General Introduction:
During the second half of the 20th
century, transition metals have come to play an important role in organic
chemistry and this has led to the development of a large number of transition
metal-catalyzed reactions for creating organic molecules. Transition metals
have a unique ability to activate various organic compounds and through this
activation they can catalyze the formation of new bonds. One metal that was
used early on for catalytic organic transformations was palladium. One event
that stimulated research into the use of palladium in organic chemistry was the
discovery that ethylene is oxidized to acetaldehyde by air in a
palladium-catalyzed reaction and this became the industrially important Wacker
process. Subsequent research on palladium-catalyzed carbonylation led to new
reactions for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. In general, transition
metals, and in particular palladium, have been of importance for the
development of reactions for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. In 2005 the
Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to metal-catalyzed reactions for the
formation of carbon-carbon double bonds. This year(2010) the Nobel Prize in
chemistry is awarded to the formation of carbon-carbon single bonds through
palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.
Palladium catalyzed cross coupling reactions:
In general, palladium-catalyzed
cross couplings is that two molecules are assembled on the metal via the
formation of metal-carbon bonds. In this way the carbon atoms bound to
palladium are brought very close to one another. In the next step they couple
to one another and this leads to the formation of a new carbon-carbon single
bond. Thus, palladium catalysis has gained widespread use in industrial and
academic synthetic chemistry laboratories as a powerful methodology for the
formation of C-C and C-Heteroatom bonds.
There are many palladium
catalyzed coupling reactions are developed with various coupling partners.
1. SUZUKI-MIYAURA
2. STILLE
3. NEGISHI
4. KUMADA
5. HIYAMA
6. SONOGASHIRA
7. HECK
8. BUCHWALD-HARTWIG
9. CYANATION
10. CARBONYLATION
Most palladium catalysed reactions are believed to follow a
similar catalytic cycle.
The Suzuki-Miyaura coupling
In 1979, A. Suzuki and N. Miyaura
reported the stereoselective synthesis of arylated (E)-alkenes by the
reaction of 1- alkenylboranes with aryl halides in the presence of a palladium
catalyst. The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between organoboron
compounds and organic halides or triflates provides a powerful and general
method for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds known as the Suzuki
cross-coupling.
There are several advantages to
this method:
1) mild reaction conditions;
2) commercial availability of
many boronic acids;
3) the inorganic by-products are easily
removed from the reaction mixture, making the reaction suitable for industrial
processes;
4) boronic acids are environmentally
safer and much less toxic than organostannanes (see Stille coupling);
5) starting materials tolerate a wide
variety of functional groups, and they are unaffected by water;
6) the coupling is generally stereo-
and regioselective;
7) sp3-hybridized alkyl
boranes can also be coupled by the B-alkyl Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling.
Mechanism:
References
1. Galardon,E.; Ramdeehul, S.; Brown, J.M.; Cowley, A.; Hii,
K.K.; Jutand, A.; Angew. Chem, Int. Ed. 2002 41, 1760-1763
2. Tolman, C. A. Chem. Rev., 1977, 77, 313–348
3. For a review see: Hillier, A.C.; Grasa, G. A.; Viciu,
M.S.; Lee, H. M.; Yang, C; Nolan, S. P. J. Organomet. Chem. 2002,
69-82
Stille coupling
The Pd(0)-catalyzed coupling
reaction between an organostannane and an organic electrophile to form a new
C-C sigma bond is known as the Stille cross coupling. The Stille reaction is an
extremely versatile alternative to the Suzuki reaction. It replaces the
organoboron reagents with organostannanes. As the tin bears four organic functional
groups, understanding the rates of transmetallation of each group is important.
Relative rate of transmetallation: Alkynyl > vinyl > aryl > allyl ~
benzyl >> alkyl
The reaction also has the
advantage that it is run under neutral conditions making it even more tolerant
of different functional groups than the Suzuki reaction.The precursor organotin
compounds have many advantages because they:
1) are tolerate a wide variety of
functional groups;
2) are not sensitive to moisture
or oxygen unlike other reactive organometallic compounds; and
3) are easily prepared, isolated, and stored.
