Highly regio- and stereoselective synthesis of 1,3-enynes from unactivated ethylenes via palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling

Density Functional Theory Study on the Mechanism of Nickel-Catalyzed 3,3-Dialkynylation of 2-Aryl Acrylamides Via Double Vinylic C-H Bond Activation

The mechanisms of Ni-catalyzed 3,3-dialkynylation of 2-aryl acrylamide have been investigated by using density functional theory calculations. The result shows that this reaction includes double alkynylation, which involves sequential key steps of vinylic C-H bond activation, successive oxidative addition, and reductive elimination, with the second C-H bond activation being the rate-determining step. C-H and N-H bond activation occurs via the concerted metalation-deprotonation mechanism. The calculations show that no transition state exists in the first reductive elimination process, and a negative free energy barrier in the second reductive elimination process though a transition state is identified, indicating that the nickel-catalyzed vinylic C(sp2)-C(sp) bond formation does not require activation energy. Z-E isomerization is the prerequisite for the second alkynylation. In addition, our spin-flip TDDFT (SF-TDDFT) computational result discloses that the actual process of Z-E isomerization occurs on the potential energy surface of the first excited singlet state S1.

Transition Metal-Free Regio- and Stereo-Selective trans Hydroboration of 1,3-Diynes: A Phosphine-Catalyzed Access to (E)-1-Boryl-1,3-Enynes

We report a transition metal-free, regio- and stereo-selective, phosphine-catalyzed method for the trans hydroboration of 1,3-diynes with pinacolborane that affords (E)-1-boryl-1,3-enynes. The reaction proceeds with excellent selectivity for boron addition to the external carbon of the 1,3-diyne framework as unambiguously established by NMR and X-ray crystallographic studies. The reaction displays a broad substrate scope including unsymmetrical diynes to generate products in high yield (up to 95 %). Experimental and theoretical studies suggest that phosphine attack on the alkyne is a key process in the catalytic cycle.

Palladium-Catalyzed Sequential Three-Component Cross-Coupling to 1,3-Dienes: Employing Alkenes as Hydride and Alkenyl Donors

This report discloses a novel Pd-catalyzed sequential three-component multiple reaction of alkenes, bromoalkynes, and boronic acids using alkenes as hydride and alkenyl donors, leading to highly stereoselective assembly of (Z,E)-1,3-diene derivatives. Mechanistic studies demonstrate that the generation and reutilization of palladium hydride species are critical to the success of this transformation. In addition, the good functional group compatibility, late-stage modification, and investigation of photophysical properties of 1,3-diene products illustrate the synthetic value of this strategy.

Late 3d Metal-Catalyzed (Cross-) Dimerization of Terminal and Internal Alkynes

This review will outline the recent advances in chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective (cross-) dimerization of terminal alkynes to generate 1,3-enynes using different types of iron and cobalt catalysts with altering oxidation states of the active species. In general, the used ligands have a crucial effect on the stereoselectivity of the reaction; e.g., bidentate phosphine ligands in cobalt catalysts can generate the E-configured head-to-head dimerization product, while tridentate phosphine ligands can generate either the Z-configured head-to-head dimerization product or the branched head-to-tail isomer. Furthermore, the hydroalkynylation of silyl-substituted acetylenes as donors to internal alkynes as acceptors will be discussed using cobalt and nickel catalysts.

Nickel-Catalyzed 3,3-Dialkynylation of 2-Aryl Acrylamides: Direct Access to gem-Diethynylethenes via Double Vinylic C-H Bond Activation

Direct access to gem-diethynylethenes is achieved by a Ni-catalyzed 3,3-dialkynylation of 2-aryl acrylamides with 1-bromotriisopropylsilylacetylene. The preliminary mechanism study reveals that the reaction goes through a sequential double vinylic C-H bond activation with the assistance of an 8-aminoquinolinyl directing group.

Transition Metal-Catalyzed Reactions of Alkynyl Halides

BACKGROUND

Transition metal-catalyzed reactions of alkynyl halides are a versatile means of synthesizing a wide array of products. Their use is of particular interest in cycloaddition reactions and in constructing new carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. Transition metal-catalyzed reactions of alkynyl halides have successfully been used in [4+2], [2+2], [2+2+2] and [3+2] cycloaddition reactions. Many carbon-carbon coupling reactions take advantage of metal-catalyzed reactions of alkynyl halides, including Cadiot-Chodkiewicz, Suzuki-Miyaura, Stille, Kumada-Corriu and Inverse Sonogashira reactions. All the methods of constructing carbon-nitrogen, carbon-oxygen, carbon-phosphorus, carbon-sulfur, carbon-silicon, carbon-selenium and carbon-tellurium bonds employed alkynyl halides.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this review is to highlight and summarize research conducted in transition metalcatalyzed reactions of alkynyl halides in recent years. The focus will be placed on cycloaddition and coupling reactions, and their scope and applicability to the synthesis of biologically important and industrially relevant compounds will be discussed.

