Borane-catalyzed hydroboration of substituted alkenes by lithium borohydride or sodium borohydride

In the presence of a catalytic amount of BH₃·Me₂S, TiCl₄ or Me₃SiCl, LiBH₄ or NaBH₄ are capable of hydroborating alkenes by following the unusual order of decreasing reactivity: tetramethylethylene > 1-methylcyclohexene > cyclohexene; the key step of the catalytic cycle is the exchange reaction between LiBH₄ and the mono- or dialkylboranes resulting from hydroboration of the more substituted alkenes with BH₃.     

Ruthenium catalysed reduction of alkenes using sodium borohydride

The reduction of alkenes has been achieved using NaBH₄ as the reducing agent using 0.5-1.0 mol % Ru(PPh₃)₄H₂ in the presence of water.     

A general method for the rapid reduction of alkenes and alkynes using sodium borohydride, acetic acid, and palladium

Alkenes and alkynes are rapidly reduced to the corresponding alkanes using sodium borohydride and acetic acid in the presence of a small amount of palladium catalyst. The heterogeneous reaction is conducted in open air at room temperature. Reactions typically afford conversions to the alkane product of 98% or more within 15 min. The best solvent system was determined to be isopropyl alcohol, though reduction also takes place in solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, chloroform and, with some substrates, even in water. The method described is a convenient alternative to hydrogenations that require an external supply of hydrogen gas.     

Hydrogenation of alkenes catalyzed by supported Ziegler catalysts

Supported Ziegler catalysts prepared by the reaction of a Ni(II) 1-butylsalicylaldiminate or Ni(II) 2-ethylhexanoate with Al₂O₃/SiO₂ treated with AlEt₃ or NaAlH₂ (OCH₂CH₂OCH₃)₂ are efficient catalysts for hydrogenation of simple alkenes. The factors influencing their activity are reported.

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, qp - Ni(II) - Ni(II) 2- Al₂O₃/SiO₂, AlEt₃ NaAlH₂ (OCH₂CH₂OCH₃)₂, . , .

     

Disulfidation of alkynes and alkenes with gallium trichloride

[reaction: see text] Treatment of diphenyl disulfide and terminal alkynes with gallium trichloride afforded (E)-1,2-diphenylthio-1-alkenes selectively (E/Z > 20/1). Alkenes also underwent this reaction to form trans adducts.     

Palladium-catalyzed hydrophosphinylation of alkenes and alkynes

Various palladium catalysts promote the addition of hypophosphorous derivatives ROP(O)H(2) to alkenes and alkynes in good yields and under mild conditions. Particularly, Cl(2)Pd(PPh(3))(2)/2 MeLi, and Pd(2)dba(3)/xantphos allow for phosphorus-carbon bond formation instead of transfer hydrogenation. Commercial aqueous solutions of hypophosphorous acid can be employed successfully at ambient temperature. With styrene and terminal alkynes, the regioselectivity (linear versus branched products) can be controlled to some extent with the catalytic system employed. The methodology considerably extends upon previous routes for the preparation of H-phosphinic acids and other organophosphorus compounds.     

Palladium-catalyzed reaction of phenyl fluoroalkanesulfonates with alkynes and alkenes

Palladium-catalyzed reaction of phenyl fluoroalkanesulfonates with alkynes and alkens under mild conditions gives the corresponding alkynyl and alkenyl substituted benzenes in good yields.     

Cationic palladium-catalyzed hydrosilylative cross-coupling of alkynes with alkenes

A cationic palladium complex-catalyzed cross-coupling of alkynes with alkenes is presented, which occurs selectively under the hydrosilylation conditions using trichlorosilane. The unique reaction might be well understood in terms of an initial hydropalladation of a given 1-alkyne to form regioselectively a 1-alkenylpalladium species, which, in turn, undergoes easily and specifically an alkene insertion. The resulting homoallylic organopalladium species terminates one catalytic cycle by substituting the palladium center with a trichlorosilyl group to give product(s).     

Cobalt-catalyzed reductive coupling of activated alkenes with alkynes

Cobalt complex/Zn systems effectively catalyze the reductive coupling of activated alkenes with alkynes in the presence of water to give substituted alkenes with very high regio- and stereoselectivity in excellent yields. While the intermolecular reaction of acrylates, acrylonitriles, and vinyl sulfones with alkynes takes place in the presence of CoI2(PPh3)2/Zn, the reaction of enones and enals with alkynes requires the use of the CoI2(dppe)/Zn/ZnI2 system. The intramolecular reductive coupling of activated alkenes (enones, enals, acrylates, and acrylonitriles) with alkynes also works efficiently. Further a variety of cyclic lactones and lactams were prepared using this methodology. Possible mechanistic pathways are proposed based on a deuterium-labeling experiment carried out in the presence of D2O.     

