Metalation

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Metalation (Alt. spelling: Metallation) is a chemical reaction that forms a bond to a metal. This reaction usually refers to the replacement of a halogen atom in an organic molecule with a metal atom, resulting in an organometallic compound. In the laboratory, metalation is commonly used to activate organic molecules during the formation of C—X bonds (where X is typically carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen), which are necessary for the synthesis of many organic molecules.

Contents

In synthesis, metallated reagents are typically involved in nucleophilic substitution, single-electron-transfer (SET), and redox chemistry with functional groups on other molecules (including but not limited to ketones, aldehydes and alkyl halides). Metallated molecules may also participate in acid-base chemistry, with one organometallic reagent deprotonating an organic molecule to create a new organometallic reagent.

The most common classes of metallated compounds are organolithium reagents and Grignard reagents. However, other organometallic compounds — such as organozinc compounds — also experience common use in both laboratory and industrial applications.

History

Metalation was first observed in the laboratory by Edward Frankland during a synthesis of diethylzinc in 1849. [1] While this development eventually led to the development of organometallic compounds of other metals, [2] these compounds saw little use in the laboratory because of their expense and (in the case of organozinc compounds) their highly pyrophoric nature. Metalation reactions (particularly in the form of transmetalation) only began to see more widespread use in synthetic laboratories after François Auguste Victor Grignard’s synthesized organomagnesium halides directly from metallic magnesium and organic halides. [3] These newfound organomagnesium reagents' extreme versatility in organic synthesis caused metalation to see widespread use in laboratory science. [4] Organolithium reagents were synthesized for the first time in 1917 by Schlenk and Holtz, [5] though these reagents did not see widespread use as metallating agents or reagents in organic synthesis until Karl Ziegler, Henry Gilman, and Georg Wittig — among others — developed synthetic methods that improved upon this initial synthesis. [6] After these improvements in synthesis came to be known, interest in the compounds increased significantly, as they are generally more reactive than organomagnesium compounds. The first use of an organolithium reagent as a metalation reagent occurred in 1928, with Schlenk and Bergmann's metalation of fluorene with ethyllithium. [7]

Mechanism and applications

Transmetalation

Transmetalation involves the exchange of two metals between organic molecules by a redox exchange mechanism. For example, transmetalations often form a reaction between an organolithium reagent and a metal salt.

Organolithium reagent

When synthesizing simple organolithium reagents, the reduction of one equivalent of a simple alkyl or aryl halide with two equivalents of lithium metal produces one equivalent of a simple alkyl- or aryl-lithium and one equivalent of lithium halide with good yield. [8]

This reaction is known to proceed via a radical pathway that is likely initiated through a single-electron-transfer mechanism of the type shown below. [9]

TBuCl-Li-SET-mechanism-2D-skeletal.png

Magnesium similarly metalates organohalides to give Grignard reagents.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organometallic chemistry</span> Study of organic compounds containing metal(s)

Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and sometimes broadened to include metalloids like boron, silicon, and selenium, as well. Aside from bonds to organyl fragments or molecules, bonds to 'inorganic' carbon, like carbon monoxide, cyanide, or carbide, are generally considered to be organometallic as well. Some related compounds such as transition metal hydrides and metal phosphine complexes are often included in discussions of organometallic compounds, though strictly speaking, they are not necessarily organometallic. The related but distinct term "metalorganic compound" refers to metal-containing compounds lacking direct metal-carbon bonds but which contain organic ligands. Metal β-diketonates, alkoxides, dialkylamides, and metal phosphine complexes are representative members of this class. The field of organometallic chemistry combines aspects of traditional inorganic and organic chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilman reagent</span> Class of chemical compounds

A Gilman reagent is a lithium and copper (diorganocopper) reagent compound, R2CuLi, where R is an alkyl or aryl. These reagents are useful because, unlike related Grignard reagents and organolithium reagents, they react with organic halides to replace the halide group with an R group (the Corey–House reaction). Such displacement reactions allow for the synthesis of complex products from simple building blocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organolithium reagent</span> Chemical compounds containing C–Li bonds

In organometallic chemistry, organolithium reagents are chemical compounds that contain carbon–lithium (C–Li) bonds. These reagents are important in organic synthesis, and are frequently used to transfer the organic group or the lithium atom to the substrates in synthetic steps, through nucleophilic addition or simple deprotonation. Organolithium reagents are used in industry as an initiator for anionic polymerization, which leads to the production of various elastomers. They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry. Due to the large difference in electronegativity between the carbon atom and the lithium atom, the C−Li bond is highly ionic. Owing to the polar nature of the C−Li bond, organolithium reagents are good nucleophiles and strong bases. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Grignard</span> French chemist (1871–1935)

Francois Auguste Victor Grignard was a French chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the eponymously named Grignard reagent and Grignard reaction, both of which are important in the formation of carbon–carbon bonds.

