Bamford–Stevens reaction
The Bamford–Stevens reaction has not proved useful for the stereoselective generation of alkenes via thermal decomposition of metallated tosylhydrazones due to the indiscriminate 1,2-rearrangement of the carbene center, which gives a mixture of products.
With the silicon atom beta to H, a σC-Si → σ*C-H stereoelectronic effect weakens the C-H bond, resulting in its exclusive migration and leading to the nearly exclusive formation of allylsilanes instead of equal amounts of allylsilanes and isomeric homoallylsilanes, analogous to the mixture of products seen in the dialkyl case, or other insertion products (i.e. cyclopropanes).
While strong bases, such as LiOtBu and Cs2CO3 are often used in this chemistry, CsF was used to facilitate the in situ generation of arynes from o-(trimethylsilyl)aryl triflates.
Combined with electrophilic aryl halides, N-tosylhydrazones can be used to prepare polysubstituted olefins under Pd-catalyzed conditions without the use of often expensive, and synthetically demanding organometallic reagents.
Moreover, and variety of aryl halides are well tolerated as coupling partners including those bearing both electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups, as well as π-rich and π-deficient aromatic heterocyclic compounds.
The mechanism of this transformation is thought to proceed in a manner similar to the synthesis of alkenes through the Bamford–Stevens reaction; the decomposition of N-tosylhydrazones in the presence of base to generate diazocompounds which then release nitrogen gas, yielding a carbene, which then can be quenched with an electrophile.
Moreover, Barluenga and coworkers demonstrated a one-pot three-component coupling reaction of aldehydes or ketones, tosylhydrazides, and aryl halides in which the N-tosylhydrazone is formed in situ.
The reaction tolerates a variety of functional groups on both substrates, including aromatic, heteroaromatic, aliphatic, electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents, and proceeds with high yields in the presence of potassium carbonate.
A bicyclic trisylhydrazone was initially subjected to Shapiro reaction conditions (alkyllithiums or LDA), which only led to uncharacterizable decomposition products.
