Catalytic carbonylation of three and four membered heterocycles

A process for the carbonylation of a compound having the formula:

• where R1, R2, R3 and R4 are selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-C100,000-alkyl, C2-C100,000-alkenyl and C6-C100,000-aryl, where the alkyl, alkenyl and aryl are optionally substituted with halogen or benzyl ether, and alkylaryl, ester, ketone, alcohol, acid, aldehyde, amide and tosyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atom, and benzyl ether, alkyl substituted silyl ether where the ether group is C1-C6 alkylene and alkyl substitution consists of one to three C1-C6 alkyl(s) substituted on silyl, and any other functionality that the catalyst referred to below is tolerant of, and where R2 and R4 can join to form a ring, and X is selected from the group consisting of O, S and NR5 where R5 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-C100,000-alkyl, C2-C100,000-alkenyl and C6-C100,000-aryl where the alkyl alkenyl and aryl are optionally substituted with halogen or benzyl ether, and alkylaryl, ester, ketone, alcohol, acid, aldehyde, amide and tosyl containing from 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and benzyl ether, alkyl substituted silyl ether where the ether group is C1-C6-alkylene and where the alkyl substitution consists of one to three C1-C6 alkyl(s) substituted on silyl, and any other functionality that the catalyst referred to below is tolerant of and does not cause rearrangement, and where n is 0 or 1, and Y is C═O or CH2, said process comprising the step of reacting compound (I) with carbon monoxide in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of catalyst having the general formula [Lewis acid]z+{[QM(CO)x]w−}y where Q is any ligand and need not be present, M is a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Groups 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the periodic table of elements, z is the valence of the Lewis acid and ranges from 1 to 6, w is the charge of the metal carbonyl and ranges from 1 to 4 and y is a number such that w times y equals z, and x is a number such as to provide a stable anionic metal carbonyl for {[QM(CO)x]w−}y, to form a product having the structural formula:
• where R1, R2, R3 and R4 and X correspond to R1, R2, R3, R4 and X in (I) including R2 and R4 forming a ring if that is the case for (I);
• and in the case where n for (I) is 0, n for (II) is 0 or 1, and in the case where n for (I) is 1, n for (II) is 1;
• said catalyst excluding catalyst formed from the combination of a cobalt source and a hydroxy substituted pyridine.