Contrasted effect of CO on the metal-catalyzed cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes derived from monoterpenes

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/aoc.1844

The CO-bubbling effect in cycloisomerization reactions of enynes derived from monoterpenes has been studied using PtCl₂, [Rh ₂Cl₂(CO)₄] and AuCl₃ as catalytic systems. All the precursors are efficient catalysts for the cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes. The reaction proceeds through exo-dig and endo-dig pathways, which are consistent with the exclusive coordination of the alkyne triple bond to the metal center. The CO ligand not only increases the reaction rates but also induces significant variations in the two reaction pathways. Notably, this effect is also strongly dependent on the nature of the starting enyne. Copyright

Full text of DOI:10.1002/aoc.1844

Full Paper
Received: 26 July 2011
Accepted: 21 August 2011
Published online in Wiley Online Library: 11 October 2011
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/aoc.1844
Contrasted effect of CO on the metal-catalyzed
cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes
derived from monoterpenes
Ariadna Fuente-Hernàndez,a,b Philippe Costes,a Philippe Kalck,a
Ulises Jáuregui-Haza,b Odile Dechy-Cabareta and Martine Urrutigoïtya*
The CO-bubbling effect in cycloisomerization reactions of enynes derived from monoterpenes has been studied using PtCl2,
[Rh2Cl2(CO)4] and AuCl3 as catalytic systems. All the precursors are efficient catalysts for the cycloisomerization of O-tethered
enynes. The reaction proceeds through exo-dig and endo-dig pathways, which are consistent with the exclusive coordination
of the alkyne triple bond to the metal center. The CO ligand not only increases the reaction rates but also induces significant
variations in the two reaction pathways. Notably, this effect is also strongly dependent on the nature of the starting enyne.
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: cycloisomerisation; enynes; monoterpenes; gold catalyst; platinum catalyst; rhodium catalyst
in toluene (0.1 Msolution) were stirred at 80 ꢀC, under CO bub-
bling. Progress of the reaction was followed by gas chromatogra-
Introduction
Functionalized cyclic compounds are very important because
they are often part of the basic skeleton of biological active pro-
ducts and transition metal-catalyzed cycloisomerization of
enynes represents an important synthetic tool depending on
both the nature of the starting material and the metal catalyst.[1]
We gained experience in modifying natural terpenes through
palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reactions, including cyclocar-
bonylations.[2] In the course of proceeding further in this work,
structural modifications on these pure monoterpenes were then
carried out. Starting from monoterpenes bearing an alcohol func-
tion, a terminal alkyne moiety was introduced, leading to the
corresponding O-tethered enynes. We reported the cycloisomeri-
zation of cyclic and acyclic 1,6- or 1,7-enynes into polycyclic
derivatives containing an inner cyclopropane ring, or 1,3- or 1,4-
diene moieties, depending on the studied enyne structure.[3–5]
More particularly, we examined the reactivity of the enynes 1, 2
and 3 derived from perillyl alcohol, isopulegol and nerol, respec-
tively, in the presence of rhodium, platinum and gold catalysts. In
this communication, we report the first observations we have
made on contrasted selectivities observed when the reaction is
performed under a CO atmosphere, in addition to kinetic effects
as recently observed.[6–8] Indeed, Fürstner et al.[7] reported the
cycloisomerization of enynes catalyzed by PtCl2, with an acceler-
ation of the reaction rate, but not on the selectivity of the pro-
ducts, due to the presence of CO. A similar rate increase was
reported by Chatani et al. and Shibata et al.[6,8] for the cycloi-
somerization of 1,6-enynes and nitrogen-tethered 1,6-enynes
catalyzed by iridium or ruthenium complexes under CO.
phy (GC). After each experiment, the solvent was evaporated
under reduced pressure and the residue was purified by chroma-
tography on silica gel (eluent: pentane–ethyl acetate, 200:1).
Selectivity was calculated from the ratio of the corresponding
peak surfaces in GC.
GC apparatus was a PerkinElmer GC Clarus FID, equipped with
a Stabilawax-DA capillary column (30 m, 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 mm,
Restek), with helium as carrier gas, oven temperature 80 ꢀC, hold
2 min to 200 ꢀC at 20 ꢀC/min, hold 7 min.
