2 research outputs found
Enantioselective Redox-Neutral Rh-Catalyzed Coupling of Terminal Alkynes with Carboxylic Acids Toward Branched Allylic Esters
We report on the first enantioselective
variant of the atom-economic
and redox-neutral coupling of carboxylic acids with terminal alkynes
under rhodium catalysis utilizing the chiral, bidentate (<i>R</i>,<i>R</i>)-Cp-DIOP ligand. This represents the first example
of this convenient asymmetric access to valuable branched allylic
esters. The utility of this methodology is demonstrated by both a
reaction performed on large scale and a short three-step synthesis
of two naturally occurring γ-butyrolactones. A stereochemical
model explaining the observed absolute configuration of the products
based on DFT calculations is given
Mechanistic Investigations of the Rhodium Catalyzed Propargylic CH Activation
Previously we reported the redox-neutral
atom economic rhodium
catalyzed coupling of terminal alkynes with carboxylic acids using
the DPEphos ligand. We herein present a thorough mechanistic investigation
applying various spectroscopic and spectrometric methods (NMR, <i>in situ</i>-IR, ESI-MS) in combination with DFT calculations.
Our findings show that in contrast to the originally proposed mechanism,
the catalytic cycle involves an intramolecular protonation and not
an oxidative insertion of rhodium in the OH bond of the carboxylic
acid. A σ-allyl complex was identified as the resting state
of the catalytic transformation and characterized by X-ray crystallographic
analysis. By means of ESI-MS investigations we were able to detect
a reactive intermediate of the catalytic cycle