Dynamic behavior of chiral sulfonimidoyl-substituted allyl and alkyl (dimethylamino)titanium(IV) complexes: metallotropic shift, reversible beta-hydride elimination/reinsertion, and ab initio calculations of allyl and alkyl aminosulfoxonium ylides.

Variable-temperature (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy of the sulfonimidoyl-substituted allyltitanium(IV) complexes E-1a-c and Z-1a-c, which carry diethylamino groups at the Ti atom, revealed a fast 1,3-C,N-shift of the Ti atom, leading to an equilibrium between the epimeric Calpha-titanium allyl complexes A and C and the N-titanium allyl aminosulfoxonium ylide B. Based on these findings a model for the reactions of E-1a-c and Z-1a-c with aldehydes is proposed, which features regio- and diastereoselective reactions of the N-titanium ylide B at the alpha-position and the Calpha-titanium complex A at the gamma-position. Model ab initio calculations of the methylene and allyl (dimethylamino)sulfoxonium ylides 10 and 14, respectively, revealed short Calpha-S bonds, a stabilization by both electrostatic interaction and negative hyperconjugation, and a low Calpha-S rotational barrier. The ylides preferentially adopt Calpha-S and Calpha-N conformations in which the lone pair orbital at the Calpha atom is periplanar to the S=O bond and that at the N atom periplanar to the Calpha-Ph bond. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy of the sulfonimidoyl-substituted alkyltitanium(IV) complex 16, which carries diethylamino groups at the Ti atom, revealed a dynamic behavior leading to a complete topomerization of all four methylene hydrogens of the Calpha-ethyl groups. Two fast processes are held responsible for the topomerization of the hydrogens of 16. The first one is a reversible intramolecular beta-hydride elimination/alkene-Ti-H insertion with the intermediate formation of a complex between (Et(2)N)TiH and a 1-alkenyl sulfoximine, and the second one consists of a reversible 1,3-C,N-shift of the Ti atom in combination with a Calpha-S bond rotation. Interestingly, the room-temperature NMR spectra of the corresponding sulfonimidoyl-substituted alkyltitanium(IV) complex 17, which carries isopropoxy groups at the Ti atom, give no indication of a similar dynamic behavior of this complex.