Journal of the American Chemical Society
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were taken on either a Bruker 300, 400, or 500 MHz spectrometer. IR
spectra were taken with a Perkin-Elmer Spectrum 2000 FT-IR
spectrometer. Gas chromatography was performed on a HP-5890A gas
chromatograph utilizing a DB-5 column with He as the carrier gas. X-
ray diffraction data were collected on a Bruker Apex II diffractometer.
Crystal data, data collection and refinement parameters are
summarized in the Supporting Information (SI) (Table S1). The
structures were solved using direct methods and standard difference
map techniques, and were refined by full matrix least-squares
procedures on F2 with SHELXTL (Version 6.1).7 Benzene and THF
were distilled from Na/benzophenone ketyl and stored over 3 Å
molecular sieves. Benzene-d6 (Cambridge Isotope Laboratories) was
dried by distillation from CaH2 and then deoxygenated by three
freeze−pump−thaw cycles. All liquids were dried by distillation from
CaH2 and then deoxygenated by three freeze−pump−thaw cycles and
stored under an argon atmosphere. Phenylacetylene, phenylacetylene-
d1, methyl propiolate, diphenylacetylene, dimethyl acetylenedicarbox-
ylate, and di-tert-butyl acetylenedicarboxylate were purchased from
commercial sources.
129.04, 128.40, 128.28, 128.12, 127.96, 127.36, 127.17, 127.02, 126.40,
125.99, 33.12, 25.70, 14.96. IR (neat) 3060, 3023 (sp2 C−H stretch),
2962, 2922, 2852 (sp3 C−H stretch), MS (APCI) 299 [M + 1].
1
2-(Diphenylmethylene)-1-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene (11). H
NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3, δ) 7.37−7.14 (m, 14H, ArH), 4.14 (q (J =
7.0 Hz), 1H, C−H), 3.81 (AB system (J = 21 Hz, Δν = 263.7 Hz), 2H,
inequivalent CH2 pair) 1.08 (d (J = 7.0 Hz), 3H, CH3). 13C NMR
(125 MHz, CDCl3, δ) 147.6, 144.3, 143.0, 142.5, 141.1, 136.3, 129.5,
129.0, 128.5, 128.2, 126.71, 127.66, 126.60, 124.4, 123.8, 43.6, 37.9,
21.4 IR (neat) 3079, 3056, 3020 (sp2 C−H stretch), 2962, 2922, 2860
(sp3 C−H stretch) cm−1. MS (FAB) 295 [M − 1]
Kinetic Measurements. Stock solutions (C6D6) of both CpCr-
(CO)3H and the appropriate alkyne were added separately to a J-
Young NMR tube and frozen in two layers with appropriate
concentrations to achieve a 10-fold excess of alkyne. This was kept
frozen until the experiment began, when it was quickly melted, mixed,
and inserted into the probe of a 500 MHz NMR spectrometer which
had been equilibrated to 50.0 ( 0.5)°C using an ethylene glycol
chemical shift thermometer. Spectra were taken every 3 min, and the
intensity of the hydride resonance (δ −5.6) was compared with that of
an internal standard (hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane). Reactions were
monitored through at least three half-lives and fit to a first-order
exponential. The product peaks from the reaction with DMAD were fit
to the model in Scheme S1 (SI) using Kintecus kinetic modeling
software.12 Reported rate constants other than that for phenyl-
acetylene are the average of three kinetic runs.
Materials. CpCr(CO)3H and CpCr(CO)3D were synthesized by
known procedures and sublimed prior to use.8 Methyl propiolate-d1,9
dimethylphenylmaleate,10 and the cobaloxime 1211 were also
synthesized by literature procedures.
(3-(2-Ethynylphenyl)prop-1-ene-1,1-diyl)dibenzene (8). To a
solution of 2-bromo-phenylethynyltrimethylsilane (1.58 mmol) in
THF (16 mL) was added nBuLi (1.74 mmol, 1.1 equiv) at −78 °C and
stirred for 20 min. CuCN (71 mg, 0.79 mmol) was then added to the
solution and the temperature raised to −20 °C for 20 minutes after
which time the solution turned from yellow to pale pink. The solution
was returned to −78 °C, and 3-bromo-1,1-diphenyl-prop-1-ene (431
mg, 1.58 mmol in 1 mL THF) was added dropwise, and the mixture
was brought to room temperature slowly and stirred overnight. The
reaction was quenched with NH4Cl, extracted with ether (50 mL, 3
times), and dried with MgSO4 and the solvent was removed.
