Rh-Catalyzed Intermolecular Reactions of Cyclic α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Selectivity over Tertiary C–H Bond Migration

Intermolecular Rh-catalyzed reactions of cyclic α-diazocarbonyl compounds with chemoselectivity over β-hydride elimination are described. These methods represent the first general intermolecular reactions of Rh-carbenoids that are selective over tertiary β-C–H bond migration. Successful transformations include cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, and various X–H insertion reactions with a broad scope of substrates. We propose that the intermolecular approach of substrates to carbenes from acyclic diazo precursors may be relatively slow due to a steric interaction with the ester function, which is perpendicular to the π-system of the carbene. For carbenes derived from five- and six-membered cyclic α-diazocarbonyls, it is proposed that the carbene is constrained to be more conjugated with the carbonyl, thereby relieving the steric interaction for intermolecular reactions, and accelerating the rate of intermolecular reactivity relative to intramolecular β-hydride migration. However, attempts to use α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone in intermolecular cyclopropanation with styrene were unsuccessful. It is proposed that the conformational flexibility of the seven-membered ring allows the carbonyl to be oriented perpendicular to Rh-carbene. The significant intermolecular interaction between the carbonyl and approaching substrate is in agreement with the poor ability of α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone to participate in intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. DFT calculations provide support for the mechanistic proposals that are described

Rh-Catalyzed Intermolecular Reactions of Cyclic α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Selectivity over Tertiary C–H Bond Migration

Intermolecular Rh-catalyzed reactions of cyclic α-diazocarbonyl compounds with chemoselectivity over β-hydride elimination are described. These methods represent the first general intermolecular reactions of Rh-carbenoids that are selective over tertiary β-C–H bond migration. Successful transformations include cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, and various X–H insertion reactions with a broad scope of substrates. We propose that the intermolecular approach of substrates to carbenes from acyclic diazo precursors may be relatively slow due to a steric interaction with the ester function, which is perpendicular to the π-system of the carbene. For carbenes derived from five- and six-membered cyclic α-diazocarbonyls, it is proposed that the carbene is constrained to be more conjugated with the carbonyl, thereby relieving the steric interaction for intermolecular reactions, and accelerating the rate of intermolecular reactivity relative to intramolecular β-hydride migration. However, attempts to use α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone in intermolecular cyclopropanation with styrene were unsuccessful. It is proposed that the conformational flexibility of the seven-membered ring allows the carbonyl to be oriented perpendicular to Rh-carbene. The significant intermolecular interaction between the carbonyl and approaching substrate is in agreement with the poor ability of α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone to participate in intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. DFT calculations provide support for the mechanistic proposals that are described

Rh-Catalyzed Intermolecular Reactions of Cyclic α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Selectivity over Tertiary C–H Bond Migration

Intermolecular Rh-catalyzed reactions of cyclic α-diazocarbonyl compounds with chemoselectivity over β-hydride elimination are described. These methods represent the first general intermolecular reactions of Rh-carbenoids that are selective over tertiary β-C–H bond migration. Successful transformations include cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, and various X–H insertion reactions with a broad scope of substrates. We propose that the intermolecular approach of substrates to carbenes from acyclic diazo precursors may be relatively slow due to a steric interaction with the ester function, which is perpendicular to the π-system of the carbene. For carbenes derived from five- and six-membered cyclic α-diazocarbonyls, it is proposed that the carbene is constrained to be more conjugated with the carbonyl, thereby relieving the steric interaction for intermolecular reactions, and accelerating the rate of intermolecular reactivity relative to intramolecular β-hydride migration. However, attempts to use α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone in intermolecular cyclopropanation with styrene were unsuccessful. It is proposed that the conformational flexibility of the seven-membered ring allows the carbonyl to be oriented perpendicular to Rh-carbene. The significant intermolecular interaction between the carbonyl and approaching substrate is in agreement with the poor ability of α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone to participate in intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. DFT calculations provide support for the mechanistic proposals that are described

Rh-Catalyzed Intermolecular Reactions of Cyclic α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Selectivity over Tertiary C–H Bond Migration

Intermolecular Rh-catalyzed reactions of cyclic α-diazocarbonyl compounds with chemoselectivity over β-hydride elimination are described. These methods represent the first general intermolecular reactions of Rh-carbenoids that are selective over tertiary β-C–H bond migration. Successful transformations include cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, and various X–H insertion reactions with a broad scope of substrates. We propose that the intermolecular approach of substrates to carbenes from acyclic diazo precursors may be relatively slow due to a steric interaction with the ester function, which is perpendicular to the π-system of the carbene. For carbenes derived from five- and six-membered cyclic α-diazocarbonyls, it is proposed that the carbene is constrained to be more conjugated with the carbonyl, thereby relieving the steric interaction for intermolecular reactions, and accelerating the rate of intermolecular reactivity relative to intramolecular β-hydride migration. However, attempts to use α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone in intermolecular cyclopropanation with styrene were unsuccessful. It is proposed that the conformational flexibility of the seven-membered ring allows the carbonyl to be oriented perpendicular to Rh-carbene. The significant intermolecular interaction between the carbonyl and approaching substrate is in agreement with the poor ability of α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone to participate in intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. DFT calculations provide support for the mechanistic proposals that are described

