Azide Chemistry - An Inorganic Perspective, Part II[‡][3+2]-Cycloaddition Reactions of Metal Azides and Related Systems

Diversity of reactivity modes upon interplay between Au(iii)-bound isocyanides and cyclic nitrones: a theoretical consideration

Metal-bound isocyanides demonstrate a very rich chemistry towards 1,3-dipoles of the allyl anion type such as nitrones. Depending on the metal centre, dipole nature and substituent in isocyanides, cycloadducts, imine + isocyanates or metallacycles may be formed. In this work, the reasons for such diversity, intimate details of the reaction mechanism and main factors determining the chemoselectivity in the reaction between Au(iii)-bound isocyanides ([AuCl₃(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]NR)]) and cyclic nitrones ^-O-N[combining low line]⁺[double bond, length as m-dash]C(H)XXX[combining low line] (XXX = CH₂CH₂CMe₂, CH₂CH₂CH₂, OCH₂CMe₂, CH₂OCMe₂ and CH₂CH₂O) are analysed in detail by theoretical (DFT) methods. The formation of cycloadducts is controlled by the LUMO_{π*(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]N)} of isocyanides and it occurs in a stepwise manner via the initial nucleophilic addition of nitrone at the C atom of C[triple bond, length as m-dash]NR (except for nitronate ^-O-N[combining low line]⁺[double bond, length as m-dash]C(H)CH₂CH₂O[combining low line]). The imine + isocyanate products are formed upon oxygen transfer from nitrones to isocyanides, and N-O bond cleavage is the main factor determining this process. A metallacycle is formed upon decomposition of the cycloadduct, and this process includes deprotonation of the oxadiazoline CH group/N-O bond cleavage and Cl^- elimination/cyclization. The main factor controlling the metallacycle formation is the acidity of the endocyclic CH group in the cycloadduct. Effects of the substituent R in C[triple bond, length as m-dash]NR and the nitrone nature on the reactivity are analysed.

Synthesis of six-coordinate mono-, bis-, and tris(tetrazolato) complexes via [3 + 2] cycloadditions of nitriles to silicon-bound azido ligands

A convenient synthetic route to poly(tetrazolato) silicon complexes is described based on the four reactive centres of the N-rich, highly endothermic tetraazides of the type Si(N₃)₄(L₂). Hypercoordinate azido(tetrazolato) silicon complexes Si(N₃)₂(N₄C-R)₂(L₂), R = CH₃, C₆H₅, 4-C₆H₄CH₃ (4a, 5, 6, 7) and Si(N₃)₂(N₄C-L)₂ (9, L = 2-C₅H₄N), L₂ = 2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline, with SiN₆ skeletons were synthesised via multiple [3 + 2] dipolar cycloaddition reactions starting from Si(N₃)₄(L₂) and a nitrile. The isolated new complexes were characterised by standard analytical methods, single crystal X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry (4a,b). Tetrazolato ligand linkage isomerism was observed for complex 4a. The crystallographically characterised methyl tetrazolato complexes and plausible configurational and linkage isomers were evaluated by DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level.

Structural snapshots in the copper(ii) induced azide–nitrile cycloaddition: effects of peripheral ligand substituents on the formation of unsupported μ1,1-azido vs. μ1,4-tetrazolato bridged complexes

Peripheral substituents on click-derived tripodal ligands dictate the reactivity of their copper(ii) azido complexes.

PdII-mediated integration of isocyanides and azide ions might proceed via formal 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between RNC ligands and uncomplexed azide

The generation of (tetrazolate)Pd^II complexes via the integration of (isocyanide)Pd^II precursors with uncomplexed azides and the verification of plausible reaction mechanisms.

A straightforward and versatile protocol for the direct conversion of benzylic azides to ketones and aldehydes

We report that the benzyl azido group is directly converted to carbonyls in good yields through a rapid hydrolysis (basic conditions) of benzylideneamides generated readily/efficiently in situ under a very simple procedure involving conventional reagents.