Isomerization Of Allylic Alcohols Research Articles

Base‐Catalyzed Domino Isomerization/Oxidant‐Free Dehydrogenative Annulation of Allylic Alcohols: Scope, Mechanism, and Application

AbstractA domino reaction comprising four consecutive steps based on the strategy of isomerization of allylic alcohols was developed. This base‐catalyzed protocol provided an approach for constructing polysubstituted quinolines without additional additives. A wide range of di‐ or trisubstituted γ‐aminoaryl allylic alcohols bearing alkyl or (hetero)aryl substituents were transformed to a range of structurally diverse quinolines. The utility of this transformation was demonstrated by the application in the concise synthesis of several polysubstituted quinoline derivatives, including natural products and pharmacological agents. Preliminary mechanistic experiments suggest that the isomerization of γ‐aminoaryl allylic alcohol proceeds via an intramolecular 1,3‐hydrogen shift whereas for the aromatization of the dihydroquinoline intermediate two possible pathways exist: acceptorless dehydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation.

Theoretical investigation of allyl alcohol isomerization over NiO-supported Au catalysts

Abstract The isomerization of allyl alcohols over Au/NiO catalysts produces corresponding aldehydes with high selectivities, but the mechanism underlying this catalytic reaction remains unclear. We investigate the isomerization of allyl alcohols over NiO-supported Au10 catalysts using density functional theory calculations. Based on these calculations, the presence of an open base site is critical for isomerization over Au/NiO catalysts, and the rate-determining step is the protonation of the β-carbon of the substrate.

Synthesis of phosphine‐tethered indenyl ruthenium complexes through c‐h bonds activation followed by C‐C bond coupling: High performance catalysts for the redox isomerization of allylic alcohols

Reactions of 3‐(2‐pyridyl)indene and 5‐methyl‐3‐(2‐pyridyl)indene with Ru(PPh3)3Cl2, generated two phosphine‐tethered indenyl ruthenium complexes {η5,κ1P‐(C5H4N‐C9H4R‐C6H4PPh2)}RuCl(PPh3) (R = H, 1; R = CH3, 2), respectively. While treatment of 3‐(6‐methyl‐2‐pyridyl)indene with Ru(PPh3)3Cl2 gave a product {η5‐(CH3C5H3N‐C9H6)}RuCl(PPh3)2 (3); 1 could further react with NaBArF4 to produce a cationic complex [{η5,κ1P‐(C5H4N‐C9H5‐C6H4PPh2)}Ru(PPh3)][BArF4] (15). When treated with NaOMe in methanol, 1 was converted into [{η5,κ1P‐(C5H4N‐C9H5‐C6H4PPh2)}RuH(PPh3)] (16). These five complexes were investigated as catalysts for redox isomerization of allylic alcohols, and 16 exhibited best catalytic activity in the presence of tBuOK, reaching quantitative yield in 5 min when α‐vinylbenzyl alcohol was used as the substrate, requiring catalyst loading of 1 mol%.

A water-soluble polyphosphorhydrazone Janus dendrimer built by "click" chemistry as support for Ru-complexes in catalysis.

The field of supported catalysis has experienced increased attention with respect to the development of novel architectures for immobilizing catalytic species, aiming to maintain or enhance their activity while facilitating the easy recovery and reuse of the active moiety. Dendrimers have been identified as promising candidates capable of imparting such properties to catalysts through selective functionalization. The present study details the synthesis of two polyphosphorhydrazone (PPH) dendrons, each incorporating azide or acetylene groups at the core for subsequent coupling through "click" triazole chemistry. Employing this methodology, a novel PPH Janus dendrimer was successfully synthesized, featuring ten polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains on one side of the structure and ten Ru(p-cymene) derivatives on the other. This design was intended to confer dual properties, influencing solubility modulation, and allowing the presence of active catalytic moieties. The synthesized dendrimer underwent testing in the isomerization of allyl alcohols in organic solvents and biphasic solvent mixtures. The results demonstrated a positive dendritic effect compared with model monometallic and bimetallic species, providing a proof-of-concept for the first PPH Janus dendrimer with tested applications in catalysis.

Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated ketones via a hydrogenation/isomerization cascade.

Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-substituted α,β-unsaturated ketones has been developed for the enantioselective synthesis of chiral α-substituted secondary alcohols with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to >99 : 1 dr, 98% ee). Mechanistic experiments suggest that the reaction proceeds via a Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of the CO bond in concert with a base-promoted allylic alcohol isomerization, and the final stereoselectivities were controlled by a DKR process during the asymmetric hydrogenation of the ketone intermediate.

