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Published in final edited form as: J Am Chem Soc. 2017 Sep 7;139(37):12994–13005. doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b04973

Mechanism and Origins of Ligand-controlled Stereoselectivity of Ni-Catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling with Benzylic Esters: A Computational Study

Shuo-Qing Zhang †, Buck L H Taylor ‡,‖, Chong-Lei Ji †, Yuan Gao †, Michael R Harris §, Luke E Hanna §, Elizabeth R Jarvo §,*, K N Houk ‡,*, Xin Hong †,*
PMCID: PMC5607113  NIHMSID: NIHMS904030  PMID: 28838241

Abstract

Nickel catalysts have shown unique ligand control of stereoselectivity in the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling of boronates with benzylic pivalates and derivatives involving C(sp3)–O cleavage. The SIMes ligand produces the stereochemically inverted C–C coupling product, while the PCy3 ligand delivers the retained stereochemistry. We have explored the mechanism and origins of the ligand-controlled stereoselectivity with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The oxidative addition determines the stereoselectivity with two competing transition states, an SN2 back-side attack type transition state that inverts the benzylic stereogenic center, and a concerted oxidative addition through a cyclic transition state which provides stereoretention. The key difference between the two transition states is the substrate-nickel-ligand angle distortion; the ligand controls the selectivity by differentiating the ease of this angle distortion. For the PCy3 ligand, the nickel-ligand interaction involves mainly σ-donation, which does not require a significant energy penalty for the angle distortion. The facile angle distortion with PCy3 ligand allows the favorable cyclic oxidative addition transition state, leading to the stereoretention. For the SIMes ligand, the extra d-p back donation from nickel to the coordinating carbene increases the rigidity of nickel-ligand bond, and the corresponding angle distortion is more difficult. This makes the concerted cyclic oxidative addition unfavorable with SIMes ligand, and the back-side SN2-type oxidative addition delivers the stereoinversion.

SYNOPSIS TOC

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Introduction

Nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions involving the C–O cleavage of esters provides a valuable tool to construct carboncarbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds in organic synthesis.1 Based on early examples of Ni/PCy3-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with aryl esters,2 the Ni-mediated C(sp2)–O bond cleavage of ester3 has been extended to various additional electrophiles, including carbamates,4 sulfamates,4c,4f,4g,5 phosphates,6 and phenolates7. In addition, tremendous success has been achieved in the Nickel-catalyzed C–O activation and functionalization with ethers8. The judicious choice of nucleophiles in these reactions has enabled not only C–C bond formation, but also C–N, C–B, C–Si, C–H, C–P and C–Sn bond formations.9 These transformations highlight the broad synthetic scope of Ni-mediated C–O cleavage of ester with distinctive reactivities and selectivities.

In 2011, Jarvo and co-workers reported the first stereospecific nickel-catalyzed alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling reaction via benzylic C–O cleavage.10 This C(sp3)–O cleavage provides the opportunity to control stereochemical outcome and led to a series of stereospecific cross-coupling reactions with benzylic and allylic esters and ethers.11 A very selective inversion of the stereogenic center is found in most of the Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions involving C(sp3)–O cleavage, following the design of an SN2-type bond activation. In addition to the selective inversion, Jarvo and co-workers reported a ligand-controlled stereoselectivity in nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions with benzylic esters and derivatives (Scheme 1).11d The use of SIMes ligand (1,3-dimesityl-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene) affords inversion at the benzylic carbon (Scheme 1a), while PCy3 ligand produces retention at the same position (Scheme 1b). Watson and co-workers concurrently reported Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions that proceed with stereoinversion.11e

Scheme 1.

Scheme 1

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Ligand-controlled stereoselectivity in Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions with benzylic esters and derivatives.11d

Although the mechanism and selectivities of Ni-mediated C(sp2)–O cleavage of aryl esters and ethers have been addressed by several computational and experimental studies,12 the model of bond activation and especially the origins of ligand-controlled stereoselectivity remain elusive for Ni-mediated C(sp3)–O cleavage. Therefore, we have used density functional theory (DFT) calculations to explore the mechanism and the origins of the stereoselectivity of the titled reaction involving C(sp3)–O activation. Understanding the ligand-controlled reversal of stereoselectivity will facilitate the development of new stereospecific and stereoconvergent reactions based on the Ni-mediated C(sp3)–O activation.

