Stereoselective preparation of spirane bridged, sandwiched bisarenes

Preparation of α-oxo derivatives of spiro[4.4]nonane, spiro[4.5]decane and spiro[5.5]undecane derivatives is described. An efficient method for spiroannulation by Rh(I)-catalysed intramolecular hydroacylation provides α,α′-difunctionalised spiro[4.5]decanes. The α,α′-dioxo groups have been converted into vinyl triflates for arylation by Pd-catalysed cross-coupling reactions under Stille, Negishi or Suzuki conditions depending on relative reactivities. Stereoselective saturation of the conjugated aryl olefinic bonds by catalytic hydrogenation over Pd-carbon provides methodology for stereoselective preparation of α-aryl- and α,α′-cis,cis-diaryl spiranes, the latter with a sandwich like structure. Single crystal X-ray analyses have been used in the structural assignments.     

RhIII‐Catalyzed Hydroacylation Reactions between N‐Sulfonyl 2‐Aminobenzaldehydes and Olefins

Metal‐catalyzed hydroacylation of olefins represents an important atom‐economic synthetic process in C?H activation. For the first time highly efficient Rh^IIICp*‐catalyzed hydroacylation was realized in the coupling of N‐sulfonyl 2‐aminobenzaldehydes with both conjugated and aliphatic olefins, leading to the synthesis of various aryl ketones. Occasionally, oxidative coupling occurred when a silver(I) oxidant was used.     

One‐Pot Asymmetric Synthesis of Quaternary Pyrroloindolones through a Multicatalytic N‐Allylation/Hydroacylation Sequence

An intramolecular, quaternary carbon center forming hydroacylation of α‐substituted acrylates has been discovered. This interesting transformation can be readily incorporated into a multicatalytic tandem process enabled by a combination of nucleophilic tertiary amine and N‐heterocyclic carbene catalysis. With no additional stoichiometric base required, this transformation affords the quaternary pyrroloindolones with high levels of enantioselectivity.     

Iridium‐Catalyzed Coupling Reaction of Primary Alcohols with 2‐Alkynes Leading to Hydroacylation Products

A novel iridium‐catalyzed intermolecular coupling reaction of primary alcohols or aldehydes with 2‐alkynes was successfully achieved with high regioselectivity to give hydroacylation products such as α,β‐unsaturated ketones in good yields. The mechanistic investigation of the reaction strongly indicated that the coupling proceeds through the initial formation of homoallylic alcohols followed by dehydrogenation to β,γ‐unsatutated ketones and then isomerisation, which leads to the hydroacylation products.     

Kinetic and Theoretical Studies on Ni0/N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐Catalyzed Intramolecular Alkene Hydroacylation

A combined kinetic and theoretical study was conducted in order to clarify the details on the reaction mechanism for Ni⁰/It Bu‐catalyzed intramolecular alkene hydroacylation. The results confirm the hypothesis that this intramolecular hydroacylation proceeds through an oxanickelacycle key intermediate.     

Intermolecular alkene and alkyne hydroacylation with beta-S-substituted aldehydes: mechanistic insight into the role of a hemilabile P-O-P ligand