Poly(2,2′-Bibenzimidazole)-Supported Ruthenium Complex: A Recyclable Heterogeneous Catalyst for the Redox Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols to Ketones

A metallopolymer, Ru(p-cymene)@poly(2,2′-BiBzlm), which is synthesized by the incorporation of [Ru(p-cymene)Cl]2 into poly(bibenzimidazoles), was proven to be a general and efficient catalyst for the redox isomerization of allylic alcohols to ketones. Mechanistic experiments showed that this reaction is in agreement with an intramolecular hydrogen shift. This catalyst was also applied to the gram-scale synthesis of a biologically active molecule. Furthermore, this catalyst could be recycled five times without an obvious decrease in activity.

Ru complexes containingN‐methyl‐1,3,5‐triaza‐7‐phosphaadamantane (mPTA) as catalysts for the isomerization of 2‐cyclohexen‐1‐ol

The complex [RuCp(H2O‐κO)(mPTA)2](CF3SO3)3·MeOH (4·MeOH) was synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques and its crystal structure determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction (mPTA = N‐methyl‐1,3,5‐triaza‐7‐phosphaadamantane). The catalytic activity of4for the redox isomerization of 2‐cyclohexen‐1‐ol into cyclohexanone was studied in water, methanol/water, and biphasic systems, reaching the highest conversion rate in biphasic water/cyclohexane (1:1) at pH 1.7 and under N2. The aqueous phase containing4was recycled up to 7 consecutive runs, reaching a total turnover number (TON) of 471 without significant losses of catalyst. Therefore, this reaction is a unique procedure for the isomerization of cyclic allylic alcohols without metal contamination of the product. The catalytic reaction mechanism was studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), showing that the reaction probably proceeds through the formation of an intermediate in which the substrate is η2‐coordinated to the metal.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed 1,3-Aryl Redox Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols.

The isomerization of allylic alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds is a well-established reaction in organic synthesis. However, 1,3-carbon migration is a quite challenging field, and thus transformation has remained elusive until now. Herein, we present the ruthenium-catalyzed intramolecular 1,3-aryl migrative isomerization, which provides a mild and environmentally friendly method to synthesize various ketones with high step- and atom-economy and broad substrate scope. Meanwhile, the Ru(III)-catalyzed C(sp3)-C(aryl) bond cleavage of unactivated allylic alcohols may serve as a heuristic paradigm for transition-metal-catalyzed C-C activation.

Ruthenium indenylidene complexes bearing bis(N-Alkyl/N’-Mesityl)-sided heterocyclic carbene ligands

We report on the synthesis and characterization of new ruthenium indenylidene complexes bearing two unsymmetrical N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands denoted as RuCl2(3-phenyl-1-indenylidene)bis(1-mesityl-3-R-4,5-dihydroimidazole-2-ylidene) in which R is methyl 7a and cyclohexyl 7b. Complexes 7a and 7b were analyzed using single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, elemental analysis, IR, NMR spectroscopy, and HRMS. The catalytic activities of complexes 7a and 7b were evaluated in olefin metathesis reactions: ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cis,cis-1,5-cyclooctadiene (COD) and ringclosing metathesis (RCM) of diethyl diallyl malonate (DEDAM) as well as in the isomerization of allylic alcohols. Complexes 7a and 7b failed to initiate the reactions at room temperature in all tested reactions, which might be due to the high thermal stability and low degree of lability of the Ru-CNHC bonds. At 80 °C, the complex 7a showed the best performance due to an increased initiation and a decreased steric obstruction towards the incoming substrates.

Catalytic Asymmetric Isomerization of (Homo)Allylic Alcohols: Recent Advances and Challenges

AbstractCatalytic asymmetric isomerization of allylic or homoallylic alcohols into synthetically useful carbonyl compounds is a redox‐neutral and 100 % atom‐economic transformation, which is of great interest and has gained increasing attention from both academic and industry. This minireview summarizes the advances in catalytic enantioselective isomerization and it involved tandem reactions over the past five years, also discusses their advantages and limitations, and expounds the synthetic chances still open for further development.

Electrocatalytic Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols: Straightforward Preparation of β-Aryl-Ketones

Electrochemical synthesis has been rapidly developing over the past few years. Here, we report a practical and eco-friendly electrocatalytic isomerization of allylic alcohols to their corresponding carbonyl compounds. This reaction can be carried out in undivided cells without the addition of external chemical oxidants and metal catalysts. Moreover, this reaction features a broad substrate scope including challenging allylic alcohols bearing tri- and tetra-substituted olefins and affords straightforward access to diverse β-aryl-ketones. Mechanistic investigations suggest that the reactions proceed through a radical process. This study represents a unique example in which electrochemistry enables hydrogen atom transfer in organic allylic alcohol substrates using a simple organocatalyst.