Computational Methods

All DFT calculations were performed with the Gaussian 09 software package.14 Geometry optimizations of all the minima and transition states were carried out at the B3LYP15 level of theory with the LANL2DZ16 basis set for nickel and the 6-31G(d) basis set for the other atoms (the keyword 5D was used in the calculations). Vibrational frequencies were computed at the same level to evaluate its zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) and thermal corrections at 298 K, and to check whether each optimized structure is an energy minimum or a transition state. The single-point energies and solvent effects in THF were computed at the M0617 level of theory with the SDD18 basis set for nickel and the 6-311+G(d,p) basis set for the other atoms, using the gas-phase optimized structures. Solvation energies were evaluated by a self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) using the CPCM model19. Several rotamers of ligands in the nickel complexes were tested as the initial geometry in the optimizations, and extensive conformational searches for the intermediates and transition states have been conducted. The lowest energy conformers and isomers are shown in this work. The 3D diagrams of molecules were generated using CYLView20. For the illustration of orbital interactions between ligands and nickel, natural bond orbital (NBO) population analysis was conducted with its supplement in Gaussian 09 (Version 3.1) at M06 level of theory with the def2-SVP21 basis set and visualized with Multiwfn22 and VMD23.

Results and Discussion

Proposed catalytic cycle

Previous mechanistic studies12,13 of aryl esters and ethers have shown that the Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction proceeds via oxidative addition of the nickel catalyst to the substrate, followed by transmetallation with arylboronate and then reductive elimination to produce the coupling product and regenerate the active nickel catalyst. The transmetallation mainly involves bonding changes at the transition metal, instead of the adjacent stereogenic center, and reductive elimination typically occurs with stereochemical retention.24 We propose that the reversal of stereoselectivity occurs at the oxidative addition step. As shown in Scheme 2, the two possible oxidative addition steps cleave the benzylic C–O bond of substrate 1, leading to two LNi(Benzyl)(OPiv) intermediates with opposite configuration, A and C. Subsequent transmetallation with the arylboronate generates the corresponding LNi(Benzyl)(Ar) intermediates, B and D. From B or D, the reductive elimination occurs with retention and produces the enantiometric C–C cross-coupling products, 2 and ent-2.

Scheme 2.

Scheme 2

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Proposed mechanisms of stereospecific Ni-catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reactions with benzylic ester and derivatives.

To study the proposed catalytic cycles and origins of stereoselectivity, particularly for comparison with previous computational studies on aryl pivalates,4f, 12a the reactions with benzyl pivalate 3 were chosen as our model reactions (Scheme 3, es values are defined as in Jarvo’s previous study11d). With Ni/PCy3 catalyst, stereoretention is observed, leading to product 4; the Ni/SIMes catalyst delivers the stereoinverted product ent-4. Identical substrates are used in the computation with both ligands.

Scheme 3.

Scheme 3

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Model reactions used for computation.11d.

Free energy profile of the [Ni(PCy3)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic pivalate

We first studied the Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester 3 using PCy3 ligand. The Gibbs free energy changes of the most favorable pathway that produces the stereoretentive product are shown in Figure 1, and the optimized structures of selected intermediates and transition states are illustrated in Figure 2. From the substrate-coordinated complex 5, rotation of the benzylic substituents leads to the oxygen-coordinated intermediate 6. This intermediate undergoes oxidative addition to cleave the benzylic C–O bond through a five-centered transition state TS7, generating the benzylnickel species 8 with stereoretention. Rotation of the newly formed Ni–C bond leads to a more stable intermediate 9. The oxidative addition step is irreversible and requires a 17.7 kcal/mol barrier from intermediate 5 (stereoselectivity of the oxidative addition step is discussed later). The irreversible oxidative addition suggests that the transition state of this step determines the stereoselectivity of the C–O cleavage. We have also considered alternative C–O cleavages with Ni(I) catalysts, since Ni(0) and Ni(II) intermediates can potentially undergo comproportionation to generate Ni(I) species. The C–O cleavages with (PCy3)Ni(OPiv) and (PCy3)Ni(Benzyl) species both require much higher barrier as compared to the Ni(0)/Ni(II) process via TS7 (Figure S1).

