Cationic aluminum alkyl complexes incorporating aminotroponiminate ligands

A recyclable catalyst that precipitates at the end of the reaction

Homogeneous catalysts--which exist in the same (usually liquid) phase as reactants and products--are usually more selective than heterogeneous catalysts and far less affected by limitations due to slow transport of reactants and products, but their separation from reaction products can be costly and inefficient. This has stimulated the development of strategies that facilitate the recycling of homogeneous catalysts. Some of these methods exploit the preference of a catalyst for one of two solvents with thermoregulated miscibility; others exploit a dramatic decrease in catalyst solubility as one reagent is consumed or temperature changed after completion of the reaction. Here we describe a tungsten catalyst for the solvent-free hydrosilylation of ketones that retains its activity until essentially all of the liquid substrate is converted to liquid products, which we can then simply decant to separate the catalyst that precipitates from the products of the reaction. We attribute the ability of the catalyst to retain its solubility and hence activity until completion of the reaction to the transient formation of liquid clathrate that contains a few molecules of the substrate per molecule of the otherwise solid catalyst. Insights into the fundamental processes controlling the formation of this liquid clathrate might help to tailor other catalysts and substrates, so as to develop efficient and solvent-free schemes for reactions of practical interest.

Reaction of vinyl chloride with late transition metal olefin polymerization catalysts

The reactions of vinyl chloride (VC) with representative late metal, single-site olefin dimerization and polymerization catalysts have been investigated. VC coordinates more weakly than ethylene or propylene to the simple catalyst (Me(2)bipy)PdMe(+) (Me(2)bipy = 4,4'-Me(2)-2,2'-bipyridine). Insertion rates of (Me(2)bipy)Pd(Me)(olefin)(+) species vary in the order VC > ethylene > propylene. The VC complexes (Me(2)bipy)Pd(Me)(VC)(+) and (alpha-diimine)Pd(Me)(VC)(+) (alpha-diimine = (2,6-(i)Pr(2)[bond]C(6)H(3))N[double bond]CMeCMe[double bond]N(2,6-(i)Pr(2)[bond]C(6)H(3))) undergo net 1,2 VC insertion and beta-Cl elimination to yield Pd[bond]Cl species and propylene. Analogous chemistry occurs for (pyridine-bisimine)MCl(2)/MAO catalysts (M = Fe, Co; pyridine-bisimine = 2,6-[(2,6-(i)Pr(2)[bond]C(6)H(3))N[double bond]CMe](2)-pyridine) and for neutral (sal)Ni(Ph)PPh(3) and (P[bond]O)Ni(Ph)PPh(3) catalysts (sal = 2-[C(H)[double bond]N(2,6-(i)Pr(2)-C(6)H(3))]-6-Ph-phenoxide; P[bond]O = [Ph(2)PC(SO(3)Na)[double bond]C(p-tol)O]), although the initial metal alkyl VC adducts were not detected in these cases. These results show that the L(n)MCH(2)CHClR species formed by VC insertion into the active species of late metal olefin polymerization catalysts undergo rapid beta-Cl elimination which precludes VC polymerization. Termination of chain growth by beta-Cl elimination is the most significant obstacle to metal-catalyzed insertion polymerization of VC.

Cationic scandium methyl complexes supported by a beta-diketiminato ("Nacnac") ligand framework

The base-free dimethyl scandium complex supported by the bulky beta-diketiminato ligand ArNC((t)Bu)CHC((t)Bu)NAr (Ar = 2,6-(i)Pr(2)C(6)H(3), 1) reacts with various equivalencies of the strong organometallic Lewis acid B(C(6)F(5))(3) to give scandium alkyl cations. With 0.5 equiv, a monocationic mu-methyl dimer (2) was observed spectroscopically. Reaction with a further 0.5 equiv of borane gives the monomeric methyl cation 3, which was fully characterized, including via X-ray crystallography. This compound is fluxional on the NMR time scale via a "ligand flip" mechanism. Reaction with another equivalent of borane gives the unique dication 4, which exhibits a static structure on the NMR time scale. Dimethyl compound 1 is a highly active catalyst precursor for ethylene polymerization under borane or MAO-type activation. Activities for this group 3 metal based catalyst approach those observed for group 4 based metallocene systems.