.
Angewandte
Communications
Table 1: Selected optimization conditions.
cyclic trisubstituted olefins were employed as the coupling
partner (Scheme 1). Given that spirocycles are important
structural motifs often found in bioactive natural products,
whereas efficient synthesis of functionalized spirocycles has
heretofore been challenging,[7] this decarbonylative C C
À
activation strategy would provide a complementary approach
to the previous spirocyclization methods.[8] However, the
challenge here is how one can promote the b-H elimination
and decarbonylation instead of direct reductive elimination?
Previously, we discovered that bidentate phosphine
ligands with a large bite angle promote the direct reductive
elimination; however, a Lewis acid is needed to enhance the
electrophilicity of the substrate to permit coupling with
polysubstituted olefins [Eq. (3)].[6a] We hypothesized that the
use of monodentate p-acidic ligands (inspired by a recent
work of Tang[9]) would benefit the formation of the spirocycle
in two different aspects: 1) the faster ligand exchange
(compared to bidentate ligands) would facilitate the forma-
tion of open coordination sites on Rh, which in turn could
favor both b-H elimination and CO deinsertion; 2) the more
electron-deficient catalyst would coordinate more strongly
with the trisubstituted olefins, thus enhancing subsequent
migratory insertion.[10]
Entry
Precatalyst
Ligand/Additive
Yield [%][a]
3a/4a
2a
1
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[Rh(CO)2(acac)]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2]
none
none
AgSbF6 (10 mol%)
PPh3
P(OCH2CF3)3
P[OCH(CF3)2]3
P(2-furyl)3
P[3,5-(CF3)2C6H3]3
P(C6F5)3
3/<1%
0
0
0
0
0
7/ꢀ4
14/14
30/7
72[f]/ꢀ4
66/ꢀ5
2
0
0
0
0
0
22
39
60
22[f]
15
2[b]
3[c]
4
5
6
7
8
9[d]
10[d,e]
11[d,g]
P(C6F5)3
P(C6F5)3
[a] Yields were determined by 1H NMR spectroscopy using mesitylene as
the internal standard. [b] 10 mol% [Rh(CO)2(acac)] was used. [c] 3-OH-
benzocyclobutenone was isolated in 53% yield. [d] The reaction time was
36 h. [e] 10 mol% P(C6F5)3 of the ligand was used. [f] Yields of isolated
products. [g] 5 mol% P(C6F5)3 was used. acac=acetylacetonates.
coordination sites for b-H elimination.[10] It is interesting to
note that under these reaction conditions the C3 olefin isomer
(after one “chain walk”[11]) of the spirocyclic product was
selectively afforded (for a mechanistic study, see below).[12,13]
Further lowering the ligand/metal ratio to 0.5:1 gave a similar
result (entry 11, Table 1).
Next, the scope of this decarbonylative spirocyclization
was investigated (Table 2). First, cyclic olefins with different
ring sizes were examined. To our delight, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-, and 12-
membered ring substrates all underwent this transformation
smoothly (entries 1–5, Table 2); a single olefin isomer was
observed except in the case of the 5-membered ring substrate
(entry 2, Table 2). Intriguingly, spirocyclization of the 12-
membered ring substrate (1e) proceeded to give a trans olefin
in 90% yield without further alkene isomerization (entry 5,
Table 2). The enhanced reactivity of substrate 1e is likely
attributed to a transannular interaction caused by the 12-
membered cycle.[14] The structures of spirocycles 3a, 3c, and
3d were unambiguously confirmed by X-ray crystallography.
Electron-deficient olefins, such as an enone, also reacted,
albeit with a lower conversion (entry 6, Table 2). It is note-
worthy that this spirocycle formation method is highly
chemoselective and a variety of sensitive functional groups,
including dienes, ketones, enamides, esters, benzyl and vinyl
ethers, and unprotected tertiary alcohols are tolerated
(entries 6–10, 15, and 16, Table 2), which is likely attributed
to the near neutral reaction conditions. For example, when
dihydrobenzopyran 1h was employed as the substrate, the
vinyl ether based spirocycle was isolated in 71% yield
(entry 8, Table 2).
To test our hypothesis, compound 1a, which previously
gave the tetracyclic “cut and sew” product 2a [Eq. (3)], was
employed as the model substrate for the formation of the
spirocycle. A number of RhI precatalysts and phosphine
ligands were examined. Indeed, when electron-rich or biden-
tate ligands, such as PCy3, dppb, and dppf, were employed, the
desired decarbonylative spirocyclization product was not
obtained; in contrast, use of the more electron-poor
[{Rh(CO)2Cl}2] alone produced the 2H-benzofuran-[4.5]-
spirocycle 3a in about 3% yield (entry 1, Table 1). Use of
an acac ligand on the Rh versus Cl was detrimental to the
catalyst reactivity, leading to slight decomposition of 1a
(entry 2, Table 1). The in situ generated cationic RhI led to the
dealkylation of 1a to give 3-OH-benzocyclobutenone
(entry 3, Table 1). Use of the more electron-rich PPh3 or
highly electron-deficient phosphites as the ligands completely
shut down the catalyst reactivity (entries 4–6, Table 1).
However, we found that employment of the p-acidic triaryl-
phosphine ligands significantly promoted the formation of the
desired spirocycle 3a (entries 7–11, Table 1), among which
the P(C6F5)3 ligand proved to be most efficient. Finally, simply
by lowering the ligand/metal ratio to 1:1, formation of the
undesired reductive-elimination product (2a) was signifi-
cantly inhibited; spirocycle 3a was isolated as the major
product in 72% yield (entry 10, Table 1). Presumably, when
less ligand is present, the metal tends to provide open
In addition, when the C8-methoxy-substituted benzo-
cyclobutenone 1j was utilized, the spirocycle containing
a benzyl ether moiety (3j) was isolated in 59% yield as
a single isomer (entry 10, Table 2). While the exact reason is
1892
ꢀ 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 1891 –1895