Intermolecular Cyclopropanation versus CH Insertion in RhII-Catalyzed Carbenoid Reactions

The product ratio of intermolecular insertion and cyclopropanation in transition metal-catalyzed diazo decompositions depends strongly upon the metal, its ligands and upon the substituents of the diazo compound. Ethyl diazoacetate (2a) reacts with cyclohexene (1) almost exclusively by cyclopropanation. However, diazomalonate (2d) and methyl 2-diazophenylacetate (2e) in the presence of RhII catalysts exhibit a marked tendency towards allylic CH insertion. With 1,4-cyclohexadiene (6), methyl 2-diazophenylacetate (2e) in the presence of chiral RhII catalysts affords the allylic insertion product 7 in almost quantitative yield and with up to 74% ee.