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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DFT-computed Gibbs free energy changes of the [Ni(PCy3)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester 3 leading to stereoretention product.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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DFT-optimized structures of selected intermediates and transition states for the [Ni(PCy3)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester 3 leading to stereoretention product. All the C–H bonds are hidden for simplicity, except the benzylic stereogenic center.

Subsequent to the oxidative addition, 9 undergoes a ligand exchange with the arylboronate [ArBnep(OH)]− to generate the intermediate 10, and transmetallation via TS11 gives the arylnickel species 12.25 Considering the existence of tBuO− and nBuO− anions in the reaction conditions, the transmetallations with [ArBnep(OnBu)]− and [ArBnep(OtBu)]− were also studied. For the [ArBnep(OnBu)]− anion, the transmetallation barrier is similar as compared to that with [ArBnep(OH)]− anion (Figure S2). This suggests that the [ArBnep(OnBu)]− can also participate in the transmetallation delivering the aryl group to nickel. In contrast, the transmetallation barriers with [ArBnep(OtBu)]− are much higher due to the steric repulsions between the tBu group and the bulky PCy3 ligand (Figure S3). Therefore, the tBuO− anion probably acts as an off-cycle base, instead of directly participating in the transmetallation process.

From 12, the boronate favorably dissociates from the complex, and the intermediate 13 undergoes reductive elimination via TS14 to form the C(sp3)–C(sp2) bond and generate the product-coordinated complex 15. The product can coordinate to nickel with either the phenyl group (15) or the naphthyl group (16), which have comparable stabilities. The optimized structures and relative stabilities of various product-nickel complexes are included in the Supporting Information (Figure S4). Both the product-nickel complexes can undergo a favorable ligand exchange with the benzylic ester substrate 3, liberating the product 4 and initiating the next catalytic cycle.

In the catalytic cycle with PCy3 ligand, the oxidative addition, transmetallation and reductive elimination all occur with stereoretention, and thus the stereoretentive C–C cross-coupling product 4 is produced. The on-cycle resting state is the substrate-coordinated complex 5 (we cannot rule out more stable off-cycle resting states), and the rate-limiting step is the oxidative addition via TS7 with a 17.7 kcal/mol overall barrier. This 17.7 kcal/mol overall barrier is consistent with the experimental conditions (room temperature, 20h)11d. In addition, although the overall transformation is quite exergonic by 47.8 kcal/mol, this does not create an inert nickel species which may limit the catalytic turnover. The free energy changes of two consecutive catalytic cycles showed that the regenerated substrate-nickel intermediate 5 is able to favorably undergo the next catalytic cycle, delivering the catalytic turnover (Figure S5).

Free energy profile of the [Ni(SIMes)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester

We next examined the Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester 3 using SIMes ligand. The Gibbs free energy changes of the most favorable pathway that produces the product with stereoinversion are shown in Figure 3, and the optimized structures of selected intermediates and transition states are illustrated in Figure 4. From the substrate-coordinated complex 17, a direct SN2 attack from the nickel catalyst to the benzylic carbon occurs to produce a cationic benzylnickel species 19. The ions recombine to form the intermediate 20 with an inverted benzylic stereogenic center. Similar to the PCy3 ligand, the oxidative addition with SIMes ligand is also irreversible, suggesting that the stereoselectivity of this step is kinetically determined. We have also considered alternative C–O cleavage with Ni(I) catalysts. Similar to the PCy3 ligand, the C–O cleavage barriers with (SIMes)Ni(OPiv) or (SIMes)Ni(Benzyl) species are both much higher than that of the Ni(0)/Ni(II) process via TS18 (Figure S6).

Figure 3.

Figure 3

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DFT-computed Gibbs free energies changes of the [Ni(SIMes)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling with benzylic ester 3 leading to stereoinversion product.

Figure 4.

Figure 4

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DFT-optimized structures of selected intermediates and transition states for the [Ni(SIMes)]-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling with benzylic ester 3 leading to stereoinversion product. All the C–H bonds are hidden for simplicity, except the benzylic stereogenic center.

