Coordination chemistry and catalysis with secondary phosphine oxides

Review on synthesis, coordination chemistry and catalysis with secondary phosphine oxides.

Rh(i)-Catalyzed stereoselective intramolecular cycloaddition reactions of ene-vinylidenecyclopropanes for the construction of fused 6,5-bicyclic skeletons with a quaternary all-carbon stereocenter

Rh(i)-catalyzed asymmetric [3 + 2] cycloadditions of ene-VDCPs are demonstrated, producing cyclic ring structures with an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities.

Selective [5 + 1] and [5 + 2] Cycloaddition of Ynamides or Propargyl Esters with Benzo[ d]isoxazoles via Gold Catalysis

Benzo[ d]isoxazoles are found to act as novel nucleophiles to undergo gold-catalyzed [5 + 1] or [5 + 2] cycloaddition reactions with ynamides. The reaction provides a concise and chemoselective access to polysubstituted 2 H-benzo[ e][1,3]oxazines or benzo[ f][1,4]oxazepines. In addition, benzo[ d]isoxazoles can also react with gold-carbene intermediates derived from propargyl esters to afford [5 + 1] annulation products.

Recent Advances in Transition-Metal-Catalyzed/Mediated Transformations of Vinylidenecyclopropanes

Vinylidenecyclopropanes (VDCPs), having an allene moiety connected to a highly strained cyclopropyl group, have attracted a substantial amount of attention since they are fascinating building blocks for organic synthesis. During recent years, the reactions of VDCPs in the presence of a Lewis acid or a Brønsted acid and those induced by heat or light have experienced significant advancements due to the unique structural and electronic properties of VDCPs. Transition-metal-catalyzed reactions of VDCPs were not intensely investigated until the last 5 years. Recently, significant progress has been made in transition-metal-catalyzed transformations of VDCPs, and they have emerged as a new direction for the chemistry of strained small rings, especially when new types of functionalized vinylidenecyclopropanes (FVDCPs) are used as substrates. To date, many interesting transformations have been explored using these novel VDCPs under the catalysis of transition metals, such as gold, palladium, or rhodium, and various novel and useful heterocyclic or polycyclic compounds have been generated. These new findings have enriched the chemistry of strained small carbocycles. This Account will describe the transition-metal-catalyzed transformations of VDCPs recently developed in our laboratory and by other groups. The chemistry of Au-catalyzed VDCPs has been enriched and extensively developed by our group. In this respect, a new process for generating gold carbenes from VDCPs has been disclosed. The reactivity of these new gold carbenoid species was fully investigated, and many novel reaction modes based on these new gold carbenoid species were explored, including oxidation reactions, intramolecular cyclopropanations, C(sp³)-H bond functionalizations, and C-O bond cleavage reactions. Rh-catalyzed reactions of VDCPs are another key field of transition-metal-catalyzed reactions of VDCPs. In particular, rhodium-catalyzed cycloadditions, Pauson-Khand reactions, and C-H bond activations of FVDCPs have been explored in detail by our group. A new trimethylenemethane rhodium (TMM-Rh) complex generated from VDCPs was discovered and utilized as an electrophilic Rh-π-allyl precursor. Moreover, some unprecedented highly regio- and enantioselective asymmetric allylic substitutions via this novel TMM-Rh complex were developed with different kinds of nucleophiles. This Account will also summarize the recent advances in palladium-, copper-, and iron-catalyzed cycloisomerization reactions of VDCPs reported by our group and others. These reactions always afford the desired products with excellent chemo-, regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities, which will make them highly valuable for the synthesis of key scaffolds in natural products and pharmaceutical molecules in the future.

Cobalt(iii)-catalysed C–H allylation with vinylaziridines

A cobalt-catalysed C–H allylation of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds with vinylaziridines is described.

The Palladium Acetate-Catalyzed Microwave-Assisted Hirao Reaction without an Added Phosphorus Ligand as a "Green" Protocol: A Quantum Chemical Study on the Mechanism

It was proved by our experiments that on microwave irradiation, the mono‐ or bidentate phosphorus ligands generally applied in the palladium(II)‐catalyzed P–C coupling reaction of aryl bromides and dialkyl phosphites or secondary phosphine oxides may be substituted by the excess of the >P(O)H reagent that exists under a tautomeric equilibrium. Taking into account that the reduction of the palladium(II) salt and the ligation of the palladium(0) so formed requires 3 equivalents of the P‐species for the catalyst applied in a quantity of 5–10%, all together, 15–30% of the P‐reagent is necessary beyond its stoichiometric quantity. In the coupling reaction of diphenylphosphine oxide, it was possible to apply diethyl phosphite as the reducing agent and as the P‐ligand. The reactivities of the diethyl phosphite and diphenylphosphine oxide reagents were compared in a competitive reaction. The mechanism and the energetics of this new variation of the Hirao reaction of bromobenzene with Y₂P(O)H reagents (Y=EtO and Ph) was explored by quantum chemical calculations. The first detailed study on simple reaction models justified our assumption that, under the conditions of the reaction, the trivalent form of the >P(O)H reagent may serve as the P‐ligand in the palladium(0) catalyst, and shed light on the fine mechanism of the reaction sequence. The existence of the earlier described bis(palladium complex) {[H(OPh₂P)₂PdOAc]₂} was refuted by high level theoretical calculations. This kind of complex may be formed only with chloride anions instead of the acetate anion. The interaction of palladium acetate and Y₂P(O)H may result in only the formation of the [(HO)Y₂P]₂Pd complex that is the active catalyst in the Hirao reaction. The new variation of the Hirao reaction is of a more general value, and represents the greenest protocol, as there is no need for the usual P‐ligands. Instead, the >P(O)H reagent should be used in an excess of up to 30%. Hence, the costs and environmental burdens may be decreased.