Oxidative Alkoxycarbonylation of Alkynes by Means of Aryl alfa-Diimine Palladium (II) Complexes as Catalysts

The straightforward in situ synthesized bis(2,6-diisopropyl)acenaphthenequinonediimine palladium triflate catalyst was generally employed for both the mono-alkoxycarbonylation of terminal alkynes, and the bis-alkoxycarbonylation of 1,2-disubstituted alkynes by using mild reaction conditions [carbon monoxide pressure (PCO)=4 bar, temperature=20 °C]. Utilizing low catalyst loading (down to 0.5 mol%), a variety of propiolic esters were synthesized with good to excellent isolated yields. Most importantly the system was very efficient not only with methanol but also with a range of different alcohols, starting from the less hindered benzyl alcohol to the most hindered ones, such as isopropyl alcohol and tert-butyl alcohol. In addition, aromatic and aliphatic 1,2-disubstituted alkynes were converted into maleic acid derivatives, together with an acid-catalyzed isomerization reaction, showing modest to good selectivity and excellent combined yields. In particular 3-hexyne showed a satisfactory degree of selectivity for the maleic diesters of methanol and benzyl alcohol, obtaining the corresponding products with good isolated yields.