From 20, a ligand exchange with arylboronate [ArBnep(OH)]− occurs to generate the intermediate 21, and subsequent transmetallation occurs via TS22 to give the arylnickel intermediate 23. The transmetallation step with SIMes ligand (20.6 kcal/mol for 21 to TS22) requires a much higher barrier as compared to that with PCy3 ligand (10.7 kcal/mol for 10 to TS11). This difference arises from the steric repulsion. In TS22, the benzyl group has steric repulsion with the SIMes ligand, while such steric interactions are alleviated with the conicalshaped PCy3 ligand in TS11. The transmetallation with [ArBnep(OnBu)]− has a comparable barrier as compared to that with [ArBnep(OH)]− via TS22 (Figure S7), while the transmetallation with [ArBnep(OtBu)]− requires a much higher barrier (Figure S8). These results with SIMes ligand are similar to the results with PCy3 ligand in the above discussions.

For the C(sp3)–C(sp2) reductive elimination step, the kinetics shows low sensitivity to the ligand, both PCy3 and SIMes ligands have about a barrier of 13 kcal/mol. The various conformers of the product-nickel complex have similar stabilities (Figure S9), and both 26 and 27 can undergo a favorable product liberation to produce the stereoinverted C(sp3)–C(sp2) coupling product ent-4. For the catalytic cycle with SIMes ligand, the oncycle resting state is intermediate 20, and the rate-determining step is transmetallation via TS22 with a 21.7 kcal/mol overall barrier. This reaction barrier is consistent with the mild reaction conditions (room temperature, 20h)11d. In addition, the exergonicity of the overall transformation (47.8 kcal/mol) does not affect the catalytic turnover, since no catalyst-poisoning species are involved. The free energy changes of two consecutive catalytic cycles showed that the regenerated substrate-nickel intermediate 17 is able to favorably undergo the subsequent catalytic cycle, and the catalytic turnover is achieved (Figure S10).

Origins of the opposite stereoselectivities of the reactions with different ligands

Based on the mechanistic understandings of PCy3 and SIMes ligands, we studied the origins of the ligand-controlled stereoselectivity by comparing the invertive and retentive oxidative addition pathways. The results are shown in Figure 5. For PCy3 ligand, the substrate-coordinated complex, 5, can undergo an oxidative addition via transition state TS28 with stereoinversion (blue pathway). TS28 is essentially an SN2 back-side attack transition state; the nickel catalyst attacks the benzylic carbon from the back side of the leaving pivalate group, inverting the benzylic stereogenic center. Alternatively, 5 can isomerize to the six-membered ring intermediate 6 and undergoes the oxidative addition via transition state TS7 with stereochemical retention (red pathway). TS7 is a concerted cyclic oxidative addition transition state, wherein the nickel catalyst interacts with the benzylic carbon and cleaves the C–O bond on the same side. This transition state allows retention of the benzylic stereogenic center and irreversibly produces the benzylnickel intermediate 9. Comparing the two pathways with PCy3 ligand, the retention pathway via TS7 is 1.1 kcal/mol more favorable than the inversion pathway via TS28. This agrees well with the experimental preference of stereoretention with PCy3 ligand (Scheme 3a). For SIMes ligand, the stereoselectivity is reversed. The inversion pathway via TS18 is 1.6 kcal/mol more favorable as compared to the retention pathway via TS32, which also agrees with the experimental results (Scheme 3b). To further validate this mechanistic model, we also studied the stereoselectivity with benzyl carbamates. Experimentally, these carbamates showed better yields as well as higher stereoselectivity.11d The computational results based on the inversion/retention oxidative addition model also nicely reproduced the above trends with somewhat higher stereoselectivity (Figure S11), which provide additional support for the proposed mechanistic rationale.

Figure 5.

Figure 5

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DFT-computed Gibbs free energies changes of the invertive and retentive Ni-mediated oxidative addition of benzylic ester 3 with PCy3 and SIMes ligands.

To elucidate the origins of the ligand-controlled stereoselectivity, we analyzed these two free energy surfaces based on Curtin-Hammett principle. The Curtin-Hammett principle states that the stereoselectivity is only controlled by the competition between the determining transition states (TS28 vs. TS7; TS18 vs. TS32). Using the PCy3 ligand as an example, the stereoselectivity is determined as eqn 1 (Scheme 4). In addition, the free energies of the determining transition states (ΔG‡(TS28) and ΔG‡(TS7)) can further be expressed as the sum of the free energies of the preceding intermediates (ΔG(5) and ΔG(6)) and the intrinsic reaction barriers (ΔG‡(5→TS28) and ΔG‡(6→TS7)), which are shown as eqn 2 and eqn 3 in Scheme 4. Combining these three equations, the stereoselectivity is contributed by the intrinsic reaction barriers of inversion and retention, as well as the isomerization energy between 5 and 6 (eqn 4, Scheme 4).

