Organozinc chemistry

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. Organozinc compounds were among the first organometallic compounds made. They are less reactive than many other analogous organometallic reagents, such as Grignard and organolithium reagents. In 1848 Edward Frankland prepared the first organozinc compound, diethylzinc, by heating ethyl iodide in the presence of zinc metal. This reaction produced a volatile colorless liquid that spontaneous combusted upon contact with air. Due to their pyrophoric nature, organozinc compounds are generally prepared using air free techniques. They are unstable toward protic solvents. For many purposes they are prepared in situ, not isolated, but many have been isolated as pure substances and thoroughly characterized. Organozincs can be categorized according to the number of carbon substituents that are bound to the metal. A polar covalent bond exists between carbon and zinc, being polarized toward carbon due to the differences in electronegativity values (carbon: 2.5 & zinc: 1.65). The dipole moment of symmetric diorganozinc reagents can be seen as zero in these linear complexes, which explains their solubility in nonpolar solvents like cyclohexane. Unlike other binary metal alkyls, the diorganozinc species show a low affinity for complexation with ethereal solvent. Bonding in R2Zn is described as employing sp hybridized orbitals on Zn. the active organozinc compound is obtained from much cheaper organobromine precursors:

Frankland's original synthesis of diethylzinc involves the reaction of ethyl iodide with zinc metal. The zinc must be activated to facilitate this redox reaction. One of such activated form of zinc employed by Frankland is zinc copper couple.

The two most common zinc functional group interconversion reactions are with halides and boron, which is catalyzed by copper iodide (CuI) or base. The boron intermediate is synthesized by an initial hydroboration reaction followed by treatment with diethyl zinc. This synthesis shows the utility of organozinc reagents by displaying high selectivity for the most reactive site in the molecule, as well as creating useful coupling partners. This group transfer reaction can be used in allylation, or other coupling reactions (such as Negishi coupling).

One of the major drawbacks of diorganozinc alkylations is that only one of the two alkyl substituents is transferred. This problem can be solved by using Me3SiCH2 (TMSM), which is a non transferable group.

Fukuyama coupling is a palladium catalyzed reaction involving the coupling of an aryl, alkyl, allyl, or α,β unsaturated thioester compound. This thioester compound can be coupled to a wide range of organozinc reagents in order to reveal the corresponding ketone product. This protocol is useful due to its sensitivity to functional groups such as ketone, acetate, aromatic halides, and even aldehydes. The chemoselectivity observed indicates ketone formation is more facile than oxidative addition of palladium into these other moieties. A further example of this coupling method is the synthesis of (+) biotin. In this case, the Fukuyama coupling takes place with the thiolactone:

The Barbier reaction involves nucleophilic addition of a carbanion equivalent to a carbonyl. The conversion is similar to the Grignard reaction. The organozinc reagent is generated via an oxidative addition into the alkyl halide. The reaction produces a primary, secondary, or tertiary alcohol via a 1,2 addition. The Barbier reaction is advantageous because it is a one pot process: the organozinc reagent is generated in the presence of the carbonyl substrate. Organozinc reagents are also less water sensitive, thus this reaction can be conducted in water. Similar to the Grignard reaction, a Schlenk equilibrium applies, in which the more reactive dialkylzinc can be formed.

Although less commonly studied, organozincates often have increased reactivity and selectivity compared to the neutral diorganozinc compounds. They have been useful in stereoselective alkylations of ketones and related carbonyls, ring opening reactions. Aryltrimethylzincates participate in vanadium mediated C C forming reactions.