To this crude mixture in 5 mL of 10:1 THF/H2O was added
dropwise a solution of 0.45 g of tetrabutylammonium fluoride
dissolved in 2 mL of the same solvent mixture at 0 °C. This was
stirred for 12 h and worked up in the same manner as before. This was
then isolated (clear oil, 199 mg, 43% yield) from a silica column using
a 4% toluene in hexane mixture as mobile phase (Rf = 0.19). 1H NMR
(300 MHz, CDCl3, δ), 7.49−7.13 (m, 14H, ArH), 6.27 (t (J = 7.5 Hz),
1H, C−H), 3.66 (d (J = 7.5 Hz), 2H, CH2) 3.19 (s, 1H, C−H).
13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ) 143, 142.7, 142.4, 139.8, 132.9, 130.0,
129.0, 128.6, 128.3, 128.1, 127.4, 127.1, 127.04, 127.00, 126.0, 121.6,
82.2, 81.3, 34.5. IR (neat) 3293 (C−H stretch), 2104 (CC
stretch), 1598 (ring stretch), 700 (C−H bend). MS (APCI) 295 [M
+ 1]+.
EPR Measurements. X-band EPR spectra were taken on a Bruker
EMX spectrometer at ambient temperature in benzene in 4 mm J-
Young style tubes (concentrations of organic reactants were ∼1 M). g
values were calculated by comparison with an internal sample of
TEMPO (g = 2.00623).13 EPR simulations were done with Bruker’s
Simphonia software.14 EPR spectra not included in the text can be
found in the SI.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
■
Unactivated alkynes such as TMSCCH and 1-octyne proved
unreactive. However, aryl alkynes, such as phenylacetylene, are
readily consumed by CpCr(CO)3H (1). The reaction of
phenylacetylene (0.044 M) with 2 equiv of 1 (0.088 M) yields
the products shown in eq 3. The major products are styrene
Procedure for Cyclizations. Caution! All reactions under gas
pressure should be properly shielded! A solution of (3-(2-ethynylphenyl)-
prop-1-ene-1,1-diyl)dibenzene (8) (0.187 mmol) and CpCr(CO)3H
(0.014 mmol) in benzene (0.5 mL) was added to a Fischer−Porter
reactor that was subsequently charged with an appropriate pressure of
H2. This reaction was then heated with vigorous stirring until the
reaction was over, during which time the green color changed to
brown and then to greenish-gray once the starting material had been
consumed (no color change observed with cobaloxime 12). For details
of compound isolation see SI.
(44%), ethylbenzene (5%), and the organometallic complex 4
(51%). Crystals of 4 were identified by X-ray crystallography as
the fulvene complex (Figure 1); its structure is similar to that of
known fulvene complexes15 (see SI for structural parameters).
The observation of 4 made us question whether H• transfer
was occurring. In order to determine whether the addition of
M−H was syn or anti we treated phenylacetylene-d1 with 1. We
obtained cis- and trans-styrene-d1 in a 1:1 ratio, consistent with
the mechanism in Scheme 1. Donation of an H• to the
terminal carbon of phenylacetylene will give the vinyl radical 5,
which is linear.16 Transfer of a second H• from 1 will not be
affected by the position of the deuterium, so there will be a 1:1
E:Z (7:6) ratio for the resulting styrene-d1. The same result has
2-Benzhydryl-3-methyl-1H-indene (10). 1H NMR (300 MHz,
CDCl3, δ) 7.30−7.16 (m, 14H, ArH), 5.53 (s, 1H, CPh2H), 3.19 (q (J
= 1.9 Hz), 2H, CH2), 2.08 (t (J = 1.9 Hz), 3H, CH3) (long-range
coupling confirmed by COSY). 13C NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3) 146.9,
143.75, 143.0, 135.2, 129.2, 128.4, 128.0, 126.4, 124.4, 123.4, 118.8,
50.2, 39.8, 10.8 IR (neat) 3056, 3024 (sp2 C−H stretch), 2962,
2918(sp3 C−H stretch) cm−1 MS (APCI) 167 [CH(Ph)2]+, 295 [M −
1]+, 329 [M + 33]+
(3-(2-Ethylphenyl)prop-1-ene-1,1-diyl)dibenzene (9). 1H NMR
(300 MHz, CDCl3, δ) 7.41−7.16 (m, 14H, ArH), 6.20 (t (J = 7.5
Hz), 1H, C−H), 3.47 (d (J = 7.5 Hz), 2H, CH2−CH), 2.54 (q (J
= 7.5 Hz), 2H, CH2−CH3), 1.12 (t (J = 7.5 Hz), 3H, CH3). 13C NMR
(100 MHz, CDCl3, δ) 142.50, 142.25, 142.19, 139.88, 138.59, 129.90,
́
been reported by Ungvary for the reaction of phenylacetylene-
d1 with HCo(CO)4.2i
15513
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja306120n | J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 15512−15518