Amine-directed intramolecular hydroacylation of alkenes and alkynes

Medium-ring heterocycles are prepared via an amine-directed, rhodium(I)-catalyzed intramolecular hydroacylation. The presence of an allyl substituent on the amine accelerates the reaction and increases product yields.     

Free radical fluoroalkylation of terminal alkenes and alkynes with iododifluoromethanesulfonamides

Free radical fluoroalkylation of terminal alkenes and alkynes with iododifluoromethanesulfonamides has been successfully achieved.It was found that both the catalytic amount of sodium dithionite (Na2S2O4) and the stoichiometric amount of triethylborane (Et3B)/air can efficiently initiate the current free-radical atom transfer reaction.     

Granulated rhodium catalysts of sodium borohydride hydrolysis for generators of high-purity hydrogen

Sodium borohydride hydrolysis in a flow reactor with turbulent mixing of reactants in a catalytic bed by the evolving hydrogen bubbles was studied. The stability of catalytic systems decreases in the order 1% Rh/Sibunit > 1% Rh/TiO₂ > 1% Rh/γ-Al₂O₃. The decrease in the hydrogen generation rate is caused by the formation of a metaborate film on the catalyst surface, by the loss of the active component, and by disintegration of support granules and their removal with the flow of the spent liquid. High granule strength and macroporous structure of 1% Rh/Sibunit ensure stable generation of hydrogen.     

Recent advances in diphosphination of alkynes and alkenes

1,2-Bis(diphenylphosphino)ethenes and -ethanes (DPPEs) are among representative supporting ligands in transition metal catalysts, which can promote otherwise challenging organic transformations with high efficiency and selectivity. Such bidentately coordinating ligands are conventionally prepared by nucleophilic substitution reactions of halogenated carbon electrophiles with nucleophilic metal phosphides. However, they suffer from poor functional group compatibility and/or tedious preparation of highly functionalized starting substrates. In this context, additions of phosphines to readily available and simple alkynes and alkenes have recently received significant attention. This digest paper focuses on recent developments of diphosphination of alkynes and alkenes for the synthesis of DPPE-type ligands. The reported approaches are categorized into several types of reactions, and their scope, limitation, and mechanism are briefly summarized.     

Brønsted acid-promoted cyclizations of siloxy alkynes with unactivated arenes, alkenes, and alkynes

In this article, we describe the development of a general concept for the development of new carbon-carbon bond-forming processes, which is based on Brønsted acid-mediated activation of a siloxy alkyne, followed by efficient interception of the resulting highly reactive ketenium ion by unactivated arenes, alkenes or alkynes. We found that trifluoromethane sulfonimide (HNTf₂) proved to be a superior promoter of these reactions compared to a range of other Brønsted acids. This finding could be attributed to a high acidity of HNTf₂ in aprotic organic solvents combined with a low nucleophilicity of the NTf₂⁻ anion. Depending on the nature of the nucleophile, the carbocyclizations proceeded either via 6-endo-dig or 5-endo-dig manifolds. In the case of 1-siloxy-1,5-diynes, the cyclizations occurred with a concomitant halide abstraction or arylation.     

Fluoride-mediated phosphination of alkenes and alkynes by silylphosphines

Regioselective phosphination of carbon-carbon unsaturated bonds by a fluoride-mediated reaction of silylphosphines is described. Alkenes and alkynes having a directing group, such as an aromatic or a carbonyl group, reacted to form a carbon-phosphorus bond under mild conditions. When an anhydrous fluoride source was applied in the presence of an electrophile, the corresponding three-component coupling product was obtained.     

Cobalt- and nickel-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective reductive coupling of alkynes, allenes, and alkenes with alkenes

Transition-metal-catalyzed coupling of two different C-C pi components through a metallacycle intermediate is a highly atom economical method to construct C-C bonds in organic synthesis. The metal-catalyzed coupling of an alkene and alkyne generally gives an Alder-ene or reductive coupling product. In this article, we focus on the cobalt- and nickel-catalyzed reductive coupling of alkynes, allenes, and alkenes with alkenes. These reductive coupling reactions provide convenient methods for the synthesis of various alkenes, dienes, functionalized alkanes, lactones, lactams, and cyclic alcohols in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner. A chemselective formation of metallacyclopentene intermediate from the two different C-C pi components and a low-valence metal species plays a key role for the high regio- and stereoselectivity of the catalytic reaction.