The main disadvantages are their
toxicity and the difficulty to remove the traces of tin by-products from the
reaction mixture.
Mechanism:
References
1. Jung, D; Shimogawa, H.; Kwon, Y.; Mao, Q.; Sato, S.-I.
Kamisuki, S.; Kigoshi, H.; Uesugi, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131,
4774-4782.
2. van Niel, M. B.; Wilson, K.; Adkins, C. H.; Atack, J. R.;
Castro, J. L.; Clarke, D. E.; Fletcher, S.; Gerhard, U.; Mackey, M. M.; Malpas,
S.; Maubach, K.; Newman, R.; O’Connor,
D.; Pillai, G. V.; Simpson, P. B.; Thomas, S. R.; MacLoed, A. M. J. Med.
Chem. 2005, 48, 6004-6011.
3. Giri, R.; Maugel, N; Li, J.J; Wang, D.-H.; Breazzano, S.
P.; Saunders, L. B.; Yu J.-O. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129,
3510-3511.
4. Molander, G.A.; Canturk, B. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009;
48; 9240-9261
Stille-Kelly coupling.
The Pd-catalyzed intramolecular
biaryl coupling of aryl halides or aryl triflates in the presence of
distannanes is known as the Stille-Kelly coupling.
Mechanism:
Reference:
Yue, W. S.; Li, J. J. Org.Lett.
2002, 13, 2201-2204.
Negishi coupling
The Negishi coupling utilises
organo-zinc reagents as starting materials to cross couple with organohalides
and equivalents. The method is compatible with a good range of functional
groups on the organohalide including ketones, esters, amines and nitriles. The
organo-zinc reagent can be prepared in situ by a variety of
methodologies, such as transmetallation of the corresponding organo-lithium or
Grignard reagent, or via oxidative addition of activated Zn(0) to an organohalide.
Mechanism:
Reference:
1) Krasovskiy, A.; Krasovskaya, V.; Knochel, P. Angew.
Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 2958-2961.
2) Prasad, A. S. B.; Stevenson, T. M.; Citineni, J. R.;
Nyzam, V.; Knochel, P. Tetrahedron 1997, 53, 7237-7254
Kumada coupling
The cross coupling of
organohalides with Grignard reagents is known as the Kumada coupling. Although it suffers from a limited tolerance of
different functional groups, the higher reactivity and basicity of the Grignard
reagent allows viable reactions to take place under mild conditions.
The Mechanism is similar as Negishi coupling.
Reference:
1) Anastasia, L., Negishi, E.-i. Palladium-catalyzed
aryl-aryl coupling. Handbook of Organopalladium Chemistry for Organic
Synthesis 2002, 1, 311-334.
2) Anctil, E. J. G., Snieckus, V. The directed ortho
metalation-cross coupling symbiosis. Regioselective methodologies for biaryls
and heterobiaryls. Deployment in aromatic and heteroaromatic natural product
synthesis. J. Organomet. Chem. 2002,
653, 150-160.
3) Banno, T., Hayakawa, Y., Umeno, M. Some applications of
the Grignard cross-coupling reaction in the industrial field. J. Organomet.
Chem. 2002, 653, 288-291.
4) Hayashi, T. Palladium-catalyzed asymmetric cross-coupling.
Handbook of Organopalladium Chemistry for Organic Synthesis 2002, 1, 791- 806.
Hiyama coupling
The Hiyama Coupling is the
palladium-catalyzed C-C bond formation between aryl, alkenyl, or alkyl halides
or pseudohalides and organosilanes. This reaction is comparable to the Suzuki
Coupling and also requires an activating agent such as fluoride ion or a base.
Mechanism:
Crucial for the success of the
Hiyama Coupling is the polarization of the Si-C bond. Activation of the silane
with base or fluoride ions (TASF, TBAF) leading to a pentavalent silicon
compound is a first necessary step. The use of a silanol as the organosilane is
one recent method that has managed to negate the requirement for the reaction
to contain fluoride as an activator. This has helped to enlarge the substrate
scope available to organic chemists.
