Eric Clot

C—H Bond Activation in Transition Metal Species from a Computational Perspective

ion step. The reactivity of pMMO has been also explored by Chan,525 by means of DFT calculations on small models of Figure 116. Nonradical mechanism proposed in the Yoshizawa model of sMMO. Figure 117. Mononuclear and dinuclear models of the copper active sites of pMMO. CsH Bond Activation in Transition Metal Species Chemical Reviews, 2010, Vol. 110, No. 2 813

C-F and C-H bond activation of fluorobenzenes and fluoropyridines at transition metal centers: How fluorine tips the scales

In this Account, we describe the transition metal-mediated cleavage of C-F and C-H bonds in fluoroaromatic and fluoroheteroaromatic molecules. The simplest reactions of perfluoroarenes result in C-F oxida tive addition, but C-H activation competes with C-F activation for partially fluorinated molecules. We first consider the reactivity of the fluoroaromatics toward nickel and platinum complexes, but extend to rhenium and rhodium where they give special insight. Sections on spectroscopy and molecular structure are followed by discussions of energetics and mechanism that incorporate experimental and computational results. We highlight special characteristics of the metal-fluorine bond and the influence of the fluorine substituents on energetics and mechanism. Fluoroaromatics reacting at an ML(2) center initially yield η(2)-arene complexes, followed usually by oxidative addition to generate MF(Ar(F))(L)(2) or MH(Ar(F))(L)(2) (M is Ni, Pd, or Pt; L is trialkylphosphine). The outcome of competition between C-F and C-H bond activation is strongly metal dependent and regioselective. When C-H bonds of fluoroaromatics are activated, there is a preference for the remaining C-F bonds to lie ortho to the metal. An unusual feature of metal-fluorine bonds is their response to replacement of nickel by platinum. The Pt-F bonds are weaker than their nickel counterparts; the opposite is true for M-H bonds. Metal-fluorine bonds are sufficiently polar to form M-F···H-X hydrogen bonds and M-F···I-C(6)F(5) halogen bonds. In the competition between C-F and C-H activation, the thermodynamic product is always the metal fluoride, but marked differences emerge between metals in the energetics of C-H activation. In metal-fluoroaryl bonds, ortho-fluorine substituents generally control regioselectivity and make C-H activation more energetically favorable. The role of fluorine substituents in directing C-H activation is traced to their effect on bond energies. Correlations between M-C and H-C bond energies demonstrate that M-C bond energies increase far more on ortho-fluorine substitution than do H-C bonds. Conventional oxidative addition reactions involve a three-center triangular transition state between the carbon, metal, and X, where X is hydrogen or fluorine, but M(d)-F(2p) repulsion raises the activation energies when X is fluorine. Platinum complexes exhibit an alternative set of reactions involving rearrangement of the phosphine and the fluoroaromatics to a metal(alkyl)(fluorophosphine), M(R)(Ar(F))(PR(3))(PR(2)F). In these phosphine-assisted C-F activation reactions, the phosphine is no spectator but rather is intimately involved as a fluorine acceptor. Addition of the C-F bond across the M-PR(3) bond leads to a metallophosphorane four-center transition state; subsequent transfer of the R group to the metal generates the fluorophosphine product. We find evidence that a phosphine-assisted pathway may even be significant in some apparently simple oxidative addition reactions. While transition metal catalysis has revolutionized hydrocarbon chemistry, its impact on fluorocarbon chemistry has been more limited. Recent developments have changed the outlook as catalytic reactions involving C-F or C-H bond activation of fluorocarbons have emerged. The principles established here have several implications for catalysis, including the regioselectivity of C-H activation and the unfavorable energetics of C-F reductive elimination. Palladium-catalyzed C-H arylation is analyzed to illustrate how ortho-fluorine substituents influence thermodynamics, kinetics, and regioselectivity.

Intramolecular Palladium-Catalyzed Alkane C−H Arylation from Aryl Chlorides

The first examples of efficient and general palladium-catalyzed intramolecular C(sp(3))-H arylation of (hetero)aryl chlorides, giving rise to a variety of valuable cyclobutarenes, indanes, indolines, dihydrobenzofurans, and indanones, are described. The use of aryl and heteroaryl chlorides significantly improves the scope of C(sp(3))-H arylation by facilitating the preparation of reaction substrates. Careful optimization studies have shown that the palladium ligand and the base/solvent combination are crucial to obtaining the desired class of product in high yields. Overall, three sets of reaction conditions employing P(t)Bu(3), PCyp(3), or PCy(3) as the palladium ligand and K(2)CO(3)/DMF or Cs(2)CO(3)/pivalic acid/mesitylene as the base/solvent combination allowed five different classes of products to be accessed using this methodology. In total, more than 40 examples of C-H arylation have been performed successfully. When several types of C(sp(3))-H bond were present in the substrate, the arylation was found to occur regioselectively at primary C-H bonds vs secondary or tertiary positions. In addition, in the presence of several primary C-H bonds, selectivity trends correlate with the size of the palladacyclic intermediate, with five-membered rings being favored over six- and seven-membered rings. Regio- and diastereoselectivity issues were studied computationally in the prototypal case of indane formation. DFT(B3PW91) calculations demonstrated that C-H activation is the rate-determining step and that the creation of a C-H agostic interaction, increasing the acidity of a geminal C-H bond, is a critical factor for the regiochemistry control.