Scheme 4.

Scheme 4

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Analysis of the contributions of the stereoselectivity with PCy3 ligand based on Curtin-Hammett principle.

Following the analysis based on the Curtin-Hammett principle, we decomposed the stereoselectivity (ΔΔG‡) to the contributions of intrinsic oxidative addition barriers and isomerization energy between the preceding intermediates (Table 1). The intrinsic barriers of inversion and retention barely change between the PCy3 and SIMes ligands, while the isomerization energy (ΔGiso) increases by 2.2 kcal/mol from PCy3 to SIMes ligand. This 2.2 kcal/mol difference of isomerization energy affects the energies of the invertive and retentive oxidative addition transition states, altering the stability of these transition states and eventually switching the stereoselectivity. Therefore, the intrinsic barrier favors the retention pathway for both ligands, and the major contribution to the switch of selectivity is the change of the isomerization energy between the two oxidative addition preceding intermediates.

Table 1.

Decomposition of the stereoselectivity (ΔΔG‡) to the contributions of intrinsic oxidative addition barriers (ΔG‡intrinsic) and isomerization energy (ΔGiso). Free energies are in kcal/mol.

Ligands ΔG‡intrinsic
(inversion)		 ΔG‡intrinsic
(retention)		 ΔGiso ΔΔG‡
PCy3 18.8 16.1 1.6 1.1
SIMes 18.7 16.5 3.8 −1.6
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To further understand the origins of the ligand effects, we analyzed the ligand effects on the isomerization energy by comparing the energies of the distorted fragments in the two oxidative addition preceding intermediates (Figure 6). We first calculated the electronic energies of the intermediates. With SIMes ligand, the isomerization from pre-inversion intermediates to pre-retention intermediates is less favorable as compared to PCy3 ligand (2.2 kcal/mol in terms of free energy and 2.4 kcal/mol in terms of electronic energy). To understand which part of the complex is responsible for the ligand effects, we replaced the acyl moiety (highlighted with dashed green oval) in the four intermediates with a hydrogen atom26, and calculated the energies of the four distorted fragments. The electronic energy difference between the two fragments with PCy3 ligand, 5-1 and 6-1, is 9.4 kcal/mol, and that with SIMes ligand is 11.6 kcal/mol. The change is 2.2 kcal/mol, similar to the 2.4 kcal/mol energy difference with the whole complex, suggesting that the acyl moiety is not responsible for the ligand control. In addition, when the benzyl moiety is replaced by hydrogen atom27, surprisingly, the ligand effects still exist. The energy change between 5-2 and 6-2 is 4.2 kcal/mol, and that between 17-2 and 31-2 is 6.1 kcal/mol. Thus the LNi(napthyl) moiety plays a critical role in differentiating the isomerization energy. The major geometric change in the LNi(napthyl) moiety in the bending of the highlighted C-Ni-Ligand angle. From the pre-inversion intermediate (5 or 17) to the pre-retention intermediate (6 or 31), the complex bends the C-Ni-Ligand angle to accommodate the formation of the additional Ni–O bond. This bending is easier with PCy3 ligand (4.2 kcal/mol) as compared to SIMes ligand (6.1 kcal/mol). Therefore, the ligand controls the stereoselectivity by controlling the ease of distortion of the highlighted C-Ni-Ligand angle.

Figure 6.

Figure 6

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Energy changes upon replacing groups in the pre-inversion intermediates and pre-retention intermediates with smaller groups to test their roles in determining the stereoselectivities. All H atoms are hidden for simplicity except the ones that are used to degrade the substrates.

We hypothesized that the rigidity of the Ni–ligand bond determines the ease of the angle distortion, and analyzed the related interactions with d orbital of nickel in the [LNi(naphthalene)] complexes (results shown in Figure 7). The PCy3 ligand interacts with nickel mainly through σ-donation, and this Ni-PCy3 interaction does not change significantly during the bending of the highlighted C-Ni-ligand angle, resulting in a small energy penalty for the angle distortion. For SIMes ligand, the ligand-metal interaction also includes an additional d-p back donation,28 which is not present in the Ni–PCy3 bond. This makes the Ni–NHC bond a partial double bond. In addition, the d orbital of nickel also interacts with π* orbital of the naphthalene in both complexes. Thus, the d orbital of nickel in the [(NHC)Ni(substrate)] complex is orientated to maximize the overlap with the p orbital of the NHC ligand as well as the π* orbital of the naphthalene moiety. Bending of the C-Ni-NHC angle therefore weakens the d-pligand back donation, resulting in a larger energy penalty for the angle distortion as compared to PCy3 ligand.