KOtBu/DMSO Catalytic System for Isomerization of Allylic Alcohols to Ketones

AbstractThe isomerization of allylic alcohols is an important reaction because it can afford carbonyl compounds in an atom‐economical manner. Although base‐catalyzed methods are more desirable than those using transition‐metal catalysts from both the economic and environmental points of view, these methods have several drawbacks, such as narrow substrate scope and high catalyst loading. This paper reports the development of an efficient KOtBu/DMSO catalytic system suitable for the isomerization of a broad range of allylic alcohols with good yields, to which previously reported systems could not be applied. This catalytic system was successfully applied to a tandem allylic isomerization/electrophilic trapping reaction, thereby highlighting its synthetic utility.

Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Racemic Allylic Alcohols via an Isomerization–Dynamic Kinetic Resolution Cascade

Prochiral racemic allylic alcohols are converted to enantioenriched chiral alcohols bearing adjacent stereocenters catalyzed by a diamine diphosphine Ru complex in the presence of tBuOK. The protocol features a broad substrate scope (56 examples) and high diastereo- and enantioselectivities (up to >99:1 dr, >99% ee) and could be applied to the synthesis of enantioenriched chromane and indane compounds. Mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction proceeds via tBuOK-promoted allylic alcohol isomerization followed by Ru-catalyzed hydrogenative dynamic kinetic resolution.

Cooperative Asymmetric Cation-Binding Catalysis.

Asymmetric cation-binding catalysis in principle enables the use of (alkali) metal salts, otherwise insoluble in organic solvents, as reagents and effectors in enantioselective reactions. However, this concept has been a formidable challenge due to the difficulties associated with creating a highly organized chiral environment for cations and anions simultaneously. Over the last four decades, various chiral crown ethers have been developed as cation-binding phase-transfer catalysts and examined in asymmetric catalysis. However, the limited ability of chiral crown ethers to generate soluble reactive anions in a confined chiral cage offers a restricted reaction scope and unsatisfactory chirality induction. To address the constraints of monofunctional chiral crown ethers as cation-binding catalysts, it is therefore desirable to develop a cooperative cation-binding catalyst possessing secondary binding sites for anions, which enables the generation of a reactive anion within a chiral cage of a catalyst. This account summarizes our design, development, and applications of chiral BINOL-based oligoethylene glycols (oligoEGs) as a new type of bifunctional cation-binding catalyst. We initially found that achiral oligoEGs were efficient promoters in nucleophilic fluorination with potassium fluoride. Thereby, we hypothesized that, by breaking the closed cyclic ether unit of chiral crown ethers, the free terminal -OH groups could activate the electrophiles by hydrogen bonding whereas the ether oxygens could act as the Lewis base to coordinate metal ions, thus generating soluble anions in a confined chiral cage. This hypothesis was realized by synthesizing a series of chiral variants of oligoEGs by connecting two 3,3'-disubstituted-BINOL units with glycol linkers. Readily available BINOL-based chiral oligoEGs enabled numerous asymmetric transformations out of the reach of chiral monofunctional crown ether catalysts. We have demonstrated that this new type of bifunctional cation-binding catalysts can generate a soluble fluoride anion from alkali metal fluorides, which can be a versatile chiral promoter for diverse asymmetric catalytic reactions, kinetic resolution (selectivity factor of up to ∼2300), asymmetric protonation, Mannich reactions, tandem cyclization reactions, and the isomerization of allylic alcohols and hemithioacetals. We have also successfully utilized our chiral oligoEG catalysts along with alkali metal salts of carbon- and heteroatom-based nucleophiles, respectively, for asymmetric Strecker reactions and the asymmetric synthesis of chiral aminals. The power of our cooperative cation-binding catalysis was exemplified by kinetic resolution reactions of secondary alcohols, achieving highly enantioselective catalysis with only <1 ppm loading of an organocatalyst with high TOFs (up to ∼1300 h-1 at 1 ppm catalyst loading). The broadness and generality of our cooperative asymmetric cation-binding catalysis can be ascribed, in a similar fashion, to active-site architectures of enzymes using allosteric interactions, highly confined chiral cages formed by the incorporation of alkali metal salts in the catalyst polyether chain backbone, and the cooperative activation of reacting partners by hydrogen-bonding and ion-ion interactions. Confining reactive components in such a chiral binding pocket leads to enhanced reactivity and efficient transfer of the stereochemical information.

