C-H functionalization enabled by multiple isocyanides

Past decades have witnessed significant advance of isocyanides as a class of versatile organic synthons as well as their broad applications in multi-component reactions (MCRs) and other tandem reactions. Reactions involving multiple isocyanides allow the construction of molecules with further diversification and complexity, while C-H functionalization emphasizes the advantages of high atom economy, broad substrate availability and great synthetic efficiency. This promising synergistic strategy of C-H functionalization involving multiple isocyanides provides a variety of valuable synthetic methods for organic chemists' toolbox and offers considerable potential in pharmaceutical chemistry and materials science as well. The present review outlines in detail various reaction types of C-H functionalization enabled by multiple isocyanides, and the relevant mechanistic rationale is discussed.

Insertion of Isonitriles into the M-C Bonds of Group 4 Dialkyl Complexes

The 2,3-dimethylbutadiene complexes of Group 4 metals with constrained geometry (cg) ligands have been prepared and found to adopt a supine orientation with σ²,π bonding. Treatment of cgTi(2,3-dimethylbutadiene) (1-Ti) with ^tBuNC leads to the formation of a titana-aziridine (3) with a coordinated cyclopentenimine that arises from the formal [4+1] addition of the diene to the isonitrile. In contrast, the reactions of cgZr(2,3-dimethylbutadiene) (1-Zr) or cgHf(2,3-dimethylbutadiene) (1-Hf) with 2 equiv of ^tBuNC or XyNC proceeded in a more sophisticated manner to yield unsymmetrical 2,5-diazametallacyclopentane derivatives (4, 6-Zr, and 6-Hf) or symmetrical 2,5-diazametallacyclopentene complexes (7-Zr and 7-Hf). The unsymmetrical products contain coordinated cyclopropanes; the strength of the interaction is measured by the reduction in the ¹ J_CC of the C-C bond that is coordinated. A detailed mechanistic analysis has been possible with the related cgM(Me)₂ (M = Ti and Hf) complexes. The first insertion is too fast to monitor, but allows complete conversion to an alkyl iminoacyl intermediate. The second isonitrile (RNC) may react with that intermediate by either of two different mechanisms, reductive elimination and coordination/insertion. In the first mechanism (Ti), rate-determining C-C coupling gives a titana-aziridine, followed by fast coordination of the isonitrile. In the second mechanism (Hf), coordination is the slow step; insertion to form a bis(iminoacyl) Hf complex is rapid.