Figure 7.

Figure 7

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Major interactions between ligand or pivalate and Ni in [LNi(pivalate)] complexes, calculated with NBO calculation at M06/def2-SVP//B3LYP/LANL2DZ-6-31G(d). The isovalue is 0.05 and all H atoms are hidden for simplicity. The green and blue surfaces represent two opposite phases of the NBOs.

To verify our hypothesis, we studied the bending of the C-Ni-ligand angle with a few [LNi(naphthalene)] complexes. Four ligands were chosen: PCy3, SIMes, PMe3 and 1,3-dimethyl-imidazolidene (SIMe). The [LNi(naphthalene)] complexes were optimized, giving an initial C-Ni-ligand angle. This angle was then decreased (as it must to accommodate coordination of the pivalate) and the change in electronic energy was calculated (Figure 8). Indeed, the bending of the substrate-Ni-SIMes angle is more difficult than that of the substrate-Ni-PCy3 angle, which confirms the above hypothesis of the ligand-dependent ease of angle distortion. In addition, the comparison between the small PMe3 and SIMe ligands shows that the PMe3 ligand is also easier to bend as compared to SIMe ligand, similar to the difference between PCy3 and SIMes ligands. This is consistent with the rationale relying on the intrinsic orbital interaction.

Figure 8.

Figure 8

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Relative gas phase electronic energies of [LNi(naphthalene)] complexes with different substrate-nickel-ligand angles. θ is the bending angle of ligand from the optimized position to the bent position.

Because we hypothesized that the d-π*naphthalene interactions between nickel and naphthalene orient the d orbital of nickel to make bending more difficult with the NHC ligand than with the phosphine ligand, these effects would be eliminated if the naphthalene coordination is replaced with a σ-donating ligand. To verify this hypothesis, we also calculated the energy changes of the angle distortion using [LNi(NH3)] complex (Figure 9). The NH3 ligand mainly interacts with nickel through σ-donation and has little effect on the orientation of nickel d orbitals. As expected, all four ligands have almost identical energy penalties for angle distortion. This suggests that the PCy3 and SIMes ligands should have similar preference for the SN2-type transition state if a substrate interacts with nickel through an NH2-coordination. Indeed, the C–O cleavage of (S)-2-amino-1-phenylethyl pivalate 35 showed very similar selectivity for the PCy3 and SIMes ligands (Figure 10); both ligands strongly favor the SN2-type C–O cleavage transition state. These results provide further support that the bending of the substrate-nickelligand angle controls the stereoselectivity.

Figure 9.

Figure 9

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Relative gas phase electronic energies of [LNi(NH3)] complexes with different substrate-nickel-ligand angles. θ is the bending angle, defined in Figure 8.

Figure 10.

Figure 10

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Optimized structures and relative free energies of the SN2-type and cyclic C–O cleavage transition states with 35.

In addition to the electronic effects, steric effects can also play a role in affecting the stereoselectivity. To elucidate the steric effects of the pivalate substrate, we studied the stereoselectivity with additional methyl substituent on each position of the naphthyl group of 3 (Table 2A). For most positions (2-Me to 7-Me), the additional methyl substituent has limited effects on the stereoselectivity, and the trends are very similar to the unsubstituted cases (PCy3 ligand favors retention and SIMes ligand favors inversion). However, for position 1, the steric repulsions between the introduced methyl substituent and the adjacent phenyl group disfavor the inversion transition state, and both ligands now favor the retention pathway. The steric repulsions with the methyl substituent in position 1 are illustrated in the Supporting Information (Figure S12). Thus, the steric effects of this particular position can have significant effects on the stereoselectivity. For the steric effects of the ligand, the PCy3 and SIMes ligands were compared to two additional ligands with more steric bulk: PtBu3 and SIPr. These larger ligands strongly favor the inversion pathway, because of steric repulsions between the pivalate group and the ligand in the retentive oxidative addition transition states (Table 2B). The illustrations of the steric repulsions in the transition states with PtBu3 and SIPr ligands are included in the Supporting Information (Figure S13).

