Generality and Strength of Transition Metal β-Effects

Using computation, we examine the generality and strength of β-effects from transition metal centers on β-elimination. In particular, we find that a β-Pd(II) substituent imparts over twice the stabilization to a carbocation as a Si substituent, representative of the well-known β-silicon effect. We established efficient and practical computational parameters to investigate the σσ conjugation in an experimentally relevant system: N, N-picolinamide vinyl metalacycles with β-substituents that can undergo elimination. We have found that the β-Pd effect depends on the nature of the C_β substituent (X): This effect is negligible for X = H, Me, OH, and F, but is significant for X = Cl, Br, and I. We have also extended these studies to the β-effect in N, N-picolinamide vinyl metalacycles with β-substituents of other transition metals-Fe(II), Ru(II), Os(II), Co(III), Rh(III), Ir(III), Ni(II), Pd(II), Pt(II), Cu(III), Ag(III), and Au(III). We found that the electronegativity of the metals correlates reasonably well with the relative β-effects, with first-row transition metals exerting the strongest influence. Overall, it is our anticipation that a more profound appreciation of transition metal β-effects will facilitate the design of novel reactions, including new variants of transition metal catalyzed C-H functionalization.