The electrophilic substitution of ferrocene by protonated carbonyl compounds

The α-ferrocenylalkyl caebenium ions are formed from ferrocene and carbonyl compounds in strongly acidic media, in particular mixtures of fluorosulfuric acid and trichloroacetic acid. The α-ferrocenylalkyl carbenium ions are scavenged by nucleophiles or bases. The addition of nucleophiles produces the corresponding α-substituted ferrocenyl alkanes. Proton abstraction by base from the β-position leads to the ferrocenylethene derivatives.Such electrophilic substitutions of ferrocene by carbonyl compounds, followed by suitable scavengeing of the α-ferrocenylalkyl carbenium ion, form the basis of one-pot syntheses of various ferrocene derivatives.     

An efficient synthesis of 5-silyl-2,3-dihydrofurans via acid-catalyzed ring-enlargement of cyclopropyl silyl ketones and their functionalization

Treatment of cyclopropyl silyl ketones with trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulfonate as a strong acid having low nucleophilic counter anion gives the corresponding 5-silyl-2,3-dihydrofuran derivatives, exclusively, regardless of substituents on the cyclopropane ring or silicon atom. The resulting 5-silyl-2,3-dihydrofuran derivatives exhibit both reactivities of the vinylsilane and the cyclic enol ether in the subsequent reaction with electrophilic reagents or Heck type reaction.     

Carbocations and Electrophilic Reactions

The general concept of carbocations encompasses all cations of carbon containing compounds which can be differentiated into two distinct classes: trivalent (“classical”) carbenium ions and pentacoordinated (“nonclassical”) carbonium ions. In this paper the preparation and structural study (by NMR, IR, Raman and ESCA spectroscopy) of stable carbenium ions and carbonium ions are discussed. As is well known, trivalent carbenium ions play an important role in electrophilic reactions of π- and n-donor systems. Similarly, pentacoordinated carbonium ions are the key to electrophilic reactions of σ-donor systems (single bonds). The ability of single bonds to act as σ-donor lies in their ability to form carbonium ions via triangular two electron, three-center bond formation. Consequently there seems to be no principle difference between the electrophilic reactions of π- and σ-bonds except that the former react more easily, even with weak electrophiles, whereas the latter necessitate more severe conditions. The role of carbocations in electrophilic reactions of π- and σ-donor systems is discussed.     

Electrophilic and nucleophilic enzymatic cascade reactions in biosynthesis

The biosynthesis of cyclic terpenoids and polyethers involves enzyme-initiated cascade reactions for ring formation. While the former are obtained by electrophilic cascades through carbenium ions as intermediates, cyclic polyethers are formed by nucleophilic cascade reactions of (poly)epoxide precursors. These mechanistically complementary pathways follow common principles via (i) triggering of the cascade by forming a reactive intermediate ('initiation'), (ii) sequential 'proliferation' of the cyclization and finally (iii) 'termination' of the cascade. As analyzed in this concept paper, the multiplicity of precursors, combined with various initiation and termination routes and kinetically favored or disfavored cyclization modes accounts for the enormous diversity in cyclic terpenoid and polyether scaffolds. Although the essential role of enzymes in the triggering of these cascades is reasonably well understood, remarkably little is known about their influence in proliferation reactions, especially those implying kinetically disfavored (anti-Markovnikov and anti-Baldwin) routes. Mechanistic analysis of enzymatic cascade reactions provides biomimetic strategies for natural product synthesis.     

Introducing efficient palladium catalyzed cross coupling reaction of tertiary alcohols and aroyl chlorides for the synthesis of highly substituted esters

Esters are chemical compounds with many practical uses. The common type of esterification is called the Fischer esterification. Another one is by the action of acid chlorides on alcohols but not with tertiary alcohols. The stable carbenium ions formed from tertiary alcohols favor elimination and the byproduct, hydrogen chloride prevents ester formation. In this new report, palladium inserted ArCOPdCl species reacts with tertiary alcohols and cross-coupling under microwave heating, minimizes the formation of probable carbenium ion, and promotes successful production of highly substituted esters in good to high yields.     

