Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Nitrogen Heterocycles with a Versatile Iridium Catalyst

Metal-Free Activation of Molecular Oxygen by Quaternary Ammonium-Based Ionic Liquid: A Detail Mechanistic Study

Most oxidation processes in common organic synthesis and chemical biology require transition metal catalysts or metalloenzymes. Herein, we report a detailed mechanistic study of a metal-free oxygen (O2) activation protocol on benzylamine/alcohols using simple quaternary alkylammonium-based ionic liquids to produce products such as amide, aldehyde, imine, and in some cases, even aromatized products. NMR and various control experiments established the product formation and reaction mechanism, which involved the conversion of molecular oxygen into a hydroperoxyl radical via a proton-coupled electron transfer process. Detection of hydrogen peroxide in the reaction medium using colorimetric analysis supported the proposed mechanism of oxygen activation. Furthermore, first-principles calculations using density functional theory (DFT) revealed that reaction coordinates and transition state spin densities have a unique spin conversion of triplet oxygen leading to formation of singlet products via a minimum energy crossing point. In addition to DFT, domain-based local pair natural orbital coupled cluster, (DLPNO-CCSD(T)), and complete active space self-consistent field, CASSCF(20,14) methods complemented the above findings. Partial density of states analysis showed stabilization of π* orbital of oxygen in the presence of ionic liquid, making it susceptible to hydrogen abstraction in a mild, metal-free condition. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopic (ICP-AES) analysis of reactant and ionic liquids clearly showed the absence of any significant transition metal contamination. The current results described the origin of O2 activation within the context of molecular orbital (MO) theory and opened up a new avenue for the use of ionic liquids as inexpensive, multifunctional and high-performance alternative to metal-based catalysts for O2 activation.

Iron(II)-Catalyzed Aerobic Biomimetic Oxidation of N-Heterocycles

Herein, an iron(II)-catalyzed biomimetic oxidation of N-heterocycles under aerobic conditions is described. The dehydrogenation process, involving several electron-transfer steps, is inspired by oxidations occurring in the respiratory chain. An environmentally friendly and inexpensive iron catalyst together with a hydroquinone/cobalt Schiff base hybrid catalyst as electron-transfer mediator were used for the substrate-selective dehydrogenation reaction of various N-heterocycles. The method shows a broad substrate scope and delivers important heterocycles in good-to-excellent yields.

Recent Development in the Synthesis and Catalytic Application of Iridacycles

Cyclometallated complexes are well-known and have found many applications. This article provides a short review on the progress made in the synthesis and application to catalysis of cyclometallated half-sandwich Cp*Ir(III) complexes (Cp*: pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) since 2017. Covered in the review are iridacycles featuring conventional C,N chelates and less common metallocene and carbene-derived C,N and C,C ligands. This is followed by an overview of the studies of their applications in catalysis ranging from asymmetric hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation, hydrosilylation to dehydrogenation.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Dehydrogenation Through an Intermolecular Hydrogen Atom Transfer Mechanism

The direct dehydrogenation of alkanes is among the most efficient ways to access valuable alkene products. Although several catalysts have been designed to promote this transformation, they have unfortunately found limited applications in fine chemical synthesis. Here, we report a conceptually novel strategy for the catalytic, intermolecular dehydrogenation of alkanes using a ruthenium catalyst. The combination of a redox-active ligand and a sterically hindered aryl radical intermediate has unleashed this novel strategy. Importantly, mechanistic investigations have been performed to provide a conceptual framework for the further development of this new catalytic dehydrogenation system.

A Visible-Light Promoted Amine Oxidation Catalyzed by a Cp*Ir Complex

Through a rapid screening of Cp*Ir complexes based on a turn-on type fluorescence readout, a [Cp*Ir(dipyrido[3,2-a : 2',3'-c]phenazine)Cl]+ complex was found to catalyze the blue-light promoted dehydrogenation of N-heterocycles under physiological conditions. In the dehydrogenation of tetrahydroisoquinolines, the catalyst preferentially yielded the monodehydrogenated product, accompanying H2O2 generation. We surmise that this mechanism may be reminiscent of flavin-dependent oxidases.

