ABSTRACT
[reaction: see text] TpRuPPh3(CH3CN)2PF6 (3 mol %) was very active in catalytic benzannulation of 1-phenyl-2-ethynylbenzenes in dichloroethane (60 degrees C, 36 h) to afford phenanthrene in 95% yield. This method is applicable to the synthesis of various polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons via two- and four-fold benzannulations, including various substituted coronene derivatives (53-86% yields) using this catalyst at a moderate loading (10 mol %).
ABSTRACT
Treatment of a series of 2',2'-disubstituted (o-ethynyl)styrenes with TpRu(PPh(3))(CH(3)CN)(2)PF(6) (10 mol %) in benzene (80 degrees C, 12-18 h) efficiently gave 2-alkenyl-1H-indene derivatives. This catalytic reaction represents an atypical enyne cycloisomerization with skeletal rearrangement of starting enyne, where the C=C bond is completely cleaved and inserted by the terminal alkynyl carbon. The reaction mechanism was elucidated by a series of deuterium and (13)C labeling experiments, as well as by changing the substituents at the phenyl moieties. The mechanism is proposed to involve the following key steps: 5-endo-dig cyclization of ruthenium-vinylidene intermediate, a nonclassical ion formation, and the "methylenecyclopropane-trimethylenemethane" rearrangement.
ABSTRACT
The halo and aryl substituents of the 1,2-disubstituted styryl group of aromatic enynes undergo a 1,2-shift in the aromatization reaction catalyzed by TpRuPPh3(CH3CN)2PF6 (10 mol %) in toluene (110 degrees C, 6-8 h). The aryl group shifts to the neighboring olefin carbon, and the iodo (or bromo) substituent migrates to the terminal alkyne carbon. The mechanisms of these two migrations have been elucidated by isotope labeling experiments. It indicates that the 1,2-aryl shift arises from 5-endo-dig electrocyclization of a ruthenium-vinylidene species, whereas the 1,2-iodo shift follows a 6-endo-dig pathway.
