Catalytic Dibenzocyclooctene Synthesis via Cobalt(III)-Carbene Radical and ortho-Quinodimethane Intermediates.

The metalloradical activation of ortho-benzallylaryl N-tosyl hydrazones with [Co(TPP)] (TPP=tetraphenylporphyrin) as the catalyst enabled the controlled exploitation of the single-electron reactivity of the redox non-innocent carbene intermediate. This method offers a novel route to prepare eight-membered rings, using base metal catalysis to construct a series of unique dibenzocyclooctenes through selective Ccarbene -Caryl cyclization. The desired eight-membered-ring products were obtained in good to excellent yields. A large variety of aromatic substituents are tolerated. The proposed reaction mechanism involves intramolecular hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) to CoIII -carbene radical intermediates followed by dissociation of an ortho-quinodimethane that undergoes 8π cyclization. The mechanism is supported by DFT calculations, and the presence of radical-type intermediates was confirmed by trapping experiments.