FULL PAPER
Table 1.
[Ru3(CO)12]-catalyzed transfer semihydrogenation of diarylal-
Table 2.
ACHTNUGTRNEN[NUG Ru3(CO)12]-catalyzed transfer semihydrogenation of diarylal-
kynes affording (Z)-stilbenes.[a]
kynes affording (E)-stilbenes.[a]
Alkyne
Alkene
Yield Z/E[c]
Alkyne
1a
Stilbene
Yield [%][b]
E/Z[c]
>99:1
>99:1
[%][b]
1
2
91
93
1
93
40
84
96:4
>99:1
97:3
1c
2[d]
3[e]
3
4
1e
1g
88
87
>99:1
4
5
92
93
>99:1
>99:1
97:3
[d]
5
1h
1i
85
86
–
6[e]
98:2
6
7
95
92
>99:1
7
89
>99:1
95:5
[a] Reaction conditions: alkyne (0.5 mmol), TFA (0.75 mmol), H2O
(1.0 mmol), PPh3 (0.025 mmol), [Ru3(CO)12] (0.005 mmol), DMF
(1.0 mL), sealed tube, 1458C, 3 h, under N2. [b] Total isolated yield.
[c] Determined by GC analysis of the reaction mixture. [d] No Z product
was isolated. [e] Reaction time was 6 h.
8
9
96
98
99:1
75:25
[a] Reaction conditions: alkyne (0.5 mmol), HOAc (0.75 mmol), H2O
(1.0 mmol), PPh3 (0.025 mmol), [Ru3(CO)12] (0.015 mmol), DMF
(1.0 mL), sealed tube, 1458C, 24 h, under N2. [b] Total isolated yield.
[c] Determined by GC analysis of the reaction mixture. [d] Conversion
was 44% (GC analysis). [e] Conversion was 87% (GC analysis).
(1.0 mol%), PPh3 (5.0 mol%), TFA (1.5 equiv), and H2O
(2.0 equiv), 1a underwent transfer semihydrogenation at
1458C completely within only 3 h (Table 2, entry 1). Dif-
ferent diarylated alkenes could be obtained in high yield
under similar reaction conditions with excellent trans-ste-
reoselectivity (Table 2, entries 2–7).
HOAc (conv. 39%, Z/E ratio 77:23), both the conversion of
1a and the stereoselectivity of the transfer semihydrogena-
tion were unsatisfactory.
As summarized in Tables 1 and 2, the present stereodiver-
gent ruthenium-catalyzed transfer semihydrogenation of in-
ternal alkynes occurs with excellent chemoselectivity. For
À
With the aim of extending the transfer semihydrogenation
to other internal alkynes, various substrates were examined
under the same reaction conditions. As shown in Table 1, al-
though the reductive reaction of 5-decyne (1b) produced
cis-5-decene in only 40% isolated yield with 44% conver-
sion of 1b (Table 1, entry 2), diaryl alkynes with a variety of
substituents on the aromatic rings underwent the transfer
semihydrogenation smoothly to afford the corresponding
stilbenes in excellent yields (Table 1, entries 3–9). With the
exception of 1h, which showed relative low stereoselectivity,
probably due to the existence of the coordinative thienyl
group (Table 1, entry 9), all diaryl alkynes underwent trans-
fer semihydrogenation with excellent stereoselectivity to
afford cis-isomers with ratios higher than 96%.
When the effect of organic acids on the catalytic activity
was examined, it was surprising to find that the use of TFA
instead of HOAc not only resulted in an acceleration in the
rate of transfer semihydrogenation, but also switched the
stereochemical behavior to afford the trans-isomer predomi-
nantly. As shown in Table 2, in the presence of [Ru3(CO)12]
example, the C O bond of the benzyl ether in 1e was not
reductively cleaved, nor was concomitant double bond shift
isomerization observed in 2b. Furthermore, the carbonyl
group in 1g was tolerated. In the case of 1,4-bis(phenylethy-
nyl)benzene (1h), both the Z,Z isomer (2h; Table 1,
entry 8) and the E,E isomer (3h; Table 2, entry 5) were ste-
reoselectively formed in excellent yield.
The synthetic usefulness of the present stereodivergent
transfer semihydrogenation was further developed in the ef-
ficient synthesis of analogues of cis-combretastatin A-4 and
trans-resveratrol. As shown in Equations (1) and (2), under
two different standard reaction conditions, the transfer semi-
hydrogenation of 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(3,4,5- trimethoxy-
phenyl)acetylene (1k) afforded the corresponding alkenes
in high yields with the formation of cis-isomer 2k with 93%
selectivity, and trans-isomer 3k in 98% isomeric purity, re-
spectively.
Moreover, because the p-cyclohexyl-substituted stilbenes
are potential liquid crystalline compounds,[8] the transfer
semihydrogenation of 1-[4-(4-trans-n-propylcyclohexyl)-
Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 8462 – 8465
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8463