Results and Discussion
As previously identified in our studies,[3–5] the cycloisomerization
of O-tethered enynes 1–3 provides the cyclopropanes 1a, 2a and
3a, the 1,3-dienes 1b, 2b and 3 d, whereas the 1,4-dienes 3b and
3c are only obtained starting from nerol, as shown in Fig. 1. Here,
we recall the structures of these cyclic products and compare the
reaction rates and selectivities obtained with PtCl2, [Rh2(m-Cl)2
(CO)4], and AuCl3 when an atmosphere of CO is maintained in
the reaction medium.
In order to accelerate these reactions, requiring usually 2 h for
total conversion, we introduced one atmosphere of CO, as previ-
ously reported by other research groups.[6–8] In addition to the
kinetic effects, we were interested to observe a CO effect which
*
Correspondence to: Martine Urrutigoïty, CNRS, LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de
Coordination), 205 route de Narbonne, F-31077 Toulouse, France.
E-mail: Martine.Urrutigoity@ensiacet.fr
Experimental
a CNRS, LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), F-31077 Toulouse, France
Enynes, prepared according to the previously reported proce-
dure,[3] and PtCl2, AuCl3 or [Rh2Cl2(CO)4] (0.025 molar equivalent)
b Instituto Superior de Tecnologias y Ciencias Aplicadas, Ciudad de la Habana,
Cuba
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 815–819
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A. Fuente-Hernandez et al.
O
O
O
[M]
+
toluene, CO
1
1b
1a
[M]
+
O
O
toluene, CO
O
2
2a
2b
O
[M]
toluene, CO
+
+
+
O
O
O
O
3
3a
3b
3c
3d
Figure 1. Cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes derived from monoterpenes 1–3: (a) enyne derived from perillyl alcohol 1; (b) enyne derived from
isopulegol 2; (c) enyne derived from nerol 3.
could be significant for the selectivity of the three cycloisomeriza-
tion reactions.
product detected during their study of a cationic iridium-
catalyzed cycloisomerization of 1,6-enynes bridged by nitrogen
under a CO atmosphere.[8b] Incorporation of CO would result
from the oxidative coupling of the alkyne and alkene moieties,
followed by the migratory CO insertion. Such a reaction can occur
with platinum and rhodium catalysts but not with gold ones.[9]
Thus, in the present study, only the triple bond coordinates the
Pt, Rh or Au metal center and follows the carbenoid mechanism
we previously proposed.[4,5]
All the reactions were performed in toluene at 80 ꢀC, starting
from PtCl2, [Rh2(m-Cl)2(CO)4], and AuCl3. Tables 1–3 show the
results obtained at various reaction times in the presence or ab-
sence of CO. Small amounts (close to the detection limits) of
other products were detected by chromatography, but these
can be disregarded by comparison with the product yields shown
in the tables.
We did not observe any CO incorporation into the products.
Shibata et al. made the same observation with no carbonylative
Table 2. Cycloisomerization results obtained with the enyne derived
from isopulegol
Table 1. Cycloisomerization results obtained with the enyne derived
from perillyl alcohol
Entry Catalyst
Reaction PCO Conv. Selectivity Selectivity
time (min)
(%)
in 2a (%) in 2b (%)
Entry Catalyst
Reaction PCO Conv. Selectivity Selectivity
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
PtCl2
5
120
5
—
—
6
88
19
97
5
n.d.
18
n.d.
72
time (min)
(%)
in 1a (%) in 1b (%)
1 atm
1 atm
—
9
81
1
PtCl2
5
5
—
1 atm
1 atm
—
98
80
98
12
43
12
94
5
57
54
34
32
36
46
32
—
8
120
5
4
84
2
[Rh2Cl2(CO)4]
n.d.
13
n.d.
37
3
30
5
47
120
5
—
15
3
4
[Rh2Cl2(CO)4]
54
1 atm
1 atm
—
n.d.
15
n.d.
