Angewandte
Chemie
obtained as well as 1b (H/D = 85:15), which had partial
deuteration of the terminal hxdrogen atom.[11] Notably, no
C1- or C3-deuterated products were observed. One additional
deuterium-labeling experiment [Eq. (2), Scheme 4] clearly
excluded the possibity that the hydrogen atom at C2 of the
deuterium-free cross-coupling product 18c directly
exchanged with the deuterium of 11a in this coupling
system. This fact demonstrated a preferential occurrence of
the hydrogen exchange between the active hydrogen atom of
alcohols and the terminal hydrogen atom of alkenes under the
standard reaction condition.[12,13] Moreover D2O, as an alter-
native active source of hydrogen, was subjected to the current
reaction system [Eq. (3), Scheme 4], and the deuterium of
D2O could also be partially installed at the C2 position of the
product. These above-mentioned results reveal that the active
hydroxy hydrogen atom could undergo a fast iron-catalyzed
regioselective hydrogen exchange between alkenes and
alcohols under the current iron catalysis,[12] thus delivering
the final C2-deuterated products.
Scheme 2. Deuterium-labeled experiment using 10a.
the deuterium at the C3 position of 17c originated entirely
from the a deuterium atom that was adjacent to the hydroxy
group of 10a. This reaction outcome is consistent with what
we have observed previously[6] in this type of cross-coupling of
alcohols and alkenens catalyzed by non-iron catalysts, and
therefore additionally demonstrating that the pathway of our
iron-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction was quite different
from the “oxidation/hydroacylation/reduction” or “transfer-
hydrogenative coupling” processes. Moreover, one crossover
experiment was investigated using a 1:1 mixture of 1,1-
dideuterated 10a and undeuterated 1a (Scheme 3), and
Together with the experiments shown in Schemes 2–4, the
À
ionic C H bond dissociation at the a position of alcohols
could be excluded unambiguously in our iron-catalyzed cross-
À
coupling reaction, and a possible homolysis of the C H bond
at the a position in the alcohols catalyzed by iron was
supported. In light of this mechanistic implication, the radical
scavenger PhSH was subjected to the current cross-coupling
reaction, and the positive inhibiting effect in this control
experiment further indicates the presence of the free radical
species resulting from homolysis.
According to the above experimental results and our
Scheme 3. Deuterium-labeled crossover experiment.
previous reports,[6] a catalytic mechanism for this iron-
catalyzed cross-coupling reaction is proposed in Scheme 5.
3
À
Firstly, iron-initiated activation for cleavage of the C(sp ) H
afforded a statistical distribution of deuterium labels in the
products: the isotopic distribution patterns were analyzed by
1H NMR spectroscopy. This result implies that the hydrogen-
transfer process from alcohol to alkene might proceed
discretely in an intermolecular fashion.
In addition to the above preliminary investigation using
10a (Scheme 2), 11a was also examined to probe the transfer
of the active hydrogen atom [Eq. (1), Scheme 4]. Surprisingly,
the C2-deuterated compound 18c (H/D = 87:13) was
bond adjacent to oxygen[14] of alcohols a is involved in the
formation of A. Then a radical pair B forms followed by
simultaneous free-radical addition and disassociation to
afford [Fe]IV H and a free-radical species C. Subsequently,
À
the metal hydride ([Fe]IV H) undergoes an outer-sphere-type
À
hydrogen transfer to give the coupling product c, thus
regenerating the iron-catalyst [Fe]III for the next catalytic
cycle.
Scheme 4. Deuterium-labeled experiment probing the active hydrogen
atom.[12] Reaction conditions: a) 1. standard reaction conditions,
2. aqueous work-up.
Scheme 5. Proposed catalytic mechanism.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 8761 –8765
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8763