Stable non-N-heterocyclic carbenes (non-NHC): recent progress

This account summarizes the results that have been obtained by our group since 2000 in the area of stable singlet acyclic carbenes. It includes aryl- and alkyl-(phosphino)carbenes, aryl(amino)carbenes, and (amino)(phosphino)carbenes. Our most recent achievements, the transformation of stable carbenes into other stable carbenes are also discussed, along with preliminary results concerning the ligand properties of these species.     

Intra- and intermolecular reactions of nucleophilic carbenes

General properties of nucleophilic carbenes are addressed briefly. The preparation of oxadiazoline precursors of such carbenes, and some of their chemical reactions, are presented. Intramolecular reactions include rearrangement and attack by the carbene center on a tethered functional group. Intermolecular reactions include nucleophilic attack at the carbonyl carbon of isocyanates and at the triple bond of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate.     

Stable (amino)(phosphino)carbenes: difunctional molecules

(Amino)(phosphino)carbenes are stable due to the donation of the nitrogen lone pair, the phosphino group remains strongly pyramidalized. Reactions can be performed selectively at the carbene center, but also at the phosphorus center leading to new stable carbenes. These difunctional molecules can be considered as hybrid ligands.     

Carbene-Stabilized Exceptional Silicon Halides

The isolation of stable carbenes, such as N-heterocyclic carbenes, cyclic alkyl amino carbenes, and abnormal N-heterocyclic carbenes, has encouraged synthetic chemists to use them as neutral ligands for stabilizing unusual compounds with main group elements. In this Minireview, an overview is provided of the recent developments in the chemistry of carbene-stabilized silicon halides, in which the silicon atoms are in low oxidation state. The structural diversities emanating from the differences in the HOMO–LUMO gaps of various carbenes will also be discussed.     

Preparation of bis(diazo) compounds incorporated into butadiyne and thiophene units and generation and characterization of their photoproducts

(2,6-dimethyl-4-tert-butylphenyl)(2,4,6-tribromophenyl)diazomethane(-N(2)) was found to be stable enough to survive under Sonogashira coupling reaction conditions, and aryldiazomethyl substituents were introduced at the 1,4-positions of butadiyne (4-2N(2)) and the 2,5-positions of thiophene(5-2N(2)). Irradiation of those bis(diazo) compounds generated bis(carbenes), which were characterized by using ESR and UV/vis spectroscopic techniques in a matrix at low temperature as well as time-resolved UV/vis spectroscopy in solution at room temperature. These studies revealed that both of the bis(carbenes), 4 and 5, have singlet quinoidal diradical ground states with a very small singlet-triplet energy gap of less than 1 kcal mol(-1). A remarkable increase in the lifetime of bis(carbenes), as opposed to that of the monocarbene (2), was noted and was interpreted to indicate that bis(carbenes) are thermodynamically stabilized as a result of delocalization of unpaired electrons throughout the pi net framework. In spite of the stability, both bis(carbenes) are readily trapped by molecular oxygen to afford bis(ketones). Presumably, the reaction of the upper-lying localized quintet states with oxygen is much faster than that for lower-lying states.     

Preparation of bis(diazo) compounds incorporated into butadiyne and thiophene units, and generation and characterization of bis(carbene) from these compounds

[9-[10-(4-t-Butyl-2,6-dimethyl)phenyl]anthryl](4-bromo-2,6-dimethylphenyl)diazomethane (1-N(2)) was found to be stable enough to survive under Sonogashira and Suzuki coupling reaction conditions, and bis(diazo) compounds incorporated into the 1,4-positions of butadiyne (3-2N(2)) and the 2,5-position of thiophene (4-2N(2)) were prepared. Irradiation of those bis(diazo) compounds generated bis(carbenes), which were characterized by ESR and UV-vis spectroscopic techniques in a matrix at low temperature, as well as time-resolved UV-vis spectroscopy in solution at room temperature. These studies revealed that both of the bis(carbenes), 3 and 4, have a singlet quinoidal diradical ground state with a very small singlet-triplet energy gap of less than 1 kcal/mol. A remarkable increase in the lifetime of bis(carbenes) as opposed to that of monocarbene (1) was noted and was interpreted to indicate that bis(carbenes) are thermodynamically stabilized as a result of delocalization of unpaired electrons throughout a pi-net framework. Despite the stability, both bis(carbenes) are readily trapped by molecular oxygen to afford bis(ketones) as main products.     

Arylation of Rhodium(II) Azavinyl Carbenes with Boronic Acids

A highly efficient and stereoselective arylation of in situ-generated azavinyl carbenes affording 2,2-diaryl enamines at ambient temperatures has been developed. These transition-metal carbenes are directly produced from readily available and stable 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles in the presence of a rhodium carboxylate catalyst. In several cases, the enamines generated in this reaction can be cyclized into substituted indoles employing copper catalysis.     

