Effiziente Alkinmetathese bei Raumtemperatur mit wohldefinierten Imidazolin-2-iminato-Alkylidinwolframkomplexen

Mesoionic N-Heterocyclic Imines as Super Nucleophiles in Catalytic Couplings of Amides with CO2

An extended class of stable mesoionic N-heterocyclic imines (mNHIs), containing a highly polarized exocyclic imine moiety, were synthesized. The calculated proton affinities (PA) and experimentally determined Tolman electronic parameters (TEPs) reveal that these synthesized mNHIs have the highest basicity and donor ability among NHIs reported so far. The superior nucleophilicity of newly designed mNHIs was utilized in devising a strategy to incorporate CO₂ as a bridging unit under reductive conditions to couple inert primary amides. This strategy was further extended to hetero-couplings between amide and amine using CO₂ . These hitherto unknown catalytic transformations were introduced in the diversification of various biologically active drug molecules under metal-free conditions. The underlying mechanism was explored by performing a series of control experiments, characterizing key intermediates using spectroscopic and crystallographic techniques.

Beyond Takai's Olefination Reagent: Persistent Dehalogenation Emerges in a Chromium(III)-μ3 -Methylidyne Complex

Reaction of CHI3 with six equivalents of CrCl2 in THF at low temperatures affords [Cr3 Cl3 (μ2 -Cl)3 (μ3 -CH)(thf)6 ] as the first isolable high-yield CrIII μ3 -methylidyne complex. Substitution of the terminal chlorido ligands via salt metathesis with alkali-metal cyclopentadienides generates isostructural half-sandwich chromium(III)-μ3 -methylidynes [CpR 3 Cr3 (μ2 -Cl)3 (μ3 -CH)] (CpR =C5 H5 , C5 Me5 , C5 H4 SiMe3 ). Side and decomposition products of the Cl/CpR exchange reactions were identified and structurally characterized for [Cr4 (μ2 -Cl)4 (μ2 -I)2 (μ4 -O)(thf)4 ] and [(η5 -C5 H4 SiMe3 )CrCl(μ2 -Cl)2 Li(thf)2 ]. The Cl/CpR exchange drastically changed the ambient-temperature effective magnetic moment μeff from 9.30/9.11 μB (solution/solid) to 3.63/4.32 μB (CpR =C5 Me5 ). Reactions of [Cr3 Cl3 (μ2 -Cl)3 (μ3 -CH)(thf)6 ] with aldehydes and ketones produce intricate mixtures of species through oxy/methylidyne exchange, which were partially identified as radical recombination products through GC/MS analysis and 1 H NMR spectroscopy.

183 W NMR Spectroscopy Guides the Search for Tungsten Alkylidyne Catalysts for Alkyne Metathesis

Triarylsilanolates are privileged ancillary ligands for molybdenum alkylidyne catalysts for alkyne metathesis but lead to disappointing results and poor stability in the tungsten series. 1 H,183 W heteronuclear multiple bond correlation spectroscopy, exploiting a favorable 5 J-coupling between the 183 W center and the peripheral protons on the alkylidyne cap, revealed that these ligands upregulate the Lewis acidity to an extent that the tungstenacyclobutadiene formed in the initial [2+2] cycloaddition step is over-stabilized and the catalytic turnover brought to a halt. Guided by the 183 W NMR shifts as a proxy for the Lewis acidity of the central atom and by an accompanying chemical shift tensor analysis of the alkylidyne unit, the ligand design was revisited and a more strongly π-donating all-alkoxide ligand prepared. The new expanded chelate complex has a tempered Lewis acidity and outperforms the classical Schrock catalyst, carrying monodentate tert-butoxy ligands, in terms of rate and functional-group compatibility.

Me CAAC=N- : A Cyclic (Alkyl)(Amino)Carbene Imino Ligand

A cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbene (CAAC) has been shown to react with a covalent azide similar to the Staudinger reaction. The reaction of Me CAAC with trimethylsilyl azide afforded the N-silylated 2-iminopyrrolidine (Me CAAC=NSiMe3 ), which was fully characterized. This compound undergoes hydrolysis to afford the 2-iminopyrrolidine and trimethylsiloxane which co-crystallize as a hydrogen-bonded adduct. The N-silylated 2-iminopyrrolidine was used to transfer the novel pyrrolidine-2-iminato ligand onto both main-group and transition-metal centers. The reaction of the tetrabromodiborane bis(dimethyl sulfide) adduct with two equivalents of Me CAAC=NSiMe3 afforded the disubstituted diborane. The reaction of Me CAAC=NSiMe3 with TiCl4 and CpTiCl3 afforded Me CAAC=NTiCl3 and Me CAAC=NTiCl2 Cp, respectively.

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes as Key Intermediates in the Synthesis of Fused, Mesoionic, Tricyclic Heterocycles

Coupling between 5-bromoimidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium salts and malonate or arylacetate esters leads to a facile and straightforward access to the new mesoionic, fused, tricyclic system of imidazo[2,1,5-cd]indolizinium-3-olate. Mechanistic studies show that the reaction pathway consists of nucleophilic aromatic substitution on the cationic, bicyclic heterocycle by an enolate-type moiety and in the nucleophilic attack of a transient free N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) species on the ester group; the relative order of these two steps depends on the nature of the starting ester. This work highlights the valuable implementation of free NHC species as key intermediates in synthetic chemistry, beyond their classical use as stabilizing ligands or organocatalysts.

