Selective Functionalization of Arene C(sp2)-H Bonds by Gold Catalysis: The Role of Carbene Substituents.

The complete regioselective incorporation of carbene units to nonactivated arene rings has been achieved employing gold(I) catalysts bearing alkoxydiaminophosphine ligands, with readily available, nonelaborated ethyl 2-phenyldiazoacetate as the carbene source. These results are in contrast with the scarce precedents which required highly elaborated diazo substrates. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have revealed the important role of the R group in the C(R)CO2Et fragment, which dramatically affects the energy profile of this transformation.

Aerobic intramolecular carbon-hydrogen bond oxidation promoted by Cu(I) complexes.

The oxidation of C-H bonds by copper centres in enzymes with molecular oxygen takes place in nature under ambient conditions. Herein we report a similar transformation in which under ambient pressure and temperature (1 atm, 25 °C) the complex TpMsCu(THF) (TpMs = hydrotris(3-mesityl-pyrazol-1-yl)borate) undergoes the intramolecular oxidation of an alkylic C-H bond with O2, leading to the formation of a trinuclear compound where alkoxy and hydroxyl ligands are bonded to the copper centres, as inferred from X-ray studies. The presence of adventitious Cu(0) derived from the partial decomposition of initial TpMsCu(THF) facilitates the formation of such a trinuclear compound. DFT studies support the reaction taking place through a Cu(iii) alkoxy-hydroxyl copper intermediate.

Alkoxydiaminophosphine Ligands as Surrogates of NHCs in Copper Catalysis.

A family of phosphine ligands containing a five-membered ring similar to the popular N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and an alkoxy third substituent has been developed. These alkoxydiaminophosphine ligands (ADAP) can be generated in one pot and reacted with a copper(I) source leading to the high yield isolation of complexes [(ADAP)CuX]2 (X=Cl, Br). The dinuclear nature of these compounds has been established by means of X-ray studies and DOSY experiments. A screening of the catalytic properties of these complexes toward carbene-transfer reactions from diazocompounds to C-H bonds (alkane, arene), olefins or N-H bonds, as well as in CuAAC or nitrene transfer reactions have shown a performance at least similar, if not better, than their (NHC)CuCl analogues, opening a new window in copper catalysis with these readily tunable ADAP ligands.

The Elusive Palladium-Diazo Adduct Captured: Synthesis, Isolation and Structural Characterization of [(ArNHC-PPh2 )Pd(η2 -N2 C(Ph)CO2 Et)].

The first example of a diazo palladium adduct is reported. The complexes [(ArNHC-PPh2 )M(η2 -N2 C(Ph)CO2 Et)] (M=Ni, 3; M=Pd, 4; ArNHC-PPh2 =3-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1-[(diphenylphosphino)ethyl]imidazol-2-ylidene) were prepared by ligand exchange with styrene-coordinated precursors [(ArNHC-PPh2 )M(styrene)] (M=Ni, 1; M=Pd, 2). Complex 4 was fully characterized, including X-ray analyses; this constitutes the first example of a diazo adduct compound with palladium, thereby closing the gap between Groups 8 and 10 regarding this type of compounds.

Synthesis and catalytic applications of 1,2,3-triazolylidene gold(i) complexes in silver-free oxazoline syntheses and C-H bond activation.

A series of novel 1,2,3-triazolylidene gold(i) chloride complexes have been synthesised and fully characterised. Silver-free methodologies for chloride ion abstraction of these complexes were evaluated for their potential as Au-based catalyst precursors. Using simple potassium salts or MeOTf as chloride scavengers produced metal complexes that catalyse both the regioselective synthesis of oxazolines and the C-H activation of benzene or styrene for carbene transfer from ethyl diazoacetate. These results indicate that Ag-free activation of 1,2,3-triazolylidene gold(i) chloride complexes is feasible for the generation of catalytically active Au triazolylidene species. However, silver-mediated activation imparts substantially higher catalytic activity in oxazoline synthesis.

Gold and diazo reagents: a fruitful tool for developing molecular complexity.

Since the discovery in 2005 of the potential of soluble Au complexes to catalyse the transfer of carbene groups from diazo compounds to organic substrates, an increasing number of transformations have been reported. In this contribution, the advances in the field are presented as foundations for further developments in the incoming years.

Fully Borylated Methane and Ethane by Ruthenium-Mediated Cleavage and Coupling of CO.

Many transition-metal complexes and some metal-free compounds are able to bind carbon monoxide, a molecule which has the strongest chemical bond in nature. However, very few of them have been shown to induce the cleavage of its C-O bond and even fewer are those that are able to transform CO into organic reagents with potential in organic synthesis. This work shows that bis(pinacolato)diboron, B2pin2, reacts with ruthenium carbonyl to give metallic complexes containing borylmethylidyne (CBpin) and diborylethyne (pinBC≡CBpin) ligands and also metal-free perborylated C1 and C2 products, such as C(Bpin)4 and C2 (Bpin)6, respectively, which have great potential as building blocks for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling and other reactions. The use of (13)CO-enriched ruthenium carbonyl has demonstrated that the boron-bound carbon atoms of all of these reaction products arise from CO ligands.

Copper-induced ammonia N-H functionalization.