Table 2.

Steric effects of substrate and ligand on the stereoselectivity, the computed stereoselectivities are listed as ΔΔG‡ = ΔG‡(inversion) − ΔG‡(retention) in kcal/mol.

A. Steric effects of methyl substitution on substrate 3
Substrate Substitu-
ents		 ΔΔG‡
(PCy3)		 ΔΔG‡
(SIMes)
graphic file with name nihms904030t1.jpg 1–Me 3.6 2.4
2–Me 0.3 −1.7
3–Me 1.5 −2.7
4–Me 0.2 −3.4
5–Me 1.4 −1.9
6–Me 1.1 −2.8
7–Me 1.9 −2.7
B. Steric effects of ligand
Substrate ΔΔG‡
(PCy3)		 ΔΔG‡
(PtBu3)		 ΔΔG‡
(SIMes)		 ΔΔG‡
(SIPr)
3 1.1 −3.8 −1.6 −6.2
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Conclusions

The mechanism and origins of the ligand-controlled stereoselectivity of Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of benzylic pivalates have been elucidated with DFT calculations. The reaction proceeds through the oxidative addition of the nickel catalyst and benzylic C(sp3)–O bond cleavage. The generated [LNi(II)(benzyl)(OPiv)] intermediate undergoes transmetallation with arylboronate and subsequent C–C reductive elimination to produce the C(sp3)–C(sp2) cross-coupling product. The transmetallation and reductive elimination both occur with stereochemical retention, and the stereoselectivity of the oxidative addition step determines the overall stereochemical outcome of the cross-coupling reaction. The stereoselectivity of oxidative addition is determined by two competing transition states: an SN2-type transition state in which the nickel attacks the benzylic carbon from the back side of the pivalate leaving group, inverting the benzylic stereogenic center; and a concerted oxidative addition through a cyclic transition state in which the nickel interacts with the pivalate carbonyl oxygen while cleaving the benzylic C(sp3)–O bond, generating a benzylnickel complex with stereochemical retention.

The relative energies of the intermediates preceding the oxidative addition transition states, as well as the subsequent transition states, controls the ligand-dependent stereoselectivity. The key difference between the two intermediates and two transition states is the bending of substrate-nickel-ligand angle. The intermediate for the stereochemical inversion C(sp3)–O cleavage has nickel on the opposite side of the leaving pivalate group and does not bend the substrate-nickel-ligand angle significantly, while the intermediate for the stereochemical retention C(sp3)–O cleavage bends the substrate-nickel-ligand angle to accommodate an additional nickel-oxygen(pivalate) interaction. This bending is facile with phosphine ligand since the ligand interacts with nickel mainly through σ-donation; with NHC ligand, the same angle distortion is more difficult because the nickel-ligand bond is partially a double bond due to the d-p interaction between nickel and the NHC ligand. The ligand-dependent substrate-nickel-ligand angle distortion results in the different energies of the competing oxidative addition transition states, ultimately leading to the reversal of stereoselectivities. In addition to the electronic effects, the steric effects can also affect the stereoselectivity. Ligands with more steric bulk disfavor the retention pathway due to the steric repulsions between the pivalate group of the substrate and the ligand. These mechanistic insights apply to the related stereospecific cross-coupling reactions and other transformations involving nickel-mediated C(sp3)–O cleavage.

Supplementary Material

Supporting Information

Acknowledgments

Financial support from Zhejiang University (X.H.), the Chinese “Thousand Youth Talents Plan” (X.H.), the Chinese “Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities” (X.H.), the National Science Foundation of the USA (K.N.H., CHE-1361104), National Institutes of Health of the USA (E.R.J., R01GM100212; F32GM106596, postdoctoral fellowship to B.L.H.T) and Department of Education of the USA (GAANN PA200A120070, predoctoral fellowship to L.E.H.) is gratefully acknowledged. Calculations were performed on the supercomputer cluster at Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University and the Hoffman2 cluster at UCLA.

Footnotes

ASSOCIATED CONTENT

Supporting Information.

Additional computational results. Coordinates and energies of DFT-computed stationary points. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

References

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