Mechanistic insight into the isomerization of allyl alcohol catalyzed by the Co(II)-PNP catalyst: Crucial role of spectator ligand

Pincer complexes based on first-row transition metals have a wide range of applications in the field of homogeneous catalysis. However, the variable coordination geometry and electronic structure bring about complicated influencing factors, which restricts the deep understanding of the catalytic mechanisms. Herein, a detailed theoretical study based on the density functional theory (DFT) was conducted to illuminate the mechanistic preference of the isomerization of allyl alcohol catalyzed by the Co(II) pincer catalyst developed by de Vries et al. (Chem. Eur. J., 25 (2019) 7820–7825). Three different coordination geometries, two spin states (doublet and quartet) and corresponding pathways were taken into consideration. The calculation results suggest that the Co(II)-PNP catalyst prefers the inner-sphere migratory insertion mechanism at doublet state instead of metal-ligand cooperation (MLC) mechanism, which is consistent with the experimental results. Although the catalyst bears the NH functional ligands, the π−basic spectator ligands lead to the changeable coordination geometries, resulting in the emergence of spin crossover process with high energy barrier. Based on these findings, we designed a series of model catalysts and evaluated their catalytic activity on a theoretical level. The results indicate that π−acidic ligands and rigid tetradentate ligands can effectively avoid the occurrence of spin crossover processes and ensure that the Co(II) catalyst follows the MLC mechanism at low spin state. In addition, the activity of the catalyst can be precisely adjusted by changing the ligand substituents electronic effect. These findings and predictions are expected to provide guidance for future catalyst design.

Palladium‐Catalyzed Synthesis of α‐Methyl Ketones from Allylic Alcohols and Methanol

AbstractOne‐pot synthesis of α‐methyl ketones starting from 1,3‐diaryl propenols or 1‐aryl propenols and methanol as a C1 source is demonstrated. This one‐pot isomerization‐methylation is catalyzed by commercially available Pd(OAc)2 with H2O as the only by‐product. Mechanistic studies and deuterium labelling experiments indicate the involvement of isomerization of allyl alcohol followed by methylation through a hydrogen‐borrowing pathway in these isomerization‐methylation reactions.magnified image

Manganese(I) catalyzed cross-coupling of secondary allylic alcohols and primary alcohols

Cross-coupling of alcohols to value-added products by using sustainable catalytic reactions has gained attention in recent years. Isomerization of secondary allylic alcohol to the corresponding enolizable ketone is an atom economical and known transformation. Herein, a selective cross-coupling of secondary allylic alcohol and primary alcohol is reported to afford the corresponding α-alkenyl or alkylation products. These catalytic protocols proceed via acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling (ADC) or borrowing hydrogen (BH) strategies, which liberates water and/or hydrogen as the only byproducts. Highly abundant manganese-based pincer catalysts catalyze the reactions.

Palladium-Mediated Tandem Isomerization-Methylenation of Allyl Alcohols: One-Pot Synthesis of 1,5-Diketones.

A novel methodology for the synthesis of 1,5-diketones through a one-pot isomerization-methylenation of a variety of allylic alcohols has been established for the first time. This methodology utilizes commercially available palladium acetate and easily accessible BINOL phosphoric acid. Both isomerization of allylic alcohol and oxidation of methanol occurred through a single catalyst. The practical utility of the methodology has been shown by synthesizing substituted pyridines via sequential addition. Mechanistic investigation reveals the isomerization of allylic alcohols to the corresponding ketone, which ultimately undergoes methylenation, leading to 1,5-diketones, having H2 and H2O as the only byproduct.

1,3-Alkyl Transposition in Allylic Alcohols Enabled by Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer.

A method is described for the isomerization of acyclic allylic alcohols into β-functionalized ketones via 1,3-alkyl transposition. This reaction proceeds via light-driven proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) activation of the O-H bond in the allylic alcohol substrate, followed by C-C β-scission of the resulting alkoxy radical. The transient alkyl radical and enone acceptor generated in the scission event subsequently recombine via radical conjugate addition to deliver β-functionalized ketone products. A variety of allylic alcohol substrates bearing alkyl and acyl migratory groups were successfully accommodated. Insights from mechanistic studies led to a modified reaction protocol that improves reaction performance for challenging substrates.

1,3‐Alkyl Transposition in Allylic Alcohols Enabled by Proton‐Coupled Electron Transfer

AbstractA method is described for the isomerization of acyclic allylic alcohols into β‐functionalized ketones via 1,3‐alkyl transposition. This reaction proceeds via light‐driven proton‐coupled electron transfer (PCET) activation of the O−H bond in the allylic alcohol substrate, followed by C−C β‐scission of the resulting alkoxy radical. The transient alkyl radical and enone acceptor generated in the scission event subsequently recombine via radical conjugate addition to deliver β‐functionalized ketone products. A variety of allylic alcohol substrates bearing alkyl and acyl migratory groups were successfully accommodated. Insights from mechanistic studies led to a modified reaction protocol that improves reaction performance for challenging substrates.