Communications
pyridyl nitrogen of 3o at phosphorus, or through a concerted
1,5-electrocyclization. Although a number of examples of
intramolecular dative N!PIII interactions have been
reported,[26–28] which can be regarded as “arrested” inter-
mediates of a stepwise cyclization process, it was of interest to
probe the course of ring closure for 3 in more detail.[15]
A computational study of compounds 3o,c and 4o,c was
undertaken at the B3LYP/6-31G** level of theory.[15] The
natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and computed molecular
orbitals and structure of 3c are in good agreement with the
experimentally observed iminophosphorane tautomer.[15] For
the methylpyridine system 4, N-phosphinoimine 4o[29] and
iminophosphorane 4c are both minima on the hypersurface;
however, 4c is 20.2 kcalmolꢀ1 (at 258C) higher in energy. This
is consistent with only the open form 4o being observed
experimentally because of steric constraints imposed by the
methyl substituent; this is supported by the calculated
repulsion energies for 4o/4c.[15] In contrast, the minima
located for the closed 3c and open 3o[29] tautomers are at
almost identical energies (DE = 3.0 kcalmolꢀ1 at 258C). These
calculations support the existence of the 3o/3c equilibrium in
solution. No transition state was found, thus showing there to
be no kinetic barrier to this thermodynamically allowed
summarization process, which indicated that it is very likely
that cyclization of 3o takes place in a concerted manner.
In summary, it has been established both experimentally
and theoretically that the pyridyl-N-phosphinoimine bearing
diisopropylamino substituents at phosphorus, 3o, exists in
valence tautomeric equilibrium in solution with the closed
anellated s4-1l5-[1,3,2]diazaphosphole derivative 3c. The
small energy difference between 3o and 3c means that 3
may react as an iminophosphorane, an N,Pchelate, and a
dihydropyridine depending on the reagents added. This study
highlights that slight modifications of the Psubstituents may
dramatically affect the chemical behavior of organophospho-
rus compounds and that incorporation of the bis(diisopropy-
lamino)phosphino moiety is a powerful methodology for the
stabilization of unusual, reactive species.[30,31]
Figure 3. X-ray molecular structure of 7.[16] H atoms are omitted for
clarity. Thermal ellipsoids are drawn at the 50% probability level.
Selected bond lengths [] and angles [8]: P–N1 1.6745(9),P1–N2
1.6308(9),N1–C2 1.429(1),N2–C1 1.436(1),C1–C2 1.360(1),C2–C3
1.438(1),C3–C4 1.358(2),C5–C6 1.3433(15),Al–N2 1.9883(9),N1-P-
N2 95.70(4),P-N2-C1 109.46(7),P-N1-C2 109.97(7).
coordination of the AlMe3 fragment is consistent with the
=
localized endo-cyclic P N bond of 3c, and is entirely
analogous to the reactions of classical iminophosphoranes in
which hard Lewis acids bind to the N terminus of the P–N
linkages.[22,23]
Since 3c demonstrates reactivity analogous to iminophos-
phoranes, it was of interest to explore other reactions typical
of this type of functional group, for example cycloaddition
[23]
=
across the P N bond. Thus, a solution of 3c in dichloro-
methane was treated with dimethyl acetylene dicarboxylate
(DMAD) at room temperature. Over a period of 12 h, a new
product 8 slowly formed and was isolated in 95% yield
(Scheme 3).[15] However, the 31PNMR spectrum of 8 clearly
highlights that cycloaddition has not occurred at the P–N
multiple bond, as a single resonance is observable at a
chemical shift similar to that for 3c (8: d = + 46.6; 3c: d =
+ 42.3 ppm). Instead, a pseudo-[2+2] cycloaddition occurred
at the localized C3–C4 double bond of the six-membered
heterocycle, which is readily confirmed by a combination of
1H, 13C, and 2D NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry
(m/z = 554). This reactivity perfectly mirrors the established
chemistry of N-substituted 1,2-dihydropyridines, which
behave as enamines in their reactions with DMAD to
afford cyclobuta[b]pyridines.[24] It is reasonable to suggest
that 3c is prevented from undergoing cycloaddition across the
Experimental Section
All reactions/manipulations were carried out under an atmosphere of
dry nitrogen by using standard Schlenk and glovebox techniques.3c:
Phenyllithium (1.8m, 5.3 mL, 9.6 mmol) was added to a cooled
(ꢀ788C) solution of 2-cyanopyridine (1.00 g, 9.6 mmol) in DME
(50 mL). The mixture was stirred for 1 h before (iPr2N)2PCl (2.56 g,
9.6 mmol) in DME (70 mL) was added. After stirring for 22 h at room
temperature, volatile components were removed in vacuo and the
product extracted with hexane. On cooling (ꢀ308C) red crystals of 3c
formed (2.33 g, 59%). 31P{1H} NMR (161.91 MHz, C6D6): d =
=
P N bond as a result of steric constraints imposed by the
bulky diisopropylamino substituents.
As would be expected, the preference of pyridyl-N-
phosphinoimines towards intramolecular cyclization is very
sensitive to both the nature of the substituents of the
phosphorus atoms and of the pyridyl moiety (see above).
Indeed, reaction of 1 with alkyl or aryl chlorophosphines
R2PCl (R = Ph,[9] iPr, cyclohexyl, and tBu[25]) affords exclu-
sively acyclic, open products. These observations are consis-
tent with the diisopropylamino substituents rendering the
phosphorus centre of 3o more electrophilic and hence more
susceptible to cyclization by reaction with the nucleophilic
pyridine moiety, compared with its P-dialkyl and -diaryl
analogues. However, the mechanism for the formation of the
closed heterocycle 3c could be envisaged as occurring by
either a stepwise intramolecular nucleophilic attack of the
+ 42.3 ppm
(s);
MS
(FAB+)
m/z:
412
[M+].
3o: 31P{1H} NMR (161.91 MHz, C6D6): d = + 71.0 ppm (s).
4o: An identical procedure to that used for the preparation of 3c
was employed, using 2-cyano-6-methyl-pyridine (0.50 g, 4.2 mmol),
phenyllithium (1.8m, 2.4 mL, 4.2 mmol), and (iPr2N)2PCl (1.13 g,
4.2 mmol). 4o was isolated as a brown solid (830 mg, 46%). 31P{1H}
NMR (80.96 MHz, C6D6): d = + 71.3 ppm; MS (EI+) m/z: 426 [M+].
5: A C6D6 solution of 3 (30 mg, 0.073 mmol) was treated with grey Se
(58 mg, 0.73 mmol) and heated at 508C for 80 h. 31P{1H} NMR
(80.96 MHz, C6D6): d = + 55.5 ppm (s + satellites, 1JSe,P = 821 Hz).
6: A solution of 3 (198 mg, 0.5 mmol) in toluene (10 mL)was added to
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Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 8674 –8677