The oxidative addition of 5-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-2-ones (1) to a low-valent palladium complex and the subsequent decarboxylation has been studied as an access to oxatrimethylenemethane-palladium (OTMM-Pd) intermediates in a catalytic process. The reaction of 5,6-dimethyl-4-methylene-1,3-dioxolan-2-one (1a) with norbornene in the presence of Pd(PPh3)4 gave 3-(2-methylpropanoyl)tricyclo[3.2.1.0(2,4)]octane (3a) via addition and isomerization. In the catalytic reaction of 1a with several isonitriles, insertion of two molecules of the isonitrile into OTMM intermediate 2a took place to give 2-iminofurans 11. Similarly, the carbonate 1a reacted with aromatic isocyanates to give the corresponding oxazolidinones 12 as a result of [3 + 2] cycloaddition. The reaction of la with trimethylsilyl cyanide gave cyanated silyl enol ether 17. The zwitterionic character of OTMM-Pd seems to explain this reactivity.
Ohe, Kouichi; Matsuda, Hideki; Morimoto, Tsumoru, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1994, vol. 116, # 9, p. 4125 - 4126