CC Bond Formation by Addition of Carbenium Ions to Alkenes: Kinetics and Mechanism

The addition of carbenium ions to CC double bonds, a key step in many syntheses in organic and macromolecular chemistry, is analyzed using the Lewis acid promoted reactions of alkyl chlorides with alkenes as an example. Stereochemical and kinetic experiments suggest that the transition state is slightly bridged and product-like. Rearrangements of the carbenium ions that result from the electrophilic attack can be minimized by adding salts with nucleophilic counter ions. The thermodynamics of the addition reactions are analyzed, and the conditions necessary in order to observe the back reaction (i.e. the Grob fragmentation) are discussed. Multiparameter equations that predict rate constants are derived from kinetic studies on the reactivities of carbenium ions and alkenes. Reactivity-selectivity relationships over a reactivity range that covers eight orders of magnitude show that the structure of the transition state is only changed by variation of substituents in the immediate vicinity of the reaction center.     

Breslow Intermediates (Amino Enols) and Their Keto Tautomers: First Gas-Phase Characterization by IR Ion Spectroscopy

Breslow intermediates (BIs) are the crucial nucleophilic amino enol intermediates formed from electrophilic aldehydes in the course of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-catalyzed umpolung reactions. Both in organocatalytic and enzymatic umpolung, the question whether the Breslow intermediate exists as the nucleophilic enol or in the form of its electrophilic keto tautomer is of utmost importance for its reactivity and function. Herein, the preparation of charge-tagged Breslow intermediates/keto tautomers derived from three different types of NHCs (imidazolidin-2-ylidenes, 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidenes, thiazolin-2-ylidenes) and aldehydes is reported. An ammonium charge tag is introduced through the aldehyde unit or the NHC. ESI-MS IR ion spectroscopy allowed the unambiguous conclusion that in the gas phase, the imidazolidin-2-ylidene-derived BI indeed exists as a diamino enol, while both 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidenes and thiazolin-2-ylidenes give the keto tautomer. This result coincides with the tautomeric states observed for the BIs in solution (NMR) and in the crystalline state (XRD), and is in line with our earlier calculations on the energetics of BI keto–enol equilibria.     

Electrophilic-induced cyclization reaction of hexahydroindolinone derivatives and its application toward the synthesis of (+/-)-erysotramidine

A convenient synthesis of variously substituted octahydroindolo[7a,1a]-isoquinolinones has been achieved by an acid-induced cyclization of hexahydroindolinones bearing tethered phenethyl groups. The formation of a single lactam diastereomer is the result of the stereoelectronic preference for axial attack by the aromatic ring onto the initially formed N-acyliminium ion from the least hindered side. Additional experiments showed that a variety of hexahydroindolinones containing tethered pi-bonds undergo a related acid-induced cyclization reaction. Treatment of the 3-methylbut-3-enyl-substituted hexahydroindolinone with acid furnished a 3:1 mixture of isomeric octahydropyrido[2,1-i]indolinones in near-quantitative yield. Interestingly, cyclization of the closely related 1-(3-methoxybut-3-enyl)-substituted hexahydroindolin-one afforded a pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolinone as the exclusive product. With this system, initial protonation takes place on the more nucleophilic enol ether pi-bond and the resulting carbonium ion undergoes a subsequent cyclization with the enamido pi-bond to give the observed product. The electrophilic promoted cyclizations were extended to include the related hexahydro[1]pyrindinone and 1H-quinolinone systems. An NBS-promoted intramolecular electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction of 1-[2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl]-1,4,5,6-tetrahydroindolinone was used to assemble the tetracyclic core of the erythrinone skeleton. The resulting cyclized product was transformed into (+/-)-erysotramidine in three additional steps.     

A highly efficient iterative approach to fused ether ring systems

An iterative synthesis of fused ether ring systems has been developed. This strategy couples a cyclic enol ether oxidation and carbon-carbon bond forming reaction in one flask with an acid catalyzed cyclic acetal formation and alkoxide elimination in another flask. The result is a general and highly efficient two flask synthesis of fused ethers as are present in a wide variety of bioactive natural products.     