68
5
120
5
—
68
120
5
60
2
6
1 atm
1 atm
—
81
AuCl3
n.d.
n.d.
15
n.d.
n.d.
50
7
120
5
81
120
5
—
6
8
AuCl3
100
100
100
100
—
—
—
—
1 atm
1 atm
12
18
9
120
5
—
10
12
37
120
18
61
10
11
1 atm
1 atm
120
n.d., not determined, due to the low conversion rate.
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Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 815–819

Effect of CO on cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes
Table 3. Cycloisomerization results obtained with the enyne derived from nerol
Entry
Catalyst
PtCl2
Reaction time (min) PCO Conv. (%) Selectivity in 3a (%) Selectivity in 3b (%) Selectivity in 3c (%) Selectivity in 3 d (%)
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
5
120
5
—
—
6
99
21
99
32
77
32
99
5
n.d.
13
7
n.d.
57
6
n.d.
3
n.d.
14
59
70
3
1 atm
1 atm
—
—
0
120
5
6
2
[Rh2Cl2(CO)4]
26
23
13
16
n.d.
14
26
39
60
48
59
68
n.d.
9
6
120
5
—
14
14
4
16
3
1 atm
1 atm
—
120
5
3
AuCl3
n.d.
14
23
16
n.d.
16
10
9
120
5
—
13
16
73
1 atm
1 atm
10
13
120
n.d., not determined, due to the low conversion rate.
Cycloisomerization of Enyne Derived from Perillyl Alcohol
Cycloisomerization of Enyne Derived from Isopulegol
The most significant results obtained are listed in Table 1. In all
cases, the main product is the cyclopropane derivative 1a. AuCl3
exclusively provides 1a whether or not CO is present. The reac-
tion remains relatively slow, although an acceleration effect is
observed when one CO atmosphere is maintained; for instance,
after a reaction time of 5 min the yield increases from 5% to
12% (entries 8 and 10) and after 2 h from 10% to 37% (entries
10 and 11). The present reaction follows the endo-dig pathway
shown in Scheme 1, with stabilization of the zwitterionic interme-
diate 1a′. The electrophilic character of the metal is enhanced by
the presence of CO to coordinate the alkyne moiety.
The effect of CO is more dramatic in the case of [Rh2Cl2(CO)4]
rhodium catalyst since the conversion is around twice as fast with
CO and strongly favors compound 1a (entries 5 and 7). This un-
common cyclopropane product in the rhodium-mediated cycloi-
somerization of an enyne provides, after 2 h, a 94% conversion,
81% of 1a and only 7% of the 1,3-diene 1b (entry 7). Formation
of this latter product can result from either the oxidative coupling
or the 5 exo-dig mechanism generating the carbenoid intermedi-
ate 1b′ (Scheme 2). In the absence of any detected carbonylated
product, we favor the carbenoid mechanism.
The same endo- and exo-dig mechanisms described above occur
to produce compounds 2a and 2b. The main results are dis-
played in Table 2. With the three catalysts, the 1,3-diene 2b is fa-
vored, such selectivity presumably being due to the occurrence
of the bicyclo six-membered instead of the tricyclic compound
2a containing a seven-membered structure. Moreover, the alkyne
and the alkene functions of the enyne are in an anti configura-
tion. Thus the exo-dig pathway is favored essentially for this steric
reason. An almost total conversion can be reached with PtCl2
(entry 15), while the rhodium and gold catalysts afford lower
conversions (entries 19 and 23). In each case, the presence of
CO increases the reaction rate and the formation of 2b.
Cycloisomerization of Enyne Derived from Nerol
In the case of nerol, the CO effect on the kinetics and selectivity
of the reaction is more pronounced. The most significant results
are shown in Table 3. As we previously observed,[5] the reaction
allows four products to be formed: one cyclopropane 3a, two
1,4-dienes 3b,c, and one 1,3-diene 3 d.
