A series of acyclic alpha-carbomethoxy-alpha-diazoacetanilides with different N-substituents, 5a-k, was prepared and the rhodium(II) acetate catalyzed reactions studied. It was found that the rhodium carbenoid reaction with these compounds occurred only at the N-substituent; when the N-substituent is a propargyl group, rhodium carbenoid addition to the triple bond is favored, resulting, ultimately, in the formation of a bicyclic furan derivative 8. With an N-(tert-butyloxycarbonyl)methyl substituent, interception of the rhodium carbenoid by the ester carbonyl oxygen occurred preferentially to give, eventually, 1,4-oxazine derivatives 9 and 9'. For N-alkyl substituents, rhodium carbenoid carbon-hydrogen (C-H) insertion into the alkyl group to give 2-azetidinone and/or 2-pyrrolidinone derivatives was observed. The chemoselectivity of the rhodium carbenoid C-H insertion can be altered by the use of the alpha-acetyl and alpha-phenylsulfonyl substituents. In these cases, exclusive C-H insertion at the N-aryl moiety resulted to give 2(3H)-indolinone products. However, the alpha-substituent effect on the chemoselectivity of the insertion reaction is easily overridden by conformational effects about the amide N-C(O) bond as revealed by the insertion reactions of the conformationally rigid compounds 20a-c. The alpha-substituent effects are reestablished when conformational rigidity is removed, as exemplified by the rhodium carbenoid insertion reactions of compounds 29a,b.
