3-bromozinc propenyl esters: an experimental and theoretical study of the unique stereocrossover observed in their addition to aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes

We report the results of a combined experimental and theoretical study on the reaction of 3-bromopropenyl acetate in the presence of zinc with three different aldehydes (i.e., benzaldehyde, 2-methylpropanal, and cyclohexanecarboxaldehyde). A 80% de in favor of the anti product has been experimentally observed with both saturated aldehydes, while for benzaldehyde, a 1:1 syn/anti ratio has been found. DFT computations show the existence of three eta1-allylic organozinc complexes gamma-(Z)-5a, gamma-(E)-5a, and alpha-5a], very close in energy. Only gamma-(Z)-5a and gamma-(E)-5a lead to the observed product. The computational investigation of the reaction of these allylic organozinc complexes with benzaldehyde and 2-methylpropanal demonstrates in both cases the existence of two competitive reaction paths leading to the syn and anti adducts, respectively. An anti preference has been found for 2-methylpropanal with both gamma-(Z)-5a and gamma-(E)-5a species (a diastereoselectivity larger than 80% is predicted), in agreement with the experiment. With benzaldehyde, while the reaction of gamma-(Z)-5a retains an anti-stereopreference (de = 70%), that involving gamma-(E)-5a is characterized by two degenerate transition states. In this case, the agreement between computations and experiments would be satisfactory under the assumption that the initial oxidative addition affords the gamma-(E)-5a zinc complex only. Additional MP2 computations have demonstrated that pi-stacking interactions can play a significant role in determining the relative energy of the transition states leading to the syn and anti products.