J . Org. Chem. 2002, 67, 2481-2484
2481
Tr a n sition -Meta l-P r om oted Hyd r obor a tion of Alk en es: A Un iqu e
Rever sa l of Regioselectivity
Terence C. Morrill,* Christopher A. D’Souza, Lu Yang, and Anthony J . Sampognaro
Department of Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14623
tcmsch@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Received September 18, 2001
When hydroboration of 1-octene is carried out in the presence of catalytic amounts of rhodium
trichloride followed by the usual oxidation (hydrogen peroxide in aqueous alkali), only minor
proportions of 1-octanol (2.4%) are formed accompanied by very significant amounts of 2- (17.4%),
3- (36.9%), and 4-octanol (43.3%). These product compositions are obtained in good overall yield
when the borane-THF complex is slowly added to a stirred solution of 1-octene in THF solvent
containing the rhodium trichloride. Isomerization of 1-octene to 2-, 3-, and 4-octene in the presence
of rhodium trichloride alone is far too slow to account for the foregoing results. The mechanism
likely involves multiple and reversible addition/elimination of a Rh-activated B-H species across
the double bonds.
In tr od u ction
products that are very similar to those obtained for the
uncatalyzed reaction.9
Transition-metal-catalyzed hydroborations have been
studied extensively because of their synthetic utility.1
While metals such as Li, Ni, La, Ru, Ir, and Ti2 have been
used with varying degrees of success, Rh(I) has remained
the metal of choice for catalyzed hydroborations. In 1975,
Kono and Ito3 showed that RhCl(PPh3)3 (Wilkinson’s
catalyst), which was known to catalyze hydrogenation4
and the hydrosilylation5 of alkenes, undergoes oxidative
addition when treated with catecholborane (CBH). How-
ever, the real impetus to the use of rhodium compounds
to catalyze hydroborations was given by a very novel
experiment by Ma¨nnig and No¨th6 in 1985. While, RhCl-
(PPh3)3-catalyzed addition of CBH to styrene has been
shown to proceed with novel regio- and stereoselectivi-
ties,7 aliphatic alkenes, under similar conditions,8 yield
The mechanism proposed for these reactions involves
the oxidative addition of a B-H bond to the Rh(I) species,
followed by alkene insertion into the Rh-H bond and
subsequent C-B bond coupling.6 The mechanism for the
homogeneous hydrogenation has certainly been a model
for Rh(I)-promoted hydroborations. Deuterium labeling
experiments using 0.1 equiv of catecholborane-d revealed
the presence of the label in the recovered starting
material, indicating the reversibility of the migratory
insertion of alkenes into Rh-H(D) bonds.10 These labeling
experiments also revealed the dramatic effect on the
outcome of the reaction, as a consequence of catalyst
oxidation.
Evans et al.10a obtained small quantities of isomeric
octanols during the [Rh(nbd)(diphos-4)]BF4-catalyzed hy-
droboration of trans-4-octene using CBH and only 4-oc-
tanol when RhCl(PPh3)3 was employed. In stark contrast,
Srebnik and Pereira11 obtained 100% terminal octyl
pinacolboronate during the RhCl(PPh3)3-catalyzed hydro-
boration of trans-4-octene using pinacolborane (PBH), a
result analogous to the hydrozirconation12 of alkenes.
Westcott et al.13a observed similar reversals of regio-
selectivity during the rhodium-catalyzed hydroboration
of allylbenzene. These results clearly reveal the sensitiv-
ity of the elementary steps of the hydroboration catalytic
cycle to the substrate, hydroborating agent, and catalyst.
(1) For reviews, see: (a) Burgess, K.; Ohlmeyer, M. J . Chem. Rev.
1991, 91, 1179. (b) Evans, D. A.; Fu, G. C.; Muci, A. R. In Advances in
Catalytic Processes; Doyle, M. P., Ed.; J AI: Greenwich, CT, 1995; Vol.
1, pp 95-121. (c) Pelter, A.; Beletskaya, I. Tetrahedron 1997, 53, 4957.
(2) For transition-metal-catalyzed hydroborations other than rhod-
ium, see the following. (a) Ni: Kabalka, G. W.; Narayana, C.; Reddy,
N. K. Synth. Commun. 1994, 24, 1019. (b) Ru: Burgess, K.; J aspars,
M. Organometallics 1993, 12, 4197. (c) La: Harrison, K. N.; Marks,
T. J . J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 9220. (d) Li: Arase, A.; Nunokawa,
Y.; Masuda, Y.; Hoshi, M. J . Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun. 1991, 205.
(e) Ti: Hartwig, J . F.; He, X. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 1696. (f) Ir:
Sowa, J . R.; Brinkman, J . A.; Nguyen, T. T. Org. Lett. 2000, 2, 981.
(3) Kono, H.; Ito, K.; Nagai, Y. Chem. Lett. 1975, 1095.
(4) Wilkinson, G.; Young, J . F.; J ardine, F. H.; Osborn, J . A. J . Chem.
Soc. (A) 1966, 1711.
(5) Haszeldine, R. N.; Parish, R. V.; Parry, D. J . J . Organomet.
Chem. 1967, 9, 13.
(6) Ma¨nnig, D.; No¨th, H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1985, 24,
878; U. S. Patent No. 4 731 463, 1988.
(9) Pelter, A.; Smith, K.; Brown, H. C.; Borane Reagents; Academic
Press: New York, 1988.
(10) (a) Evans, D. A.; Fu, G. C.; Anderson, B. A. J . Am. Chem. Soc.
1992, 114, 6679. (b) Burgess, K.; van der Donk, W. A.; Marder, T. B.;
Westcott, S. A.; Baker, T. A.; Calabrese, J . C. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1992,
114, 9350. (c) Burgess, K.; Donk, W. A.; Kook, A. M. J . Org. Chem.
1991, 56, 2949, 7360.
(11) (a) Srebnik, M.; Pereira, S. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 909.
(b) Srebnik, M.; Pereira, S. Tetrahedron Lett. 1996, 37, 3283.
(12) Hart, D. W.; Schwartz, J . J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1974, 96, 8115.
(13) (a) Westcott, S. A.; Blom, H. P.; Marder, T. B.; Baker, R. T. J .
Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 8863. (b) Westcott, S. A.; Blom, H. P.;
Marder, T. B.; Baker, R. T.; Calabrese, J . C. Inorg. Chem. 1993, 32,
2175.
(7) For a study of the selectivity of hydroborartion of vinylarenes
with rhodium catalysts, see: (a) Hayashi, T.; Matsumoto, Y.; Ito, Y.
J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 3426. (b) Evans, D. A.; Fu, G. C. J . Org.
Chem. 1990, 55, 2280. (c) Suzuki, A.; Satoh, M.; Miyaura, N. Tetra-
hedron Lett. 1990, 31, 231. (d) Dai, L.; Zhang, J .; Lou, B.; Guo, G. J .
Org. Chem. 1991, 56, 1670. (e) Hayashi, T.; Matsumoto, Y.; Ito, Y.
Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 1991, 2, 601. (f) Burgess, K.; van der Donk,
W. A.; J arstfer, M. B.; Ohlmeyer, M. J . J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113,
6139.
(8) (a) Evans, D. A.; Fu, G. C.; Hoveyda, A. H. J . Am. Chem. Soc.
1988, 110, 6917. (b) Evans, D. A.; Fu, G. C.; Hoveyda, A. H. J . Am.
Chem. Soc. 1992, 114, 6671.
10.1021/jo0109321 CCC: $22.00 © 2002 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 03/26/2002