Reactions of diazoalkanes with unsaturated compounds

A systematic study has been conducted of the catalytic reaction of diazomethane with cyclic and polycyclic unsaturated hydrocarbons, conjugated dienes, as well as with a series of functionalized unsaturated compounds. The feasibility of using transition metal, nontransition metal, and rare earth metal compounds of, for example, Co, Ni, Zr, Cr, Rh, and Dy, has been demonstrated for the first time. It has also been established that Pd(acac)₂ has very high activity as a catalyst for the cyclopropanation of terminal and endocyclic double bonds by diazomethane, and that its activity is reduced upon the introduction of n-donor ligands or in the presence of strong polar solvents.For previous communication, see [1].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1861–1869, August, 1989.