The eight-membered metallacycles
arising from the insertion of
1 equiv of alkyne into the Pd–C bond of
ortho
-metalated homoveratrylamine and phentermine can further react with
alkenes to give two different types of mononuclear complexes depending
on the nature of the olefin. When terminal alkenes (styrene and ethyl
acrylate) are used, a mixture of the
anti
/
syn
η
3
-allyl Pd(II) complexes are isolated,
which evolve slowly to the
syn
isomers by heating
the mixtures appropriately. These η
3
-allyl Pd(II)
complexes do not react with CO or weak bases, but when they are treated
with a strong base, such as KO
t
Bu, they afford Pd(0) and
the functionalized starting phenethylamines containing a 1,3-butadienyl
substituent in an
ortho
position. When 2-norbornene
was used instead of terminal alkenes, the strained olefin inserts
into the alkenyl Pd(II) complex to afford a 10-membered norbornyl
palladium(II) complex, in which the new
C
,
N
-chelate ligand is coordinated to the metal through an
additional double bond, occupying three coordination positions. The
reactivity of these norbornyl complexes depends on the substituents
on the inserted alkenyl fragment, and thus they can further react
with (1) KO
t
Bu, to give Pd(0) and a tetrahydroisoquinoline
nucleus containing a tricyclo[3.2.1]octyl ring, or (2) CO and TlOTf,
to afford Pd(0) and amino acid derivatives or the corresponding lactones
arising from an intramolecular Michael addition of the CO
2
H group to the α,β-unsaturated ester moiety. Crystal
structures of every type of compound have been determined by X-ray
diffraction studies.