Well-Defined Alkyne Metathesis Catalysts: Developments and Recent Applications

Although alkyne metathesis has been known for 50 years, rapid progress in this field has mostly occurred during the last two decades. In this article, the development of several highly efficient and thoroughly studied alkyne metathesis catalysts is reviewed, which includes novel well-defined, in situ formed and heterogeneous systems. Various alkyne metathesis methodologies, including alkyne cross-metathesis (ACM), ring-closing alkyne metathesis (RCAM), cyclooligomerization, acyclic diyne metathesis polymerization (ADIMET), and ring-opening alkyne metathesis polymerization (ROAMP), are presented, and their application in natural product synthesis, materials science as well as supramolecular and polymer chemistry is discussed. Recent progress in the metathesis of diynes is also summarized, which gave rise to new methods such as ring-closing diyne metathesis (RCDM) and diyne cross-metathesis (DYCM).

Alkyne Metathesis with Silica-Supported and Molecular Catalysts at Parts-per-Million Loadings

Improvement of the activity, stability, and chemoselectivity of alkyne-metathesis catalysts is necessary before this promising methodology can become a routine method to construct C≡C triple bonds. Herein, we show that grafting of the known molecular catalyst [MesC≡Mo(OtBu_F6 )₃ ] (1, Mes=2,4,6-trimethylphenyl, OtBu_F6 =hexafluoro-tert-butoxy) onto partially dehydroxylated silica gave a well-defined silica-supported active alkyne-metathesis catalyst [(≡SiO)Mo(≡CMes)(OtBu_F6 )₂ ] (1/SiO_2-700 ). Both 1 and 1/SiO_2-700 showed very high activity, selectivity, and stability in the self-metathesis of a variety of carefully purified alkynes, even at parts-per-million catalyst loadings. Remarkably, the lower turnover frequencies observed for 1/SiO_2-700 by comparison to 1 do not prevent the achievement of high turnover numbers. We attribute the lower reactivity of 1/SiO_2-700 to the rigidity of the surface Mo species owing to the strong interaction of the metal site with the silica surface.

Synthesis and Characterization of Dirhenadehydro[12]annulenes

The 12-membered-ring metallacycles [mer-Re{≡CCH=C(R)C≡C-}Cl(PMe2 Ph)3 )]2 (R=CMe3 , 1-adamantyl), which are organometallic analogues of antiaromatic octadehydro[12]annulene, are prepared by heating the methyl carbyne complexes mer-Re{≡CCH=C(R)C≡CH}(CH3 )Cl(PMe2 Ph)3 . An intermolecular σ-bond metathesis between the Re-CH3 bond and the acetylenic C-H bond is proposed for their formation.

Photochemistry of a Puckered Ferracyclobutadiene in Liquid Solution Studied by Time-Resolved Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

Flash photolysis combined with step-scan and rapid-scan Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was carried out to explore the photochemistry of a puckered, quasi-square pyramidal ferracyclobutadiene, [Fe{κ(2) -C3 (NEt2 )3 }(CO)3 ]BF4 ([1]BF4 ), that features three additional carbonyl ligands in the metal coordination sphere. In liquid solution at room temperature, an excitation with λ=355 nm light resulted in the loss of one CO ligand, which is cleaved from a basal metal-coordination site. Within the time resolution of the experiment, a solvent molecule promptly refills the resultant vacancy at the coordinatively unsaturated metal center. In the weakly interacting liquid, dichloromethane, the counterion of the complex is subsequently able to substitute the solvent in the coordination sphere of the iron center, thereby forming as a stable product a neutral dicarbonyl tetrafluoroborato iron(0) species containing a four-membered ferracycle.

Solution-phase dynamic assembly of permanently interlocked aryleneethynylene cages through alkyne metathesis

Highly stable permanently interlocked aryleneethynylene molecular cages were synthesized from simple triyne monomers using dynamic alkyne metathesis. The interlocked complexes are predominantly formed in the reaction solution in the absence of any recognition motif and were isolated in a pure form using column chromatography. This study is the first example of the thermodynamically controlled solution-phase synthesis of interlocked organic cages with high stability.

The ambivalent chemistry of a free anionic N-heterocyclic carbene decorated with a malonate backbone: the plus of a negative charge

The anionic heterocycle "[maloNHC](-)", ([1](-)), is the archetype of a growing family of N-heterocyclic carbenes incorporating an anionic backbone; here, a malonate group. A comprehensive experimental exploration of its chemistry as a free entity (in the form of its lithium salt [1]·Li) is presented, and rationalized using DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G** level of theory. For the sake of comparison, similar computations were performed on other representative carbene types. Reactions of [1]·Li with a broad series of electrophilic reagents were used to ascertain its intrinsic nature as a nucleophilic carbene. Unexpectedly, [1]·Li was also seen to react with the nucleophilic tert-butylisocyanide, to give an anionic ketenimine, which could be subsequently derivatized, either into an imine by protonation of the ketenimine moiety, or into a neutral ketenimine by alkylation of the intracyclic malonate moiety. Further experiments on the electrophilic behavior of [1]·Li revealed its unexpected reactivity toward p-chlorobenzaldehyde, resulting in a formal C-H activation and the first structurally characterized keto-tautomer of the Breslow intermediate. Finally, [1]·Li remarkably activates polar E-H bonds, including N-H bonds from ammonia and amines, Si-H bonds, and B-H bonds. Importantly, DFT calculations indicate the importance of counterion effects. In particular, the key to the observed reactivity appears to be a modulation of energy levels associated with a dynamic variability of the Li-O distance between the remote malonate group and the counterion.