Palladium-Catalyzed β Arylation of Carboxylic Esters†

The direct functionalization of C H bonds is an atomand step-economical alternative to more traditional synthetic methods based on functional-group transformations, which often require multistep sequences. In particular, transitionmetal catalysis has emerged as a powerful tool for the functionalization of otherwise unreactive C(sp) H and C(sp) H bonds. These advances have enabled the construction of a variety of carbon–carbon and carbon–heteroatom bonds with great efficiency and selectivity, even in structurally complex organic molecules. In this context, we previously investigated the intramolecular arylation of unactivated C(sp) H bonds under palladium(0) catalysis. Intermolecular C(sp) H arylation reactions have also been developed through the use of palladium(II) or palladium(0) catalysis and the assistance of a coordinating group, such as a carbonyl group (Scheme 1a). This group directs arylation in the b position through the formation of a chelated palladium homoenolate. The palladium(0)-catalyzed C H arylation a to an electron-withdrawing functional group (Scheme 1b, path 1) has also been established as a powerful method for the construction of C(sp) C(sp) bonds. An enantioselective reaction is also possible with a chiral catalyst. This reaction takes advantage of the acidity of the C H bond a to the electron-withdrawing group—in general a carbonyl group— to generate a palladium enolate, which is converted into the a-arylated product by reductive elimination. Herein, we describe a diversion from this mechanism and the development of a straightforward and conceptually new b-C H arylation method (Scheme 1b, path 2). Because this new type of b arylation is related mechanistically to a arylation, it is complementary to directing-group-controlled b arylation reactions. In this regard, it presents a few interesting features; for example, simple carboxylic esters can be used as substrates at mild temperatures, and no polyarylation products are formed. We also describe the proof of concept of an enantioselective variant with a chiral catalyst and propose a reaction mechanism on the basis of DFT calculations. Our initial studies focused on the palladium-catalyzed arylation of the lithium enolate of tert-butyl isobutyrate (2 a) with ortho-, meta-, and para-fluorobromobenzene (1a–c ; Table 1; the lithium enolate was formed in situ from 2a and lithium dicyclohexylamide (Cy2NLi)). [8] The palladium catalyst was composed of tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) ([Pd2(dba)3]) and 2-dicyclohexylphosphanyl-2’(N,N-dimethylamino)biphenyl (davephos). The reaction of the lithium enolate of 2a with paraand meta-fluorobromobenzene in toluene at 28 8C gave an approximately 1:1 mixture of a-arylation (compounds 3a,b) and b-arylation products (compounds 4a,b ; Table 1, entries 1 and 2). In contrast, the reaction with ortho-fluorobromobenzene (1c) gave only the b-arylation product 4 c, which was isolated in 63% yield (Table 1, entry 3). Similarly, the reaction of methyl isobutyrate 2b with 1c gave only the b-arylation product 4d (Table 1, entry 4). A slightly higher temperature (50 8C) was required for complete conversion in the reaction of bromide 1c with ester 2a than for other reactions, and the product 4c Scheme 1. a) Directing-group strategy for the palladium-catalyzed b arylation of carbonyl compounds. b) Palladium-catalyzed a and b arylation of enolates generated in situ.

Exceptional sensitivity of metal-aryl bond energies to ortho-fluorine substituents: influence of the metal, the coordination sphere, and the spectator ligands on M-C/H-C bond energy correlations.

DFT calculations are reported of the energetics of C-H oxidative addition of benzene and fluorinated benzenes, Ar(F)H (Ar(F) = C(6)F(n)H(5-n), n = 0-5) at ZrCp(2) (Cp = eta(5)-C(5)H(5)), TaCp(2)H, TaCp(2)Cl, WCp(2), ReCp(CO)(2), ReCp(CO)(PH(3)), ReCp(PH(3))(2), RhCp(PH(3)), RhCp(CO), IrCp(PH(3)), IrCp(CO), Ni(H(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PH(2)), Pt(H(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PH(2)). The change in M-C bond energy of the products fits a linear function of the number of fluorine substituents, with different coefficients corresponding to ortho-, meta-, and para-fluorine. The values of the ortho-coefficient range from 20 to 32 kJ mol(-1), greatly exceeding the values for the meta- and para-coefficients (2.0-4.5 kJ mol(-1)). Similarly, the H-C bond energies of Ar(F)H yield ortho- and para-coefficients of 10.4 and 3.4 kJ mol(-1), respectively, and a negligible meta-coefficient. These results indicate a large increase in the M-C bond energy with ortho-fluorine substitution on the aryl ring. Plots of D(M-C) vs D(H-C) yield slopes R(M-C/H-C) that vary from 1.93 to 3.05 with metal fragment, all in excess of values of 1.1-1.3 reported with other hydrocarbyl groups. Replacement of PH(3) by CO decreases R(M-C/H-C) significantly. For a given ligand set and metals in the same group of the periodic table, the value of R(M-C/H-C) does not increase with the strength of the M-C bond. Calculations of the charge on the aryl ring show that variations in ionicity of the M-C bonds correlate with variations in M-C bond energy. This strengthening of metal-aryl bonds accounts for numerous experimental results that indicate a preference for ortho-fluorine substituents.

