Two Amphoteric Silver Carbene Clusters

A Heteroleptic Dirhodium Catalyst for Asymmetric Cyclopropanation with α-Stannyl α-Diazoacetate. "Stereoretentive" Stille Coupling with Formation of Chiral Quarternary Carbon Centers

The heteroleptic dirhodium paddlewheel catalyst 7 with a chiral carboxylate/acetamidate ligand sphere is uniquely effective in asymmetric [2+1] cycloadditions with α‐diazo‐α‐trimethylstannyl (silyl, germyl) acetate. Originally discovered as a trace impurity in a sample of the homoleptic parent complex [Rh₂((R)‐TPCP)₄] (5), it is shown that the protic acetamidate ligand is quintessential for rendering 7 highly enantioselective. The ‐NH group is thought to lock the ensuing metal carbene in place via interligand hydrogen bonding. The resulting stannylated cyclopropanes undergo “stereoretentive” cross coupling, which shows for the first time that even chiral quarternary carbon centers can be made by the Stille–Migita reaction.

Catalytic Asymmetric Fluorination of Copper Carbene Complexes: Preparative Advances and a Mechanistic Rationale

The Cu-catalyzed reaction of substituted α-diazoesters with fluoride gives α-fluoroesters with ee values of up to 95 %, provided that chiral indane-derived bis(oxazoline) ligands are used that carry bulky benzyl substituents at the bridge and moderately bulky isopropyl groups on their core. The apparently homogeneous solution of CsF in C6 F6 /hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) is the best reaction medium, but CsF in the biphasic mixture CH2 Cl2 /HFIP also provides good results. DFT studies suggest that fluoride initially attacks the Cu- rather than the C-atom of the transient donor/acceptor carbene intermediate. This unusual step is followed by 1,2-fluoride shift; for this migratory insertion to occur, the carbene must rotate about the Cu-C bond to ensure orbital overlap. The directionality of this rotatory movement within the C2 -symmetric binding site determines the sense of induction. This model is in excellent accord with the absolute configuration of the resulting product as determined by X-ray diffraction using single crystals of this a priori wax-like material grown by capillary crystallization.

Mechanistic Divergence in the Hydrogenative Synthesis of Furans and Butenolides: Ruthenium Carbenes Formed by gem-Hydrogenation or through Carbophilic Activation of Alkynes

Enynes with a tethered carbonyl substituent are converted into substituted furan derivatives upon hydrogenation using [Cp*RuCl]4 as the catalyst. Paradoxically, this transformation can occur along two distinct pathways, each of which proceeds via discrete pianostool ruthenium carbenes. In the first case, hydrogenation and carbene formation are synchronized ("gem-hydrogenation"), whereas the second pathway comprises carbene formation by carbophilic activation of the triple bond, followed by hydrogenative catalyst recycling. Representative carbene intermediates of either route were characterized by X-ray crystallography; the structural data prove that the attack of the carbonyl group on the electrophilic carbene center follows a Bürgi-Dunitz trajectory.

Gold Difluorocarbenoid Complexes: Spectroscopic and Chemical Profiling

Gold carbenes of the general type [LAu=CR₂ ]⁺ are sufficiently long-lived for spectroscopic inspection only if the substituents compensate for the largely missing stabilization of the carbene center by the [LAu]⁺ fragment. π-Donation by two fluorine substituents (R=F) is insufficient; rather, difluorocarbene complexes are so deprived in electron density that they sequester even "weakly coordinating" anions such as triflate or triflimide. This particular bonding situation translates into unmistakable carbenium ion chemistry upon reaction with stilbene as a model substrate.