CONCLUSION

It can be seen from the review that the work done on this topic has employed the use of many different transition metal catalysts to perform various cycloadditions, cyclizations, and couplings using alkynyl halides. The reactions involving alkynyl halides were efficient in generating both carbon-carbon and carbonheteroatom bonds. Proposed mechanisms were included to support the understanding of such reactions. Many of these reactions face retention of the halide moiety, allowing additional functionalization of the products, with some new products being inaccessible using their standard alkyne counterparts.

Cross-dehydrogenative alkynylation of sulfonamides and amides with terminal alkynes via Ir(iii) catalysis

Primary sulfonamides are widely used structural skeletons in bioactive molecules, however their direct modification via C–H functionalization remains to be developed.

Co(iii)-catalyzed Z-selective oxidative C–H/C–H cross-coupling of alkenes with triisopropylsilylacetylene

An inexpensive Co(iii)-catalyzed direct oxidative C–H/C–H cross-coupling reaction of acrylamides with triisopropylsilylacetylene to synthsize (Z)-1,3-enynes is presented.

Phosphinito palladium(ii) complexes as catalysts for the synthesis of 1,3-enynes, aromatic alkynes and ynones

An air-stable phosphinito palladium(ii) complex has been found to be an efficient catalyst in the formation of C–C bonds.

Haloalkynes: a powerful and versatile building block in organic synthesis

Inspired by the need for green and sustainable chemistry, modern synthetic chemists have been seeking general and practical ways to construct complex molecules while maximizing atom economy and minimizing synthetic steps. Over the past few decades, considerable progress has been made to fulfill these goals by taking advantage of transition metal catalysis and chemical reagents with diverse and tunable reactivities. In recent years, haloalkynes have emerged as powerful and versatile building blocks in a variety of synthetic transformations, which can be generally conceived as a dual functionalized molecules, and different reaction intermediates, such as σ-acetylene-metal, π-acetylene-metal, and halovinylidene-metal complexes, can be achieved and undergo further transformations. Additionally, the halogen moieties can be retained during the reaction processes, which makes the subsequent structural modifications and tandem carbon-carbon or carbon-heteroatom bond formations possible. As a consequence, impressive effort has been devoted to this attractive area, and some elegant work has been done over the past several years. This Account highlights some of the recent progress on the development of efficient and practical synthetic methods involving haloalkyne reagents in our laboratory and in others around the world, which showcase the synthetic power of haloalkynes for rapid assembly of complex molecular structures. The focus is primarily on reaction development with haloalkynes, such as cross-coupling reactions, nucleophilic additions, and cycloaddition reactions. The designed approaches, as well as serendipitous observations, will be discussed with special emphasis placed on the mechanistic aspects and the synthetic utilities of the obtained products. These transformations can lead directly to heteroatom-containing products and introduce structural complexity rapidly, thus providing new strategies and quick access to a wide range of functionalized products including many synthetically useful conjugated cyclic and acyclic structures that have potential applications in natural product synthesis, materials science, and drug discovery. Importantly, most of these protocols allow multiple bond-forming events to occur in a single operation, thereby offering opportunities to advance chemical synthesis and address the increasing demands for economical and sustainable synthetic methods. We anticipate that a deep understanding of the properties of haloalkyne reagents and the underlying working mechanism can lead to the development of novel catalytic systems to answer the unsolved challenges in haloalkyne chemistry, which, in turn, may be also instructive for other research areas. We hope this Account will help to provide a guideline for researchers who are interested in this fertile area.

Rhodium(iii)-catalyzed olefinic C–H alkynylation of enamides at room temperature

Rh(iii)-catalyzed C–H olefinic alkynylation of enamides for the stereospecific construction of synthetically useful Z-type enynamides is reported. This protocol displays good functionality tolerance and operational simplicity thus providing an alternative synthetic opportunity for the ease of access to specific 1,3-enyne derivatives.