A study of the reaction of n-BuLi with Ti(Oi-Pr)4 as a method to generate titanacyclopropane and titanacyclopropene species

Chemo- and Regioselective Alkylation of Pyridine N-Oxides with Titanacyclopropanes

While titanacyclopropanes are used to react mainly with ester, amide, and cyano to undergo cyclopropanation, herein they react preferentially with pyridine N-oxide to accomplish C2-H alkylation beyond these functionalities with double regioselectivity. After being pyridylated at the less hindered C-Ti bond, the remaining C-Ti bond of titanacyclopropanes can be further functionalized by various electrophiles, allowing facile introduction of complex alkyls onto the C2 of pyridines. Its synthetic potential has been demonstrated by late-stage diversification of drugs.

Titanium isopropoxide-mediated cis-selective synthesis of 3,4-substituted butyrolactones from CO2

We report a Ti(OiPr)₄-mediated multicomponent reaction, which produces 3,4-substituted cis-δ-lactones from alkyl magnesium chloride, benzaldehyde and CO₂. The key intermediate, titanacyclopropane, is formed in situ from Ti(OiPr)₄ and a Grignard reagent, which enables 1,2-dinucleophilic reactivity that is used to insert carbon dioxide and an aldehyde. An alternative reaction route is also described where a primary alkene is used to create the titanacyclopropane. A computational analysis of the elementary steps shows that the carbon dioxide and the aldehyde insertion proceeds through an inner-sphere mechanism. A variety of cis-butyrolactones can be synthesized with up to 7 : 1 diastereoselectivity and 77% yield.

Titanium catalysis for the synthesis of fine chemicals – development and trends

Atlas as a Titan(ium) is holding the earth-abundant chemistry world. Titanium is the second most abundant transition metal, is a key player in important industrial processes (e.g. polyethylene) and shows much promise for diverse applications in the future.

Modern applications of low-valent early transition metals in synthesis and catalysis

Low-valent early transition metals are often intrinsically highly reactive as a result of their strong propensity toward oxidation to more stable high-valent states. Harnessing these highly reducing complexes for productive reactivity is potentially powerful for C-C bond construction, organic reductions, small-molecule activation and many other reactions that offer orthogonal chemoselectivity and/or regioselectivity patterns to processes promoted by late transition metals. Recent years have seen many exciting new applications of low-valent metals through building new catalytic and/or multicomponent reaction manifolds out of classical reactivity patterns. In this Review, we survey new methods that employ early transition metals and invoke low-valent precursors or intermediates in order to identify common themes and strategies in synthesis and catalysis.

Can the Ti(OiPr)4/nBuLi combination of reagents function as a catalyst for [2+2+2] alkyne cyclotrimerisation reactions?

Catalysis of the cyclotrimerisation of alkynes with the Ti(OiPr)₄/nBuLi system was studied, leading to the development of a particularly convenient and reliable protocol.

Synthesis of Highly Oxygenated Carbocycles by Stereoselective Coupling of Alkynes to 1,3- and 1,4-Dicarbonyl Systems

Densely substituted and highly oxygenated carbocycles are challenging targets for synthesis. In particular, those possessing numerous contiguous, fully substituted carbon atoms (i.e., tertiary alcohols and quaternary centers) are often not accessible in a direct fashion, necessitating the strategic decoupling of ring-formation from the establishment of functionality about the system. Here, we describe an approach to the construction of highly oxygenated mono-, di-, and polycyclic carbocycles from the reaction of disubstituted alkynes with β- or γ-dicarbonyl systems. These processes embrace a variant of metallacycle-mediated annulation chemistry where initial alkyne-carbonyl coupling is followed by a second, now intramolecular, stereoselective C-C bond-forming event. In addition to revealing the basic reactivity pattern in intermolecular settings, we demonstrate that this class of reactivity is quite powerful in a fully intramolecular context and, when terminated by a stereoselective oxidation process, can be used to generate polycyclic systems containing a fully substituted and highly oxygenated five-membered ring.

