Reactions of a Ruthenium Complex with Substituted N‐Propargyl Pyrroles

In an investigation into the chemical reactions of N‐propargyl pyrroles 1 a – c , containing aldehyde, keto, and ester groups on the pyrrole ring, with [Ru]?Cl ([Ru]=Cp(PPh₃)₂Ru; Cp=C₅H₅), an aldehyde group in the pyrrole ring is found to play a crucial role in stimulating the cyclization reaction. The reaction of 1 a , containing an aldehyde group, with [Ru]?Cl in the presence of NH₄PF₆ yields the vinylidene complex 2 a , which further reacts with allyl amine to give the carbene complex 6 a with a pyrrolizine group. However, if 1 a is first reacted with allyl amine to yield the iminenyne 8 a , then the reaction of 8 a with [Ru]?Cl in the presence of NH₄PF₆ yields the ruthenium complex 9 a , containing a cationic pyrrolopyrazinium group, which has been fully characterized by XRD analysis. These results can be adequately explained by coordination of the triple bond of the propargyl group to the ruthenium metal center first, followed by two processes, that is, formation of a vinylidene intermediate or direct nucleophilic attack. Additionally, the deprotonation of 2 a by R₄NOH yields the neutral acetylide complex 3 a . In the presence of NH₄PF₆, the attempted alkylation of 3 a resulted in the formation the Fischer‐type amino–carbene complex 5 a as a result of the presence of NH₃, which served as a nucleophile. With KPF₆, the alkylation of 3 a with ethyl and benzyl bromoacetates afforded the disubstituted vinylidene complexes 10 a and 11 a , containing ester groups, which underwent deprotonation reactions to give the furyl complexes 12 a and 13 a , respectively. For 13 a , containing an O‐benzyl group, subsequent 1,3‐migration of the benzyl group was observed to yield product 14 a with a lactone unit. Similar reactivity was not observed for the corresponding N‐propargyl pyrroles 1 b and 1 c , which contained keto and ester groups, respectively, on the pyrrole ring.