The activation of ammonia has been achieved with the aid of the Tp(Ms)Cu core (Tp(Ms) = hydrotris(3-mesityl-pyrazolyl)borate). Complexes of the general composition Tp(Ms)Cu(amine) (1-4) including the ammonia adduct Tp(Ms)Cu(NH3) (1) have been synthesized and fully spectroscopical- and structurally characterized. Coordinated ammonia in 1 has been reacted with Ph3CPF6 yielding Tp(Ms)Cu(NH2CPh3) (5) as a result of N-H cleavage and N-C bond formation. In a parallel manner the catalytic functionalization of ammonia with ethyl diazoacetate leading to glycinate derivatives has been developed with Tp(Ms)Cu(THF) as the catalyst, in the first example of this transformation with ammonia and a copper-based system.

Evidencing an inner-sphere mechanism for NHC-Au(I)-catalyzed carbene-transfer reactions from ethyl diazoacetate.

Kinetic experiments based on the measurement of nitrogen evolution in the reaction of ethyl diazoacetate (N2CHCO2Et, EDA) and styrene or methanol catalyzed by the [IPrAu](+) core (IPr = 1,3-bis(diisopropylphenyl)imidazole-2-ylidene) have provided evidence that the transfer of the carbene group CHCO2Et to the substrate (styrene or methanol) takes place in the coordination sphere of Au(I) by means of an inner-sphere mechanism, in contrast to the generally accepted proposal of outer-sphere mechanisms for Au(I)-catalyzed reactions.

Catalytic functionalization of low reactive C(sp(3))-H and C(sp(2))-H bonds of alkanes and arenes by carbene transfer from diazo compounds.

The direct functionalization of low reactive C(sp(3))-H and C(sp(2))-H bonds of alkanes and arenes, respectively, by metal-induced carbene transfer from diazo compounds is reviewed. To date, this methodology has enabled the incorporation of CR(1)R(2) moieties from N2[double bond, length as m-dash]CR(1)R(2) in a chemo, regio, enantio or diastereoselective manner in those substrates with the appropriate selection of metal and ligands.

Selective synthesis of N-substituted 1,2-dihydropyridines from furans by copper-induced concurrent tandem catalysis.

A novel transformation in which mono- or dialkyl-substituted furans are converted into 1,2-dihydropyridines upon reaction with PhI horizontal lineNTs at room temperature is reported. The reaction is catalyzed by complexes of general formula Tp(x)M (M = Cu, Ag) and consists of a one-pot procedure with four consecutive catalytic cycles. Furan aziridination is followed by aziridine ring-opening, transimination reaction, inverse-electronic-demand aza-Diels-Alder reaction, and a final hydrogen elimination reaction. The mechanism of the overall transformation is proposed where the metal complex displays a crucial role along the reaction pathway.

Highly active gold-based catalyst for the reaction of benzaldehyde with ethyl diazoacetate.

The gold complex [IPrAu(NCMe)]BF(4) catalyzes the reaction of ethyl diazoacetate with benzaldehyde to give mixtures of ethyl 3-oxo-3-phenylpropanoate and ethyl 3-hydroxy-2-phenylacrylate in the first example of a group 11 metal-based catalyst for this transformation; the catalyst activity is improved by a factor of 2500 compared to those of previously reported iron-based catalysts.

A valuable, inexpensive Cui/n-heterocyclic carbene catalyst for the selective diboration of styrene.

The complexes [Cu(NHC)(NCMe)]BF4 (NHC=N-heterocyclic ligand), with bis(catecholato)diboron (B2(cat)2) as the boron source, efficiently catalyze the diboration of styrene with very high degrees of conversion. With the appropriate NHC ligand, the reaction proceeds quantitatively toward the diborated derivative PhCH(Bcat)--CH2(Bcat). The [styrene]/[B2(cat)2] ratio also has a strong effect on the selectivity: the use of an excess of styrene allows modification of the selectivity toward the formation solely of the monoborated derivative, PhCH2--CH2(Bcat). DFT calculations suggest that no oxidative addition processes take place at copper, but that intermediates containing coordinated sigma-bonds are involved in the catalytic cycle.

Facile amine formation by intermolecular catalytic amidation of carbon-hydrogen bonds.

A simple copper-based catalytic system has been developed for the carbon-hydrogen amidation reaction. The copper-homoscorpionate complex Tp(Br3)Cu(NCMe) catalyzes the transfer of the nitrene unit NTs (Ts = p-toluenesulfonyl) and its subsequent insertion into the sp(3) C-H bonds of alkyl aromatic and cyclic ethers or the sp(2) C-H bonds of benzene using PhI=NTs as the nitrene source, affording the corresponding trisubstitued NR(1)HTs amines in moderate to high yields. The use of the environmentally friendly chloramine-T has also proven effective, with the advantage that sodium chloride is formed as the only byproduct. A tandem, one-pot consecutive nitrene-carbene insertion system has been developed to yield amino acid derivatives.

Synthesis, isolation and characterization of cationic gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes.

A number of cationic gold(I) complexes have been synthesized and found to be stabilized by the use of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands. These species are often employed as in situ-generated reactive intermediates in gold catalyzed organic transformations. An isolated, well-defined species was tested in gold-mediated carbene transfer reactions from ethyl diazoacetate.

Complete control of the chemoselectivity in catalytic carbene transfer reactions from ethyl diazoacetate: an N-heterocyclic carbene-Cu system that suppresses diazo coupling.

The complex IPrCuCl (1) catalyzes the transfer of the :CHCO2Et group from ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) to unsaturated and saturated substrates (olefins, amine, alcohols) with very high yields. In the absence of substrate, the complex 1 does not react with EDA to give the diazo coupling products (fumarate and maleate), a rare example in the field of metal-catalyzed diazocompounds decomposition.