Reference:
1) Li, J.-H.; Deng, W.-J.; Liu,
Y.-X. Synthesis 2005, 3039-3044.
2) For a recent review on
silanols in the Hiyama coupling see: Denmark, S. E.; Regens, C. S. Acc.
Chem. Res. 2008, 41, 1486-1499.
Sonogashira coupling
The Sonogashira reaction offers
an extremely useful route into aryl- and alkenyl-alkynes. The alkyne moiety is
usually introduced via its copper salt. This is generated in situ from
a Cu(I) salt, such as CuI or CuCN, and a terminal alkyne in the presence of an
amine base. Recent improvements in this reaction have led to the development of
copper and amine free couplings.
The general features of the
reaction are:
1) the coupling can usually be
conducted at or slightly above room temperature, and this is a major advantage
over the forcing conditions required for the alternative Castro-Stephens
coupling;
2) the handling of the
shock-sensitive/explosive copper acetylides is avoided by the use of a
catalytic amounts of copper(I) salt;
3) the copper(I) salt can be the
commercially available CuI or CuBr and are usually applied in 0.5-5 mol% with
respect to the halide or alkyne;
4) the best palladium catalysts
are Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 or Pd(PPh3)4;
5) the solvents and the reagents
do not need to be rigorously dried. However, a thorough deoxygenation is
essential to maintain the activity of the Pd-catalyst;
6) often the base serves as the
solvent but occasionally a co-solvent is used;
7) the reaction works well on
both very small and large scale (>100g);
8) the coupling is
stereospecific; the stereochemical information of the substrates is preserved
in the products;
9) the order of reactivity for
the aryl and vinyl halides is I ≈ OTf > Br >> Cl;
10) the difference between the
reaction rates of iodides and bromides allows selective coupling with the
iodides in the presence of bromides;
11) almost all functional groups are
tolerated on the aromatic and vinyl halide substrates.
Mechanism:
The mechanism of the Sonogashira
cross-coupling follows the expected oxidative addition-reductive
elimination pathway. However, the structure of the catalytically active species
and the precise role of the CuI catalyst is unknown. The reaction commences
with the generation of a coordinatively unsaturated Pd(0) species from a Pd(II)
complex by reduction with the alkyne substrate or with an added phosphine
ligand. The Pd(0) then undergoes oxidative addition with the aryl or vinyl
halide followed by transmetallation by the copper(I)-acetylide. Reductive
elimination affords the coupled product and the regeneration of the catalyst
completes the catalytic cycle.
References
1) Cassar, L. J. Organomet. Chem. 1975, 93, 253-257.
2) Dieck, H. A., Heck, F. R. J.
Organomet. Chem. 1975, 93, 259-263.
3) Sonogashira, K., Tohda, Y., Hagihara, N. Tetrahedron Lett. 1975,
4467-4470.
4) Thorand, S.; Krause, N. J. Org. Chem. 1998,
63, 8551-8553.
5) Liang, Y.; Xie, Y.-X.; Li, J.-H. J. Org.
Chem. 2006, 71, 379-380.
6) Schiedel, M.-S., Briehn, C.
A., Bauerle, P. C-C J. Organomet. Chem. 2002, 653, 200-208.
Heck reaction
In the early 1970s, T. Mizoroki and R.F. Heck independently
discovered that aryl, benzyl and styryl halides react with olefinic compounds
at elevated temperatures in the presence of a hindered amine base and catalytic
amount of Pd(0) to form aryl-, benzyl-, and styryl-substituted olefins. Today,
the palladium-catalyzed arylation or alkenylation of olefins is referred to as
the Heck
reaction. Since its discovery, the Heck reaction has become one of
the most widely used catalytic carbon-carbon bond forming tools in organic
synthesis.
