Alkenylidenes in Organic Synthesis

Alkenylidenes R₂C?C: (= alkylidene carbenes) undergo regio- and stereoselective intramolecular C? H insertion reactions that are excellently suited for the synthesis of cyclopentenes. The 1, 2-shifts occurring with R?H and R?Ar are useful for the preparation of alkynes. Alkenylidenes are efficiently generated from carbonyl compounds by diazomethylation, from vinyl halides by α-elimination, from alkynyliodonium salts by addition of nucleophiles, and from alkynes by retro-1, 2-shifts. Specific applications of the various methods, particularly in the synthesis of natural products, are discussed.     

Toward phenanthridin-2-ylidene: electrophilicity versus acidity in planar-constrained C-aryl iminium salts

A phenanthridinium salt was prepared in four steps, including an intramolecular CH-arylation and a hydride abstraction reaction. Treatment with sterically demanding bases does not lead to the corresponding carbene, but rather to addition products: the planar-constrained geometry significantly enhances the electrophilicity over the acidity of C-aryl iminium salts.     

Phospha-palladacycles and N-heterocyclic carbene palladium complexes: efficient catalysts for CC-coupling reactions

Due to the great importance of palladium-catalyzed Heck-type reactions in scientific and industrial chemistry, a lot of publications and reviews have been published during the last years describing this matter under different aspects. This article presents a summary of catalytic applications of palladium complexes with phosphorus ligands containing a metallated sp³-carbon centre (“palladacycles”) or with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in C-C and C-N coupling reactions of aryl halides including recent results of mechanistic discussions about their role in the catalytic cycle.     

Reaction of a stable aminoarylcarbene with 2-chloroacrylonitrile: dearomatizing cyclization rather than cyclopropanation

The reaction of a stable aminoarylcarbene with 2-chloroacrylonitrile is reported. The resulting 1/1 adduct has been spectroscopically and structurally characterized. The initial Michael addition is not followed by cyclopropane formation but by a dearomatizing cyclization affording an original bicyclic structure.     

The methoxycarbonylcarbene insertion into 1,3-dithiolane and 1,3-oxathiolane rings

Treatment of substituted 1,3-dithiolanes and 1,3-oxathiolanes with methyl diazoacetate in the presence of Rh₂(OAc)₄ effects ring expansion to the corresponding substituted 1,4-dithiane-2-carboxylates and 1,4-oxathiane-3-carboxylates. The sulfur ylides initially generated in these reactions undergo Stevens rearrangement in competition with both [2,3]-C-C-sigmatropic rearrangement and intramolecular fragmentation. In the case of 2-styryl-substituted 1,3-oxathiolane and 1,3-dithiolane, ring expansion on one-, three- and four-carbons subsequently takes place.     

The First Reaction of Dimethoxycarbene with an Imine Moiety

The nucleophilic dimethoxycarbene (DMC; 2 ) generated by thermal decomposition of 2,5‐dihydro‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole derivative 1 in boiling toluene reacts smoothly with N‐(9H‐fluoren‐9‐ylidene)‐4‐methylbenzenesulfonamide ( 7b ) to yield carbonimidoate derivative 10 . A multi‐step reaction pathway, initiated by the attack of DMC onto the C?N bond and followed by the migration of the sulfonyl group (or via a sulfinate anion) is proposed to explain the formation of the final product. In contrast to the formal ketimine 7b , N‐benzylidene‐4‐methylbenzenesulfonamide ( 7a ), a formal aldimine, does not react with DMC under comparable conditions.     

Synthesis of Cyclopropyl Ethers and Cyclopropanols by Carbene Transfer – Acetolysis of Cyclopropyl p-Toluenesulfonates

The reaction of chloromethyl phenyl ether with butyllithium in olefins yields phenoxy-cyclopropanes. 1-Chloro-1-phenoxycyclopropanes can be prepared in a similar manner, though the yields are poor. Alkoxycyclopropanes are formed when dichloromethyl alkyl ethers are treated with methyllithium/lithium iodide in the presence of olefins. Cyclopropanols can be obtained in good yields by reaction of (β-chloroethoxy)cyclopropanes either with butyl- or ethyllithium or with bases. – As was shown by acetolysis experiments with cyclopropyl p-toluenesulfonates having a known steric configuration, the rearrangement of a cyclopropyl derivative into an allyl cation proceeds in accordance with the Woodward-Hoffmann-DePuy rule. The solvolysis of exo-bicyclo[n.1.0]alkyl p-toluene-sulfonates is assumed to proceed via “semi-open” intermediates, which are somewhere between an allyl cation and a cyclopropyl cation.     

Reactions of Polycyclic Ketones with Dimethoxycarbene; a Convenient Route for a ‘One‐Pot’ Preparation of Some α‐Hydroxycarboxylic Acid Esters

Polycyclic ‘cage’ ketones, such as pentacyclo[5.4.0.0^2,6.0^3,10.0^5,9]undecan‐8‐one ( 10 ), pentacyclo[5.4.0.0^2,6.0^3,10.0^5,9]undecane‐8,11‐dione ( 11 ), and adamantan‐2‐one ( 16 ) were treated with the nucleophilic dimethoxycarbene (DMC; 1 ), which was generated thermally from 2,5‐dihydro‐2,2‐dimethoxy‐5,5‐dimethyl‐1,3,4‐oxadiazole ( 4a ) in boiling toluene. In this ‘one‐pot’ procedure, the α‐hydroxycarboxylic acid ester 12 or a corresponding derivative 15 or 17 was obtained (Schemes 4–7). Additionally, ‘cage’ thione 21 was treated with DMC under the same conditions yielding dimethoxythiirane 22 (Scheme 8). Subsequent hydrolysis or desulfurization (followed by hydrolysis on silica gel) of 22 gave α‐mercaptocarboxylate 25 and the corresponding desulfurized ester 24 , respectively. In all cases, the addition of DMC occurred stereoselectively, and the addition from the exo‐face is postulated to explain the structures of the isolated products.     

N‐Heterocyclic Carbene–Palladium Complexes as Efficient Catalysts for the Oxidative Carbonylation of Amines to Ureas

A highly efficient oxidative carbonylation reaction of amines to ureas was developed making use of carbene–palladium complexes in the absence of any promoter. Both aliphatic amines and aromatic amines were transformed in good to excellent yields to the expected ureas.     

Phanes with Three- and Four-Membered Rings as Building Elements

The systematic integration of the small 2π- and 4π-electron systems cyclopropenylium ion, cyclopropenone, oxo-cyclobutenylium ion, and cyclobutadiene into phane chemistry was initiated only a few years ago. [n₂]Cyclopropenylophanes, [n₂]cyclopropenonophanes, metal-capped [n₄]cyclobutadienosuperphanes, and other new families of double-decker phane species became available from cycloalkydiynes through special methods of double [2+1]cycloaddition with carbenes and metal complex induced dimerization by double [2+2]cycloaddition. Phane-specific structural features were elucidated by X-ray structural analyses. Cyclic voltammetry and PE spectroscopy as well as MO calculations reealed considerable interactions between closely spaced π-electron systems. Decapping cyclobutadienosuperphanes formally extended the synthetic principle to threefold [2+2]cycloadditions resulting in [n₄]-bridged tricyclo-[4.2.0.0^{3, 5}]octa-3,7-dienes, which represent a new type of cage compounds. Moreover, completion to fourfold [2+2]addition was achieved with the photoinduced transformation of [3₄]bridged tricyclo[4.2.0.0^{3, 5}]octa-3,7-diene into propella[3₄]cubane.