Reactions of Charged Substrates. 7. The Methoxymethyl Carbenium Ion Problem. 2. A Semiempirical Study of the Kinetic and Thermodynamic Stabilities of Linear and Cyclic Oxo- and Thiocarbenium Ions Generated from Aldehyde Hydrates, Hemiacetals, Acetals, and Methyl Ribosides and Glucosides

Factors affecting the cleavage of the carbon-oxygen bond in linear and cyclic aldehyde hydrates, heimacetals, acetals, and methyl ribosides and glucosides have been investigated using semiempirical calculations (AM1 and PM3). (For some systems, low- and high-level ab initio energies are available for comparison with the semiempirical results. With one exception, the results obtained by the two methods show excellent agreement in relative energies and trends in reactivity.) The effects on reactivity and stability caused by substituting a sulfur for the alpha oxygen in the oxocarbenium ion were also studied. In general, systems that can have an antiperiplanar alignment of lone pairs on the leaving group and potential oxocarbenium ion oxygens undergo spontanteous cleavage. An examination of various conformers of the leaving group relative to the potential oxocarbenium oxygen shows, however, that lone pair repulsion and steric factors for MeOH as the leaving group are more important than the antiperiplanar effect for bond cleavage. All compounds in which the alpha-oxygen in the potential carbenium ion is replaced by sulfur undergo spontaneous cleavage regardless of the leaving group or structure of the compound. Energy profiles, DeltaH(), and DeltaH(R) values show that linear and cyclic thiocarbenium ions are much more stable than the corresponding oxocarbenium ions. Comparison of results for methyl ribosides and glucosides with results for corresponding pyridinium substrates suggests that both should hydrolyze through an A-1 mechanism. General-acid catalysis with hydronium as the acid was studied. With solution results, the computations suggest that substrates with either a good leaving group or stable oxocarbenium ion react with rate-limiting proton transfer from the acid to the leaving group but that substrates with both a good leaving group and stable carbenium ion react with concerted proton transfer and bond cleavage.     

Lewis Acid-Mediated Decarboxylative Allylation of Enol Carbonates

A homoallylic ketone can be transformed and functionalized by various synthetic reactions, and thus, is regarded as one of the representative building blocks in organic chemistry. An additional route to access homoallylic ketones, namely, a Lewis acid-mediated decarboxylative allylation of cyclic enol carbonates, prepared by fixation of carbon dioxide onto propargyl alcohols, was developed in this work. The treatment of a cyclic enol carbonate with a Lewis acid in the presence of an allylsilane resulted in the formation of a homoallylic ketone. It was found that the title reaction proceeded well by the combined use of zirconium tetrachloride with allyltrimethylsilane. The allylation occurred with high regioselectivity and the corresponding homoallylic ketones were obtained in good-to-high yields. A reaction mechanism involving the decarboxylative formation of an oxyallyl cation equivalent is proposed.     

Synthetic studies toward the haouamines

[reaction: see text] A concise synthetic approach toward the haouamines based on Stork-Danheiser alkylation and Friedel-Crafts chemistry is described. A novel electrophilic aromatic substitution with concomitant formation of an enol triflate is reported.     

Kinetics of Electrophilic Fluorination of Steroids and Epimerisation of Fluorosteroids

Fluorinated steroids, which are synthesised by electrophilic fluorination, form a significant proportion of marketed pharmaceuticals. To gain quantitative information on fluorination at the 6-position of steroids, kinetics studies were conducted on enol ester derivatives of progesterone, testosterone, cholestenone and hydrocortisone with a series of electrophilic N−F reagents. The stereoselectivities of fluorination reactions of progesterone enol acetate and the kinetic effects of additives, including methanol and water, were investigated. The kinetics of epimerisation of 6β-fluoroprogesterone to the more pharmacologically active 6α-fluoroprogesterone isomer in HCl/acetic acid solutions are detailed.     

α-fluorination of ketones by xenon and iodobenzene difluorides: A stereochemical evidence demonstrating their mechanistic differences

Xenon difluoride reacts smootlhy with various steroid silyl enol ethers in the absence of any acid catalyst to afford stereoselectively α-oriented α-fluoroketones in good yields while iodotoluene difluoride reacts rather sluggishly with these silyl enol ethers to competitively produce β-oriented α-fluoro ketones, elimination and other nucleophilic substitution products. The observed stereochemical contrast clearly suggests an electrophilic and nucleophilic mechanism for these reactions, respectively.     

Quantification of the electrophilicities of dithiocarbenium ions

The reactions of the dithio substituted carbenium ions 2a-c with allylsilanes, allylstannanes (3), and silylated enol ethers (4) which yield dithioacetal protected β, ψ-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (7) and selectively protected 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds (8), have been studied kinetically. The second-order rate constants have been used to determine the electrophilicity parameters for the [1,3]dithiolan-2-ylium ion 2a (E=?6.25) and the [1,3]dithian-2-ylium ions 2b (E=?6.82) and 2c (E=?2.17). It is shown how these parameters can be used to predict the electrophilic potential of 2a-c.     