The Corey–House synthesis is an organic reaction that involves the reaction of a lithium diorganylcuprate with an organic halide or pseudohalide to form a new alkane, as well as an ill-defined organocopper species and lithium (pseudo)halide as byproducts.

The Schlenk equilibrium, named after its discoverer Wilhelm Schlenk, is a chemical equilibrium taking place in solutions of Grignard reagents and Hauser bases

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grignard reagent</span> Organometallic compounds used in organic synthesis

A Grignard reagent or Grignard compound is a chemical compound with the general formula R−Mg−X, where X is a halogen and R is an organic group, normally an alkyl or aryl. Two typical examples are methylmagnesium chloride Cl−Mg−CH3 and phenylmagnesium bromide (C6H5)−Mg−Br. They are a subclass of the organomagnesium compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methyllithium</span> Chemical compound

Methyllithium is the simplest organolithium reagent with the empirical formula CH3Li. This s-block organometallic compound adopts an oligomeric structure both in solution and in the solid state. This highly reactive compound, invariably used in solution with an ether as the solvent, is a reagent in organic synthesis as well as organometallic chemistry. Operations involving methyllithium require anhydrous conditions, because the compound is highly reactive toward water. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are also incompatible with MeLi. Methyllithium is usually not prepared, but purchased as a solution in various ethers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organozinc chemistry</span>

Organozinc chemistry is the study of the physical properties, synthesis, and reactions of organozinc compounds, which are organometallic compounds that contain carbon (C) to zinc (Zn) chemical bonds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organocadmium chemistry</span>

Organocadmium chemistry describes the physical properties, synthesis, reactions, and use of organocadmium compounds, which are organometallic compounds containing a carbon to cadmium chemical bond. Cadmium shares group 12 with zinc and mercury and their corresponding chemistries have much in common. The synthetic utility of organocadmium compounds is limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organocopper chemistry</span> Compound with carbon to copper bonds

Organocopper chemistry is the study of the physical properties, reactions, and synthesis of organocopper compounds, which are organometallic compounds containing a carbon to copper chemical bond. They are reagents in organic chemistry.

A carbometalation is any reaction where a carbon-metal bond reacts with a carbon-carbon π-bond to produce a new carbon-carbon σ-bond and a carbon-metal σ-bond. The resulting carbon-metal bond can undergo further carbometallation reactions or it can be reacted with a variety of electrophiles including halogenating reagents, carbonyls, oxygen, and inorganic salts to produce different organometallic reagents. Carbometalations can be performed on alkynes and alkenes to form products with high geometric purity or enantioselectivity, respectively. Some metals prefer to give the anti-addition product with high selectivity and some yield the syn-addition product. The outcome of syn and anti- addition products is determined by the mechanism of the carbometalation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group 2 organometallic chemistry</span>

Group 2 organometallic chemistry refers to the chemistry of compounds containing carbon bonded to any group 2 element. By far the most common group 2 organometallic compounds are the magnesium-containing Grignard reagents which are widely used in organic chemistry. Other organmetallic group 2 compounds are rare and are typically limited to academic interests.

Organomanganese chemistry is the chemistry of organometallic compounds containing a carbon to manganese chemical bond. In a 2009 review, Cahiez et al. argued that as manganese is cheap and benign, organomanganese compounds have potential as chemical reagents, although currently they are not widely used as such despite extensive research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organobismuth chemistry</span>

Organobismuth chemistry is the chemistry of organometallic compounds containing a carbon to bismuth chemical bond. Applications are few. The main bismuth oxidation states are Bi(III) and Bi(V) as in all higher group 15 elements. The energy of a bond to carbon in this group decreases in the order P > As > Sb > Bi. The first reported use of bismuth in organic chemistry was in oxidation of alcohols by Frederick Challenger in 1934 (using Ph3Bi(OH)2). Knowledge about methylated species of bismuth in environmental and biological media is limited.