A straightforward to assemble catalytic system for the intermolecular hydroacylation reaction of beta-S-substituted aldehydes with activated and unactivated alkenes and alkynes is reported. These catalysts promote the hydroacylation reaction between beta-S-substituted aldehydes and challenging substrates, such as internal alkynes and 1-octene. The catalysts are based upon [Rh(cod)(DPEphos)][ClO(4)] (DPEphos=bis(2-diphenylphosphinophenyl)ether, cod=cyclooctadiene) and were designed to make use of the hemilabile capabilities of the DPEphos ligand to stabilise key acyl-hydrido intermediates against reductive decarbonylation, which results in catalyst death. Studies on the stoichiometric addition of aldehyde (either ortho-HCOCH(2)CH(2)SMe or ortho-HCOC(6)H(4)SMe) and methylacrylate to precursor acetone complexes [Rh(acetone)(2)(DPEphos)][X] [X=closo-CB(11)H(6)Cl(6) or [BAr(F) (4)] (Ar(F)=3,5-(CF(3))(2)C(6)H(3))] reveal the role of the hemilabile DPEphos ligand. The crystal structure of [Rh(acetone)(2)(DPEphos)][X] shows a cis-coordinated diphosphine ligand with the oxygen atom of the DPEphos distal from the rhodium. Addition of aldehyde forms the acyl hydride complexes [Rh(DPEphos)(COCH(2)CH(2)SMe)H][X] or [Rh(DPEphos)(COC(6)H(4)SMe)H][X], which have a trans-spanning DPEphos ligand and a coordinated ether group. Compared to analogous complexes prepared with dppe (dppe=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane), these DPEphos complexes show significantly increased resistance towards reductive decarbonylation. The crystal structure of the reductive decarbonylation product [Rh(CO)(DPEphos)(EtSMe)][closo-CB(11)H(6)I(6)] is reported. Addition of alkene (methylacrylate) to the acyl-hydrido complexes forms the final complexes [Rh(DPEphos)(eta(1)-MeSC(2)H(4)-eta(1)-COC(2)H(4)CO(2)Me)][X] and [Rh(DPEphos)(eta(1)-MeSC(6)H(4)-eta(1)-COC(2)H(4)CO(2)Me)][X], which have been identified spectroscopically and by ESIMS/MS. Intermediate species in this transformation have been observed and tentatively characterised as the alkyl-acyl complexes [Rh(CH(2)CH(2)CO(2)Me)(COC(2)H(4)SMe)(DPEphos)][X] and [Rh(CH(2)CH(2)CO(2)Me)(COC(6)H(4)SMe)(DPEphos)][X]. In these complexes, the DPEphos ligand is now cis chelating. A model for the (unobserved) transient alkene complex that would result from addition of alkene to the acyl-hydrido complexes comes from formation of the MeCN adducts [Rh(DPEphos)(MeSC(2)H(4)CO)H(MeCN)][X] and [Rh(DPEphos)(MeSC(6)H(4)CO)H(MeCN)][X]. Changing the ligand from DPEphos to one with a CH(2) linkage, [Ph(2)P(C(6)H(4))](2)CH(2), gave only decomposition on addition of aldehyde to the acetone precursor, which demonstrated the importance of the hemiabile ether group in DPEphos. With [Ph(2)P(C(6)H(4))](2)S, the sulfur atom has the opposite effect and binds too strongly to the metal centre to allow access to productive acetone intermediates.     

Rhodium‐Catalyzed Sequential Allylic Amination and Olefin Hydroacylation Reactions: Enantioselective Synthesis of Seven‐Membered Nitrogen Heterocycles

Dynamic kinetic asymmetric amination of branched allylic acetimidates has been applied to the synthesis of 2‐alkyl‐dihydrobenzoazepin‐5‐ones. These seven‐membered‐ring aza ketones are prepared in good yield with high enantiomeric excess by rhodium‐catalyzed allylic substitution with 2‐amino aryl aldehydes followed by intramolecular olefin hydroacylation of the resulting alkenals. This two‐step procedure is amenable to varied functionality and proves useful for the enantioselective preparation of these ring systems.     

Enantioselective Cobalt‐Catalyzed Intermolecular Hydroacylation of 1,6‐Enynes

We report a cobalt‐catalyzed hydroacylation of 1,6‐enynes with exogenous aldehydes in a domino sequence to construct enantioenriched ketones. The products were obtained in good yields with excellent regio‐, diastereo‐, and enantioselectivity. Furthermore, the chiral products served as valuable precursors to access complex spirocyclic scaffolds with three contiguous stereocenters. The asymmetric hydroacylation process exhibited no C?H crossover and no KIE, thus indicating that the C?H bond cleavage was not involved in the turnover‐limiting step.