Cyclopropenes in Metallacycle-Mediated Cross-Coupling with Alkynes: Convergent Synthesis of Highly Substituted Vinylcyclopropanes

Stereodivergent metallacycle-mediated cross-coupling reactions are described for the synthesis of densely functionalized vinylcyclopropanes from the union of alkynes with cyclopropenes. Strategies explored include hydroxyl-directed and nondirected processes, with the latter of these delivering vinylcyclopropanes with exquisite levels of regio- and stereoselectivity. Challenges inherent to these coupling reactions include diastereoselectivity (with respect to the cyclopropene) and regioselectivity (with respect to both coupling partners).

LiOOt-Bu as a terminal oxidant in a titanium alkoxide-mediated [2+2+2] reaction cascade

LiOOt-Bu is an effective oxidant for converting the penultimate organometallic intermediate generated in a titanium alkoxide-mediated [2+2+2] reaction cascade to an allylic alcohol. Oxidation of the presumed allylic titanium species is highly regioselective, providing direct access to substituted hydroindanes containing a primary allylic alcohol. In addition to demonstrating the feasibility of this oxidation process, we document the ability to convert the primary allylic alcohol products to angularly substituted cis-fused hydroindanes.

Synthesis of Highly Functionalized Decalins via Metallacycle-Mediated Cross-Coupling

Bridged bicyclic metallacyclopentenes generated from the [4 + 2] cycloaddition of metallacyclopentadienes with alkenes have been proposed as reactive intermediates in the course of [2 + 2 + 2] annulation reactions. Recently a collection of alkoxide-directed Ti-mediated [2 + 2 + 2] annulation reactions have been discovered for the synthesis of densely functionalized hydrindanes, where the bridged bicyclic metallacyclopentenes from intramolecular [4 + 2] were treated as fleeting intermediates en route to cyclohexadiene products formed by formal cheletropic extrusion of Ti(Oi-Pr)2. In studies aimed at understanding the course of these organometallic cascade reactions it was later discovered that these bridged bicyclic intermediates can be trapped by various elimination processes. Here, we have realized metallacycle-mediated annulation reactions for the assembly of angularly substituted decalins--structural motifs that are ubiquitous in natural products and molecules of pharmaceutical relevance. In addition to defining the basic annulation reaction we have discovered a surprising stability associated with the complex organometallic intermediates generated in the course of this coupling process and document here the ability to control the fate of such species. Ligand-induced cheletropic extrusion of the titanium center delivers cyclohexadiene-containing products, while several distinct protonation events have been identified to realize polycyclic products that contain three new stereocenters (one of which is the angular quaternary center that is a hallmark of alkoxide-directed titanium-mediated [2 + 2 + 2] annulation reactions). Examples of this metallacycle-mediated annulation reaction are provided to demonstrate that a range of stereodefined fused bicyclo[4.4.0]decanes are accessible, including those that contain aromatic and aliphatic substituents, and an empirical model is presented to accompany the observations made.

An annulation reaction for the synthesis of cross-conjugated triene-containing hydroindanes from acyclic precursors

In efforts directed toward the synthesis of seco-prezizaane sesquiterpenoids, a stereoselective annulation reaction has been developed between 4-hydroxy-1,6-enynes and TMS-alkynes that delivers cross-conjugated triene-containing hydroindanes. Contrary to previous reports, enyne substrates bearing two propargylic ethers enable the presumed organometallic intermediate to be trapped by double elimination. The tendency of products from this annulation to undergo Diels-Alder-based dimerization was harnessed to accomplish a two-step complexity-generating sequence en route to densely functionalized carbo- and heteorocyclic systems.

Synthesis of angularly substituted trans-fused hydroindanes by convergent coupling of acyclic precursors

Angularly substituted trans-fused hydroindanes are now accessible by the direct and convergent union of trimethylsilyl (TMS)-alkynes with 4-hydroxy-1,6-enynes by a process that forges three C–C bonds, one C–H bond, and two new stereocenters. The annulation is proposed to proceed by initial formation of a Ti–alkyne complex (with a TMS-alkyne) followed by regioselective alkoxide-directed coupling with the enyne, stereoselective intramolecular cycloaddition, elimination of phenoxide, 1,3-metallotropic shift, and stereoselective protonation of the penultimate allylic organometallic intermediate. Several examples are given to demonstrate the compatibility of this reaction with substrates bearing aromatic and aliphatic substituents, and an empirical model is presented to accompany the stereochemical observations.