Synthesis of 5-, 6-Aryl Octahydrocyclopenta[b]pyrroles
A R T I C L E S
Scheme 1 a
Figure 1.
be minimized, the reaction may be directed toward product 4
provided that alkene insertion into the Pd-N bond is not
completely inhibited. The two main classes of phosphines that
are well-documented in their ability to decrease the rate of
reductive elimination reactions are small, electron-rich ligands
(e.g., PMe2Ph)12 and chelating ligands with small bite angles
(e.g., dppe).12,13 Therefore, these types of ligands seemed to be
potentially viable candidates for the selective formation of 4.14
The selective formation of products 3 and 5 was more difficult
to envision, as the formation of these products requires
conditions that minimize C-N bond-forming reductive elimina-
tion without completely suppressing C-C bond-forming reduc-
tive elimination. In the case of product 3, the rate of C-C bond-
forming reductive elimination of intermediate 7 would need to
be faster than competing â-hydride elimination (k3 > k4). We
reasoned that it might be feasible to achieve selectivity for 3
by employing chelating ligands with moderate to large bite
angles (e.g., dppf, BINAP, or dpe-phos) to minimize the rate
of â-hydride elimination15 (k4) while still allowing C-C bond-
forming reductive elimination16 of 7 to occur at a reasonable
rate (k3).17 If adequate control of the relative rates of C-N and
C-C bond-forming reductive elimination could not be achieved
through variation of phosphine ligand, we felt it should be
possible to decrease the rate of C-N bond-forming reductive
elimination by employing an electron-deficient N-aryl substituent
on the substrate 1.18
a Conditions: 1.0 equiv of 1a, 1.2 equiv of 4-Ph(C6H4)Br, 1.4 equiv of
NaOtBu, 1 mol % Pd2(dba)3, 4 mol % P(o-tol)3, toluene, 110 °C. Isolated
yield: 2 (19%), 3 (32%), 4 (5%), 5 (12%) for Ar ) 4-methoxyphenyl,
Ar1 ) 4-(phenyl)phenyl.
(a)reductive elimination to afford 3,9 (b) â-hydride elimination
and alkene displacement to afford 4, or (c) â-hydride elimina-
tion, reinsertion, and reductive elimination to afford 5 (Scheme
1).2 Despite the apparently complex mechanism of this reaction,
we felt that selective formation of 2-5 might be achieved by
altering the catalyst structure and/or the nitrogen nucleophilicity
to control the relative rates (k1-k7) of each possible step in the
catalytic cycle. This would provide access to a variety of
products with a 1-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octane core, which is found
in a number of biologically active molecules.10,11 In this article,
we present a detailed description of the effects of ligand
structure, nitrogen nucleophilicity, and aryl halide electronics
on the ratios of products observed in reactions of 1 with aryl
bromides. These studies have led to the selective synthesis of
products 2-5 in good yields from a single precursor via the
use of an appropriate catalyst for each transformation. The
experiments described herein also provide further evidence to
support the mechanistic hypothesis outlined in Scheme 1.
The selective synthesis of 5 would require a scenario in which
the rate of reversible â-hydride elimination19 from 7 to afford
8 is fast relative to the rate of reductive elimination from 7 (k4
> k3). In this scenario it seemed likely that the equilibrium
between alkylpalladium complex 7 and π-complex 8 would lie
far to the right, as examination of molecular models reveals a
severe steric interaction between the N-aryl substituent and the
metal fragment in 7 (Figure 1). In principle, 8 could undergo
Results
Effect of Ligand Structure on Product Distribution. Prior
to the start of our optimization studies, we sought to identify
catalyst properties that might be expected to provide some
degree of selectivity for each of the products 2-5. The
mechanistic proposal described above (Scheme 1) suggests that
if the rate of reductive elimination from 6 (k1) is fast relative to
all other steps, then 2 should be obtained in high yield. Thus,
we hypothesized that the selective synthesis of product 2 could
be achieved in a straightforward manner by employing pal-
ladium catalysts supported by bulky, electron-rich phosphine
ligands that are known to be highly effective at promoting C-N
bond-forming reductive elimination reactions.5
(12) (a) Gillie, A.; Stille, J. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980, 102, 4933-4941. (b)
Driver, M. S.; Hartwig, J. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 8232-8245.
(c) Driver, M. S.; Hartwig, J. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 7217-
7218.
(13) Dppe ) 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, dppp ) 1,3-bis(diphenylphos-
phino)propane, dppb ) 1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane, dppm ) 1,1-
bis(diphenylphosphino)methane, dpp-benzene ) 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-
benzene, dcpe ) 1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane, BINAP ) (()-
2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl, dpe-phos ) bis(2-diphen-
ylphosphinophenyl)ether, dppf ) 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphinoferrocene),
xantphos ) 9,9-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)xanthene.
(14) Our previous studies showed that use of certain electron-rich phosphines
(e.g., 2-dicyclohexylphosphinobiphenyl) provided acceptable yields in the
Pd-catalyzed carboamination reactions of γ-aminoalkenes. Thus, it seemed
possible that the alkene insertion into the Pd-N bond may also potentially
proceed with other electron-rich phosphines. See ref 2.
(15) (a) Jensen, D. R.; Schultz, M. J.; Mueller, J. A.; Sigman, M. S. Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. 2003, 42, 3810-3813. (b) Steinhoff, B. A.; Stahl, S. S.
Org. Lett. 2002, 4, 4179-4181 and references therein.
(16) Culkin, D. A.; Hartwig, J. F. Organometallics 2004, 23, 3398-3416 and
references therein.
(17) van Leeuwen, P. W. N. M.; Kamer, P. C. J.; Reek, J. N. H.; Dierkes, P.
Chem. ReV. 2000, 100, 2741-2770.
(18) The rate of C-N bond-forming reductive elimination decreases as the
nitrogen becomes less nucleophilic. See: (a) Reference 12b. (b) Yin, J.;
Buchwald, S. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 6043-6048. (c) Yamashita,
M.; Cuevas Vicario, J. V.; Hartwig, J. F. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125,
16347-16360.
We reasoned that, if the rates of all possible C-N and C-C
bond-forming reductive elimination steps (k1, k3, and k7) could
(8) For an example of a catalytic reaction that likely proceeds via insertion of
norbornene into an Ir-N bond, see: Casalnuovo, A. L.; Calabrese, J. C.;
Milstein, D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1988, 110, 6738-6744.
(9) Milstein, D.; Stille, J. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1979, 101, 4981-4991.
(10) (a) Schultz, A. G.; Dai, M. Tetrahedron Lett. 1999, 40, 645-648. (b)
Borioni, A.; Del Guidice, M. R.; Mustazza, C.; Gatta, F. J. Heterocycl.
Chem. 2000, 37, 799-810.
(11) For recent synthetic approaches to the 1-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octane ring system,
see: (a) Aron, Z. D.; Overman, L. E. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 913-916. (b)
Pecanha, E. P.; Verli, H.; Rodrigues, C. R.; Barreiro, E. J.; Fraga, C. A.
M. Tetrahedron Lett. 2002, 43, 1607-1611. (c) Gansauer, A.; Pierobon,
M.; Bluhm, H. Synthesis 2001, 2500-2520. (d) Denmark, S. E.; Senan-
ayake, C. B. W. Tetrahedron 1996, 52, 11579-11600. (e) Larock, R. C.;
Yang, H.; Weinreb, S. M.; Herr, R. J. J. Org. Chem. 1994, 59, 4172-
4178.
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J. AM. CHEM. SOC. VOL. 127, NO. 24, 2005 8645