Stabilities of carbenes: independent measures for singlets and triplets

Thermodynamic stabilities of 92 carbenes, singlets and triplets, have been evaluated on the basis of hydrogenation enthalpies calculated at the G3MP2 level. The carbenes include alkyl-, aryl-, and heteroatom-substituted structures as well as cyclic 1,3-diheteroatom carbenes. Over a wide energy range, a good correlation is seen between the singlet-triplet gaps and the hydrogenation enthalpies of the singlets, but there are some clear outliers, which represent cases where the triplet has unusual stability or instability. By use of hydrogenation enthalpies, separate carbene stabilization enthalpy scales (CSEs) have been developed for singlets and triplets, and these highlight structural features that affect the stability of each. The treatment also allows estimates of aromaticity in cyclic carbenes. In this way, imidazol-2-ylidene is estimated to have an aromatic stabilization energy of about 20 kcal/mol.     

Moving toward Ylide‐Stabilized Carbenes

The effect of ylide substitution at the α position to the carbene carbon (C_c) atom on the stability and σ‐donating ability of a number of cyclic carbenes has been studied theoretically. The stabilities of all of the carbenes were investigated from an evaluation of their singlet–triplet energy gaps and stabilization energies. All carbenes were found to have a stable singlet state. The energy of the σ‐symmetric lone‐pair orbital at the C_c atom increases as a result of the introduction of ylide centers near to the C_c atom. This indicates an enhanced σ‐donating ability of the ylide‐containing carbenes. The calculated carbonyl‐stretching frequencies of the corresponding rhodium complexes, proton affinities, and nucleophilicity index values correlate well with the σ basicity of the carbenes.     

Geometrical isomerism in divalent-carbon intermediates

Three classes of monosubstituted carbenes (aryl-, vinyl-, carbonyl-) and one class of disubstituted carbenes (dicarbonyl-), all of them ground state triplets, can exist in more than one rotameric form with distinct zero field splitting parameters. Representative examples of these carbenes are discussed and selected aspects of triplet carbenes are evaluated, including their π spin density distribution, intramolecular H-abstraction, and cis-trans isomerization. Lastly, the structures assigned to two triplets generated by photolysis of dibenzoyldiazomethane are re-evaluated.     

Activation of Molecular Hydrogen by a Singlet Carbene through Quantum Mechanical Tunneling

Carbenes are among the few metal‐free molecules that are able to activate molecular hydrogen. Whereas triplet carbenes have been shown to insert into H₂ through a two‐step mechanism that at low temperature is assisted by quantum mechanical tunneling (QMT), singlet carbenes insert in concerted reactions with considerable activation barriers, and are thus unreactive towards H₂ at cryogenic temperatures. Here we show that 1‐azulenylcarbene with a singlet ground state readily inserts into H₂, and that QMT governs the insertion into both H₂ and D₂. This is the first example that shows that QMT can also be important for singlet carbenes inserting into dihydrogen.     

The carbene reactivity surface: a classification

A new two-dimensional classification of singlet carbenes based on the difference in reactivity of their insertion reactions into the C-H bonds of acetonitrile and isobutane is presented. This classification combines the stability and the philicity of divalent species. Until now all of the experimentally based philicity scales are based on the addition to alkenes. Moreover, a new terminology for describing the reactivity of carbenes is introduced. Among the alkyl carbenes, acetyl carbene (2) and cyclopentadienylidene are shown as highly reactive electrophilic carbenes, whereas the other alkylidenes and alkenylidenes investigated are all less active than 2 and more nucleophilic. The stabilized-nucleophilic bicyclo[2.1.1]hex-2-en-5-ylidene (13) possesses a stability similar to that of cyclic alkyl amino carbene (CAAC) 18 and aminophosphoniocarbene 7. Strong hydrogen bridging is found between a C-H bond of acetonitrile and the nucleophilic carbenes 13 and 14.     

Gold Carbene or Carbenoid: Is There a Difference?

By reviewing the recent progress on the elucidation of the structure of gold carbenes and the definitions of metal carbenes and carbenoids, we recommend to use the term gold carbene to describe gold carbene‐like intermediates, regardless of whether the carbene or carbocation extreme resonance dominates. Gold carbenes, because of the weak metal‐to‐carbene π‐back‐donation and their strongly electrophilic reactivity, could be classified into the broader family of Fischer carbenes, although their behavior and properties are very specific.     

Carbenes in the synthesis of heterocycles (review)

The syntheses of heterocyclic compounds by reactions of carbenes with carbon-heteroatom multiple bonds, isomerization of unstable adducts of carbenes to carbon-carbon bonds, and the incorporation of carbenes in C-H, C-N, and C-O bonds are examined.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 11, pp. 1443–1464, November, 1976.     