Rh-Catalyzed Intermolecular Reactions of Cyclic α-Diazocarbonyl Compounds with Selectivity over Tertiary C–H Bond Migration

Intermolecular Rh-catalyzed reactions of cyclic α-diazocarbonyl compounds with chemoselectivity over β-hydride elimination are described. These methods represent the first general intermolecular reactions of Rh-carbenoids that are selective over tertiary β-C–H bond migration. Successful transformations include cyclopropanation, cyclopropenation, and various X–H insertion reactions with a broad scope of substrates. We propose that the intermolecular approach of substrates to carbenes from acyclic diazo precursors may be relatively slow due to a steric interaction with the ester function, which is perpendicular to the π-system of the carbene. For carbenes derived from five- and six-membered cyclic α-diazocarbonyls, it is proposed that the carbene is constrained to be more conjugated with the carbonyl, thereby relieving the steric interaction for intermolecular reactions, and accelerating the rate of intermolecular reactivity relative to intramolecular β-hydride migration. However, attempts to use α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone in intermolecular cyclopropanation with styrene were unsuccessful. It is proposed that the conformational flexibility of the seven-membered ring allows the carbonyl to be oriented perpendicular to Rh-carbene. The significant intermolecular interaction between the carbonyl and approaching substrate is in agreement with the poor ability of α-diazo-β-ethylcaprolactone to participate in intermolecular cyclopropanation reactions. DFT calculations provide support for the mechanistic proposals that are described

Photoisomerization of <i>cis</i>-1-(3-Methyl-2-naphthyl)-2-phenylethene in Glassy Methylcyclohexane at 77 K

The cis–trans photoisomerizations of <i>cis</i>-1-(3-methyl-2-naphthyl)-2-phenylethene (<i>c</i>-3-MPE) was studied in methylcyclohexane (MCH) glass at 77 K. The fluorescence spectra of <i>c</i>- and <i>t</i>-3-MPE are excitation wavelength (λ_exc) independent because the steric requirement of the methyl group restricts the conformational space of each isomer to a single conformer. Photocyclization, the dominant reaction pathway of <i>c</i>-3-MPE in solution, is entirely suppressed in MCH glass at 77 K. The only reaction on 313 nm irradiation of <i>c</i>-3-MPE in MCH glass is cis–trans isomerization. As the reaction progresses, the structureless fluorescence of <i>c</i>-3-MPE is replaced by the vibronically resolved fluorescence of the stable conformer of the trans isomer. The results are consistent with photoisomerization by the conventional one bond twist (OBT) pathway. Previously reported results on the photoisomerization of <i>cis</i>-1-(2-naphthyl)-2-(<i>o</i>-tolyl)­ethene (<i>c</i>-NTE) are reinterpreted. Calculated geometries and energy differences for <i>c</i>- and <i>t</i>-3-MPE and <i>c</i>- and <i>t</i>-NTE [DFT using B3LYP/6-311+G­(d,p)] are consistent with the interpretation of the experimental results

Four-Component Fluorescence of <i>trans</i>-1,2-Di(1-methyl-2-naphthyl)ethene at 77 K in Glassy Media. Conformational Subtleties Revealed

The vibronic structure of the fluorescence spectrum of <i>trans</i>-1,2-di­(1-methyl-2-naphthyl)­ethene (<i>t</i>-<b>1,1</b>) in methylcyclohexane (MCH) solution at room temperature was expected to become better defined upon cooling of the solution to 77 K. Instead, a broad, λ_exc-dependent fluorescence spectrum was observed in the glassy medium. Vibronically structured <i>t</i>-<b>1,1</b> fluorescence spectra were obtained in the MCH glass only upon irradiation at the long-λ onset of the absorption spectrum. The application of singular value decomposition with self-modeling on the fluorescence spectral matrices of <i>t</i>-<b>1,1</b> allowed their resolution into major and minor pairs of vibronically structured spectra that are assigned to two structural modifications of each of two relative orientations of the 1-methyl-2-naphthyl moieties. The difference between the two structures in each pair lies in the direction of rotation of each naphthyl group away from the plane of the olefinic bond. A complex but different conformer distribution is also responsible for the fluorescence spectra of <i>t</i>-<b>1,1</b> in 5:5:2 (v/v/v) diethyl ether/isopentane/ethyl alcohol (EPA) glass at 77 K. The conformer distributions are also sensitive to the rate of cooling used in glass formation. Conformer distributions based on predicted small energy differences from gas-phase theoretical calculations are of little value when applied to volume-constraining media. The photophysical and photochemical properties of the analogues of the other two conformers of <i>trans</i>-1,2-di­(2-naphthyl)­ethene, <i>trans</i>-1-(1-methyl-2-naphthyl)-2-(3-methyl-2-naphthyl)­ethene (<i>t</i>-<b>1,3</b>) and <i>trans</i>-1,2-di­(3-methyl-2-naphthyl)­ethene (<i>t</i>-<b>3,3</b>), were determined in solution. However, it is the calculated geometries and energy differences of the <i>t</i>-<b>1,1</b> conformers [DFT using B3LYP/6-311+G­(d,p)] that are essential guides to the interpretation of the experimental results