In organic chemistry, dehalogenation is a set of chemical reactions that involve the cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds; as such, it is the inverse reaction of halogenation. Dehalogenations come in many varieties, including defluorination, dechlorination, debromination, and deiodination. Incentives to investigate dehalogenations include both constructive and destructive goals. Complicated organic compounds such as pharmaceutical drugs are occasionally generated by dehalogenation. Many organohalides are hazardous, so their dehalogenation is one route for their detoxification.

Reactions of organocopper reagents involve species containing copper-carbon bonds acting as nucleophiles in the presence of organic electrophiles. Organocopper reagents are now commonly used in organic synthesis as mild, selective nucleophiles for substitution and conjugate addition reactions.

Hauser bases, also called magnesium amide bases, are magnesium compounds used in organic chemistry as bases for metalation reactions. These compounds were first described by Charles R. Hauser in 1947. Compared with organolithium reagents, the magnesium compounds have more covalent, and therefore less reactive, metal-ligand bonds. Consequently, they display a higher degree of functional group tolerance and a much greater chemoselectivity. Generally, Hauser bases are used at room temperature while reactions with organolithium reagents are performed at low temperatures, commonly at −78 °C.

Turbo-Hauser bases are amido magnesium halides that contain stoichiometric amounts of LiCl. These mixed Mg/Li amides of the type R2NMgCl⋅LiCl are used in organic chemistry as non-nucleophilic bases for metalation reactions of aromatic and heteroaromatic substrates. Compared to their LiCl free ancestors Turbo-Hauser bases show an enhanced kinetic basicity, excellent regioselectivity, high functional group tolerance and a better solubility.

In organometallic chemistry, metal–halogen exchange is a fundamental reaction that converts a organic halide into an organometallic product. The reaction commonly involves the use of electropositive metals and organochlorides, bromides, and iodides. Particularly well-developed is the use of metal–halogen exchange for the preparation of organolithium compounds.

References

  1. ↑ Frankland, E. (1849). "Ueber die Isolirung der organischen Radicale". European Journal of Organic Chemistry. 71 (2): 171–213. doi:10.1002/jlac.18490710205.
  2. ↑ Johnson, W.C. (1939). "Die Chemie der Metall-Organischen Verbindungen (Krause, Erich; Grosse, A. V.)". J. Chem. Educ. 16 (3): 148. Bibcode:1939JChEd..16..148J. doi: 10.1021/ed016p148.1 .
  3. ↑ Grignard, V. (1900). "Sur quelques nouvelles combinaisons organométaliques du magnésium et leur application à des synthèses d'alcools et d'hydrocabures". Compt. Rend. 130: 1322–25.
  4. ↑ Eisch, John J. (2002). "Henry Gilman: American Pioneer in the Rise of Organometallic Chemistry in Modern Science and Technology". Organometallics. 21 (25): 5439–5463. doi:10.1021/om0109408.
  5. ↑ Schlenk, W.; Holtz, J. (1917). "Über die einfachsten metallorganischen Alkaliverbindungen". European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. 50 (1): 262–274. doi:10.1002/cber.19170500142.
  6. ↑ Gilman, H.; Zoellner, E. A.; Selby, W. M. (1932). "An Improved Procedure for the Preparation of Organolithium Compounds". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 54 (5): 1957–1962. doi:10.1021/ja01344a033.
  7. ↑ Schlenk, Bergmann (1928). "II. Neuartige Erkenntnisse auf dem Gebiete der Stereochemie des Kohlenstoffs". Justus Liebig's Annalen der Chemie. 463: 192. doi:10.1002/jlac.19284630103.
  8. ↑ "Organometallics in Organic Synthesis", Schlosser, M., Ed, Wiley: New York, 1994. ISBN   0-471-93637-5
  9. ↑ Bailey, William F.; Patricia, Jeffrey J. (1988). "The mechanism of the lithium - halogen Interchange reaction : a review of the literature". Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. 352 (1–2): 1–46. doi:10.1016/0022-328x(88)83017-1.
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