The Choice of Rhodium Catalysts in [2+2+2] Cycloaddition Reaction: A Personal Account

[2+2+2] Cycloaddition reaction is a captivating process that assembles six-membered rings from three unsaturations with complete atom economy. Of the multiple transition metals that can be used to catalyze this reaction, rhodium offers many advantages. These include high activity and versatility, but especially the ability to easily tune the reactivity and selectivity by the modification of the ligands around the metal. In this personal account, we summarize our endeavours in the development of efficient and sustainable [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions to prepare products of interest, develop conditions in which the catalyst can be recovered and reused, and understand the mechanistic details that govern the selectivity of the processes.

Automated summary

The [2+2+2] cycloaddition reaction is a fascinating process that creates six-membered rings from three unsaturations with complete atom economy. Rhodium, among the multiple transition metals that can catalyze this reaction, offers advantages such as high activity, versatility, and the ability to easily tune reactivity and selectivity by modifying ligands around the metal. This personal account summarizes efforts in developing efficient and sustainable [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions, focusing on preparing desired products, developing catalyst recovery and reuse conditions, and understanding mechanistic details governing process selectivity.