Selectivity is dramatically modified in the presence of PtCl2 under
one atmosphere of CO (entries 26 and 27). Indeed, for 99% conver-
sion, the major product is 3b, with 57% selectivity (entry 25),
whereas the same reaction under one atmosphere of CO leads to
the major formation of 3d with 70% selectivity, the selectivity in
3b being reduced to 2% (entry 27). The selectivity in 3a is reduced
from 13% to 6%, and that of 3c from 3% to 0%. Thus coordination
Concerning PtCl2, we did not observe an acceleration of the
reaction rate like that described by Fürstner.[7] On the contrary,
there was a slight decrease of the rate (entries 1 and 2).The selec-
tivities are similar. The production of 1a and 1b can obey both
endo- and exo-dig mechanisms described in Schemes 1 and 2,
with cyclopropane being the main product obtained.
O
-
H
-
M
O
+
M
O
O
+
M
endo-dig
1
1a'
1a
Scheme 1. Cycloisomerization of enyne 1 involving the endo-dig pathway, according to Bruneau.[10]
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 815–819
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A. Fuente-Hernandez et al.
M-
H
H
M
M
O
+
O
1
1b'
H
M
M
+
O
O
O
+
1b
Scheme 2. Cycloisomerization of enyne 1 involving the exo-dig pathway, according to Bruneau.[10]
of CO to platinum significantly favors the endo-dig pathway
corresponding to the nucleophilic attack of the C=C double bond
on the terminal carbon atom of the alkyne, leading to the
carbenoid intermediate 300 (Scheme 3). The full mechanism for
the formation of 3 d (and also of 3c) is detailed in Chatani et al.[6]
This selectivity is oriented toward the product 3a in the case of
AuCl3, which arises from the same intermediate 300 shown in
Scheme 3. As observed for the two enynes derived from isopule-
gol and perillyl alcohol, the conversion remains incomplete after
2 h of reaction even if a significant acceleration effect results from
the presence of CO. Notably, the second intermediate resulting
from the exo-dig pathway is still formed, leading to significant
quantities of the two isomers 3b and 3c (entry 35).
When using [Rh2Cl2(CO)4], product 3b is the major isomer
obtained, with 68% selectivity (entry 33). As mentioned before,
3b derives from intermediate 3′ (Scheme 3). Presumably, in the
presence of CO, the [RhCl(CO)2] entity, by cleavage of the chloro-
bridges, is preserved; coordination of the alkyne function occurs
to produce a square planar species, which is attacked by the
close double bond.
[M
[M]-
[M]
3b
3c
+
O
exo-dig
O
O
3
3'
[M]-
H
endo-dig
[M]
+
3a
O
O
3''
[M]-
O
3d
+
Scheme 3. Cycloisomerization of 3 following either the endo-dig or the exo-dig pathway.
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Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 815–819

Effect of CO on cycloisomerization of O-tethered enynes
Conclusion
References
The three Rh(I), Pt(II) and Au(III) d8 precursors, whose the electro-
philic character increases from Rh to Au and is still enhanced
under one atmosphere of CO, are efficient catalysts for the cycloi-
somerization of O-tethered enynes. In the present case, the reac-
tion proceeds by exo-dig and endo-dig pathways, consistent with
the exclusive coordination of the alkyne triple bond to the metal
center. As the CO ligand possesses a p-acceptor character it pro-
vides significant flexibility for the coordination of the alkyne and
increases the electrophilicity of the triple bond. The CO ligand
not only increases the reaction rate but also induces significant
variations on the two reaction pathways. This effect appears
strongly dependent on the nature of the starting enyne. It is par-
ticularly the case of the enyne derived from nerol, whereas for
the two other enynes derived from perillyl alcohol or isopulegol
the CO effect is only pronounced in the reaction rate.
In order to have more information concerning the mechanism
and the species involved, we expect to perform infrared studies
on the catalytic conditions of the reaction. The aim concerns also
the possibility to anticipate somewhat the reactivity of similar
enynes and eventually the effects of substituents in order to
modulate the selectivity according to the coordination sphere
of the metal complex.
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We are grateful for the support of the European Community in
the framework of the ALPHA II-400-FA program. We are also
grateful to Dr Y. Coppel (LCC-CNRS, Toulouse) for 500 MHz NMR
experiments and fruitful discussions.
Appl. Organometal. Chem. 2011, 25, 815–819
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