Linear-Selective Hydroarylation of Unactivated Terminal and Internal Olefins with Trifluoromethyl-Substituted Arenes

We report a series of hydroarylations of unactivated olefins with trifluoromethyl-substituted arenes that occur with high selectivity for the linear product without directing groups on the arene. We also show that hydroarylations occur with internal, acyclic olefins to yield linear alkylarene products. Experimental mechanistic data provide evidence for reversible formation of an alkylnickel-aryl intermediate and rate-determining reductive elimination to form the carbon-carbon bond. Labeling studies show that formation of terminal alkylarenes from internal alkenes occurs by initial establishment of an equilibrating mixture of alkene isomers, followed by addition of the arene to the terminal alkene. Computational (DFT) studies imply that the aryl C-H bond transfers to a coordinated alkene without oxidative addition and support the conclusion from experiment that reductive elimination is rate-determining and forms the anti-Markovnikov product. The reactions are inverse order in α-olefin; thus the catalytic reaction occurs, in part, because isomerization creates a low concentration of the reactant α-olefin.

A terminal borylene ruthenium complex: from B-H activation to reversible hydrogen release.

Starting from RuHCl(H2)(PCy3)2, a terminal ruthenium mesitylborylene complex was obtained via double B-H bond activation of mesitylborane and concomitant release of dihydrogen, such a process being remarkably reversible.

β-H Transfer from the Metallacyclobutane: A Key Step in the Deactivation and Byproduct Formation for the Well-Defined Silica-Supported Rhenium Alkylidene Alkene Metathesis Catalyst

The surface complex [([triple bond]SiO)Re([triple bond]CtBu)(=CHtBu)(CH2tBu)] (1) is a highly efficient propene metathesis catalyst with high initial activities and a good productivity. However, it undergoes a fast deactivation process with time on stream, which is first order in active sites and ethene. Noteworthy, 1-butene and pentenes, unexpected products in the metathesis of propene, are formed as primary products, in large amount relative to Re (>>1 equiv/Re), showing that their formation is not associated with the formation of inactive species. DFT calculations on molecular model systems show that byproduct formation and deactivation start by a beta-H transfer trans to the weak sigma-donor ligand (siloxy) at the metallacyclobutane intermediate having a square-based pyramid geometry. This key step has an energy barrier slightly higher than that calculated for olefin metathesis. After beta-H transfer, the most accessible pathway is the insertion of ethene in the Re-H bond. The resulting pentacoordinated trisperhydrocarbyl complex rearranges via either (1) alpha-H abstraction yielding the unexpected 1-butene byproduct and the regeneration of the catalyst or (2) beta-H abstraction leading to degrafting. These deactivation and byproduct formation pathways are in full agreement with the experimental data.

Ligand-controlled β-selective C(sp3)–H arylation of N-Boc-piperidines

We report a general palladium-catalyzed β-arylation of Boc-piperidines, which yields a variety of valuable 3-arylpiperidines in a simple and direct manner. The β- vs. α-arylation selectivity was controlled by the ligand, with flexible biarylphosphines providing mainly the desired β-arylated products whereas more rigid biarylphosphines mainly furnished the more classical α-arylated products. The computed reaction mechanism (DFT), studied from the common α-palladated intermediate, indicated that the reductive elimination steps leading to the α- and β-arylated products are selectivity-determining. Moreover, the experimental trend obtained with different ligands was well reproduced by the calculations.

DFT study of the mechanism of benzocyclobutene formation by palladium-catalysed C(sp3)–H activation: role of the nature of the base and the phosphine

DFT(B3PW91) calculations of the mechanism of the intramolecular C(sp(3))-H arylation of 2-bromo-tert-butylbenzene to form benzocyclobutene catalysed by Pd(PR(3)) (R = Me, (t)Bu) and a base (acetate, bicarbonate, carbonate) show that the preferred mechanism is highly dependent on the nature of the phosphine and the base used in the calculations. With the experimental reagents (P(t)Bu(3) and carbonate) the rate-determining step is C-H activation with the base coordinated trans to the C-H bond. An agostic interaction of a geminal C-H bond with respect to the bond to be cleaved induces a lowering of the activation barrier.