficiently catalyse olefin cyclopropanation by using ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) as the carbene source with activities that improve on previously described catalytic systems based on this metal. Mechanistic studies have shown that all of these catalyst precursors deliver the same catalytic species in solution, that is, [(IPr)Pd(sty)], a 14e(-) unsaturated intermediate that further reacts with EDA to afford [(IPr)Pd(=CHCO(2)Et)(sty)], from which the cyclopropane is formed.     

Activation of alkyl halides via a silver-catalyzed carbene insertion process

The silver complex [HB(3,5-(CF3)2Pz)3]Ag(THF) featuring a highly fluorinated tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligand catalyzes the formation of aliphatic carbon-halogen bond activation products under remarkably mild conditions. For example, the reaction between CHCl3 and ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) at room temperature in the presence of the silver catalyst afforded HClC(CO2Et)CCl2H in 60% yield. The presence of beta-hydrogens on the alkyl halide leads to net hydrogen halide addition to the carbene and an alkene.     

Catalytic aldol-type reaction of aldehydes with ethyl diazoacetate using quarternary ammonium hydroxide as the base

The direct aldol-type condensation of aldehydes with ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) promoted by an organic base and non-metallic catalyst such as tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBAOH) gave β-hydroxy-α-diazocarbonyl compounds with moderate to excellent yields. Furthermore, the reactivity and scope of various phase-transfer catalysts as well as electronically divergent aldehydes are discussed.