Destabilized carbenium ions: α-imidoyl carbenium ions and the electron impact mass spectra of α-haloaldimines and α-haloketimines

A series of α-chloro- and α-bromoketimines compounds (1-9) with different substituents at the α-position and at the imino group has been investigated by electron impact mass spectrometry as possible precursors of the correspondingly substituted α-imidoyl carbenium ion, an important class of destabilized carbenium ions. The main fragmentation of the molecular ions of compounds, 1-9 in the ion source corresponds to an α-cleavage at the imino group; however, fragment ions are also formed by loss of the α-halo substituent. These fragment ions correspond at least formally to α-imidoyl carbenium ions. Their further reactions in dependence on the type of substituents at the imino group and at the α-C atom, were studied by mass-analysed ion kinetic energy and collisional activation mass spectrometry. The results agree with the initial formation of destabilized α-imidoyl carbenium ions but indicate an easy rearrangement of these ions in the presence of suitable alkyl substituents by 1,2- and 1,4-hydrogen shifts to more stable isomers.     

Radical cation salts induced domino reaction of anilines with enol ethers:Synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline derivatives

A domino reaction of anilines with cyclic and acyclic enol ethers induced by catalytic amounts of TBPA^·+（5 mol%） was investigated and a series of 2,4-disubstituted-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines were synthesized.Different from cyclic enol ethers, when acyclic enol ethers were used in the reaction,they serve as surrogates of acetaldehyde,producing a series of 2-methyl-4- anilino-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines.A single electron transfer mechanism was proposed to rationalize the products formation.     

Reactions of Charged Substrates. 6. The Methoxymethyl Carbenium Ion Problem. 1. A Semiempirical Study of the Kinetic and Thermodynamic Stabilities of Linear and Cyclic Oxo- and Thiocarbenium Ions Generated from Pyridinium and Dimethylanilinium Ions

AM1-calculated energy profiles for dissociation of (methoxymethyl)pyridinium and dimethylanilinium ion substrates show that the methoxymethyl carbenium ion is not sufficiently stable to exist as an intermediate on the reaction coordinate for this model reaction. [(Thiomethoxy)methyl]pyridinium ion, however, has a distinct transition state because of the stability of the resulting ion-neutral complex. The complete potential energy surfaces for water displacement on the methoxymethyl substrate with either pyridine or dimethylaniline as the leaving group show distinct transition states and very flat surfaces for the ion-neutral complexes in which interaction of the carbenium ion with both leaving group and nucleophile is stabilizing. Secondary systems studied, including linear methoxy and thiomethoxy substrates, 5- and 6-membered cyclic oxo and thio substrates, and ribosyl-, xylopyranosyl-, and glucopyranosylpyridinium ions yield ion-neutral complexes with sufficient intrinsic stability to exist as intermediates. Comparison with solution data, primarily activation entropy and Br?nsted coefficients, suggests that the sugar oxocarbenium ions, either as distinct, solvent-equilibrated intermediates or elements of ion-neutral complexes, are formed by unimolecular dissociation of the respective substrates in solution.     

Alkylation of alkenes: ethylaluminum sesquichloride-mediated hydro-alkyl additions with alkyl chloroformates and di-tert-butylpyrocarbonate

A general method for the hydro-alkyl addition to the nonactivated C=C double bond of alkenes using alkyl chloroformates (primary, secondary), 12, and di-tert-butylpyrocarbonate, 52, mediated by ethylaluminum sesquichloride (Et(3)Al(2)Cl(3)) has been developed. Reaction of 12 and 52, respectively, with Et(3)Al(2)Cl(3) gives an alkyl cation which is added to the alkene; hydride transfer to the adduct carbenium ion or, if applicable, 1,2-H shift followed by hydride transfer from Et(3)Al(2)Cl(3) to the rearranged adduct carbenium ion gives the saturated addition product. The reaction has been applied to 1-alkenes, 2-methyl-1-alkenes, internal double bonds, and to three cyclic alkenes. Special interest has been focused on alkylations of unsaturated fatty compounds, such as oleic acid (2), which are important renewable feedstocks. 2-Methylalkanes, 3-methylalkanes, 2,4-dimethylalkanes, 2,3-dimethylalkanes, 2,2,4-trimethylalkanes, cyclohexylalkanes, and carboxylic acids and esters with the respective branched alkyl chain have been synthesized with good to moderate yields.