CHEMILUMINESCENCE FROM CARBENE OXIDATION

Abstract— The chemiluminescent reaction between carbenes and O₂ in Freon 113 at and above 77 K was investigated. The reaction was found to be general for phenylated carbenes and independent of precursor. Spectra obtained by optical multichannel analyzer (OMA) are consistent with the emission being from the excited ketone formed. Kinetics studies at 77 K indicate that the decay of the chemi-luminescence is significantly faster than the decay of the carbene as monitored by fluorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance.     

氮杂环卡宾在有机催化中的研究进展

介绍了氮杂环卡宾作为有机催化剂的发展历史和催化机理,综述了近年来氮杂环卡宾在有机催化领域中的研究成果.     

Singlet-triplet splittings and barriers to Wolff rearrangement for carbonyl carbenes.

High-level ab initio calculations at the G3(MP2)//B3-LYP level have been used to study carbomethoxychlorocarbene and related halogenocarbenes and carbonyl carbenes. Initial calculations at the more accurate W1' level on the subset CH(2), HCCl, HCF, CCl(2), and CF(2) provide support for the reliability of G3(MP2)//B3-LYP for this type of problem. The W1' calculations also suggest that the experimental S-T splitting is slightly underestimated for HCCl and CF(2) and substantially underestimated for CCl(2), in keeping with other recent high-level studies. Whereas the parent carbonyl carbenes, namely formylcarbene, carbohydroxycarbene, and carbomethoxycarbene, are all predicted to have triplet ground states, their chloro and fluoro derivatives are predicted to have singlet ground states. In particular, carbomethoxychlorocarbene is predicted to have a singlet ground state, with the singlet-triplet splitting estimated as -16.0 kJ mol(-)(1). The barriers to Wolff rearrangement of the singlet carbonyl carbenes generally (but not always) correlate with the exothermicity accompanying the production of ketenes. In the case of the parent carbonyl carbenes, for which the rearrangement reaction is most exothermic, the barriers lie between about 10 and 30 kJ mol(-)(1), whereas for the less exothermic rearrangements of the chloro- and fluoro-substituted carbonyl carbenes, the Wolff rearrangement barriers increase significantly to between 58 and 75 kJ mol(-)(1). The calculated barrier for carbomethoxychlorocarbene is 58.2 kJ mol(-)(1).     

Auf der Suche nach Stabilen Carbenen

This article follows a thread through the history of the quest for stable carbenes. The story begins in 1835 with the attempts by Dumas to dehydrate methanol to produce methylene. It continues through modern times to a point where the accumulation of many false starts in stable carbene synthesis led to the conventional wisdom that carbenes are so highly reactive that they exist only as labile, short-lived molecules. The report of the isolation of the first stable crystalline carbene in 1991 began a renaissance in the chemistry of isolable carbenes. Much of the older chemistry is currently being revisited and reinterpreted with the aid of modern analytical techniques. Easily handled carbenes are opening many new opportunities in both exploratory chemistry and industrial applications.     

CO2 laser induced reactions of chlorotrifluoroethene and 1,2-dichlorodifluoroethene with silane

Gas-phase reactions in C1FC:CF₂/SiH₄ and C1FC:CFCl/SiH₄ mixtures at total pressure arround 1 Torr induced by pulsed CO₂ laser radiation yield different products depending on whether the single laser irradiating wavelength is tuned to absorption band of olefin or silane. Channels assumed to explain variety of products are multiphoton dissociation of the olefin into carbenes, carbenes recombination and addition to parent olefin, substitution of halogen in transient carbenes by hydrogen of silane, and 1,2-migration of halogen in transient CFCl:CF^. radical.     

Carbenes and Nitrenes: Recent Developments in Fundamental Chemistry

Carbenes and nitrenes can exist in both singlet and triplet states, sometimes equally stable and interconverting either thermally or photochemically. Many carbene and nitrene reactions proceed via tunneling at low temperatures. Numerous singlet and triplet states have been characterized spectroscopically, and a detailed understanding of the chemical and physical properties of carbenes and nitrenes is emerging. There has been significant progress in the direct observation of carbenes, nitrenes, and many other reactive intermediates in recent years through the application of matrix photolysis and flash vacuum pyrolysis linked with matrix isolation at cryogenic temperatures. Our understanding of singlet and triplet states has improved through the interplay of spectroscopy and computations. Bistable carbenes and nitrenes as well as many examples of tunneling have been discovered and numerous rearrangements and fragmentations have been documented. The correlation of the zero‐field splitting parameter D with calculated spin densities on nitrenes and carbenes is discussed. This Minireview gives an overview of some of these developments.