The Heck reaction follows a
slightly different pathway to other palladium catalysed couplings. For
intermolecular reactions with monosubstituted olefins, the olefin insertion
step is usually directed by steric hindrance. This intermediate then undergoes β-hydride
elimination under thermodynamically controlled conditions, leading to
preferential formation of the E product.
Reference:
1) Heck, R. F. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 1968, 90, 5518- 5526.
2) Mizoroki, T., Mori, K., Ozaki,
A. Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1971,
44, 581.
3) Heck, R. F., Nolley, J. P.,
Jr. J. Org. Chem. 1972, 37, 2320-2322.
4) Shibasaki, M., Miyazaki, F.
Asymmetric Heck reactions. in Handbook of Organopalladium Chemistry for
Organic Synthesis (eds. Negishi, E.-i.,De Meijere, A.), 1, 1283-1315
(Wiley-Interscience, New York, 2002).
5) Dounay, A. B., Overman, L. E. Chem. Rev. 2003,
103, 2945-2963.
6) Braese, S., de Meijere, A.
Cross-coupling of organic halides with alkenes: The Heck reaction. Metal-Catalyzed
Cross-Coupling Reactions (2nd Edition) 2004, 1, 217-315.
Buchwald-Hartwig
coupling
Palladium catalysis has also been expanded to the formation of C-N
bonds. In 1995 Buchwald and Hartwig independently reported the palladium
catalysed coupling of aryl halides with amine nucleophiles in the presence of
stoichiometric amounts of base.
Mechanism:
The first step in the catalytic cycle is the oxidative addition of Pd(0)
to the aryl halide (or sulfonate). In the second step the Pd(II)-aryl amide can
be formed either by direct displacement of the halide (or sulfonate) by the
amide via a Pd(II)- alkoxide intermediate. Finally, reductive
elimination results in the formation of the desired C-N bond and the Pd(0) catalyst
is regenerated. Below is the catalytic cycle for the formation of an arylamine.
References
1) a) Guram, A. S.; Rennels, R. A.; Buchwald, S.
L. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1995, 34, 1348-1350. b) Louie, J.; Hartwig, J.
F. Tetrahedron Lett. 1995, 36, 3609-3612.
2). Hillier, A.C.;
Grasa, G. A.; Viciu, M.S.; Lee, H. M.; Yang, C; Nolan, S. P. J. Organomet.
Chem. 2002, 69-82.
3) Shen, Q.; Hartwig, J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006,
128, 10028-10029.
Palladium catalysed cyanation
The palladium catalysed cyanation of aromatic halides offers a
convenient alternative to the Rosemund-Von Braun reaction, which often employs
harsh reaction conditions and can have a labour intensive workup. As the
cyanide nucleophile is a strong σ-donor and can poison the catalyst, it is necessary
to keep its concentration low during the reaction. To achieve this Zn(CN)2 is often
employed as the cyanide source as its solubility in DMF (a common solvent for
this reaction) is limited.
An alternative, non-toxic, source of cyanide has also been reported. K4[Fe(CN)6]
can be used in combination with palladium catalysts to synthesise aryl nitriles
from their corresponding halides.
Reference:
1) Schareina, T.;
Zapf, A.; Beller, M. Chem. Comm. 2004, 1388-1389
2) Weissman, S. A.;
Zewge, D.; Chen, C. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 1508-1510
Palladium catalysed
carbonylation
As with most palladium mediated C-C bond forming reactions palladium
catalysed carbonylation is compatible with a range of functional groups. This
gives it significant advantages over standard organolithium and Grignard
chemistry for the synthesis of aryl aldehydes, acids, esters and amides.
References
1) Beller, M.; Magerlein, W.; Indolese, A. F.; Fischer C. Synthesis,
2001, 1098-1110.
2) Kumar K.; Zapf, A.; Michalik, D; Tillack, A.; Heinrich,
T.; Bottcher, H.; Arlt, M.; Beller, M. Org. Lett., 2004, 6, 7-10.
3) Ashfield, L.; Barnard, C. F. J.; Org. Process Res. Dev., 2007, 11, 39-43.