Reductive Hydroxymethylation of 4-Heteroarylpyridines

The activation of pyridinium salts with electron-withdrawing heterocycles enables an iridium-catalyzed reductive hydroxymethylation reaction to proceed smoothly, facilitating the preparation of useful 3D heteroaryl-substituted functionalized piperidines. The methodology is used to prepare 3-hydroxymethylated analogues of pharmaceutical agents. Mechanistically, formaldehyde acts as both a hydride donor and the electrophile, leading to the formation of two new carbon-hydrogen bonds and one new carbon-carbon bond under relatively mild conditions.

Iridium-Catalyzed Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation of N-Heterocycles in Water under Mild Conditions

An efficient catalytic method is presented for the hydrogenation of N-heterocycles. The iridium-based catalyst operates under mild conditions in water without any co-catalyst or stoichiometric additives. The catalyst also promotes the reverse reaction of dehydrogenation of N-heterocycles, hence displaying appropriate characteristics for a future hydrogen economy based on liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs).

Reversible Hydrogen Uptake/Release over a Sodium Phenoxide-Cyclohexanolate Pair

Hydrogen uptake and release in arene-cycloalkane pairs provide an attractive opportunity for on-board and off-board hydrogen storage. However, the efficiency of arene-cycloalkane pairs currently is limited by unfavorable thermodynamics for hydrogen release. It is shown here that the thermodynamics can be optimized by replacement of H in the -OH group of cyclohexanol and phenol with alkali or alkaline earth metals. The enthalpy change upon dehydrogenation decreases substantially, which correlates with the delocalization of the oxygen electron to the benzene ring in phenoxides. Theoretical calculations reveal that replacement of H with a metal leads to a reduction of the HOMO-LUMO energy gap and elongation of the C-H bond in the α site in cyclohexanolate, which indicates that the cyclohexanol is activated upon metal substitution. The experimental results demonstrate that sodium phenoxide-cyclohexanolate, an air- and water-stable pair, can desorb hydrogen at ca. 413 K and 373 K in the solid form and in an aqueous solution, respectively. Hydrogenation, on the other hand, is accomplished at temperatures as low as 303 K.

Organo-Photoredox Catalyzed Oxidative Dehydrogenation of N-Heterocycles

We report here for the first time the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of N-heterocycles by a visible-light organo-photoredox catalyst with low catalyst loading (0.1-1 mol %). The reaction proceeds efficiently under base- and additive-free conditions with ambient air at room temperature. The utility of this benign approach is demonstrated by the synthesis of various pharmaceutically relevant N-heteroarenes such as quinoline, quinoxaline, quinazoline, acridine, and indole.

Oxidative dehydrogenation of C-C and C-N bonds: A convenient approach to access diverse (dihydro)heteroaromatic compounds

Nitrogen heteroarenes form an important class of compounds which can be found in natural products, synthetic drugs, building blocks etc. Among the diverse strategies that were developed for the synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles, oxidative dehydrogenation is extremely effective. This review discusses various oxidative dehydrogenation strategies of C-C and C-N bonds to generate nitrogen heteroarenes from their corresponding heterocyclic substrates. The strategies are categorized under stoichiometric and catalytic usage of reagents that facilitate such transformations. The application of these strategies in the synthesis of nitrogen heteroarene natural products and synthetic drug intermediates are also discussed. We hope this review will arouse sufficient interest among the scientific community to further advance the application of oxidative dehydrogenation in the synthesis of nitrogen heteroarenes.

Heterogeneous mesoporous manganese oxide catalyst for aerobic and additive-free oxidative aromatization of N-heterocycles

Herein, we report a heterogeneous, aerobic, additive-free and environmentally benign catalytic protocol for oxidative aromatization of saturated nitrogen-heterocycles using a mesoporous manganese oxide material.

Frustrated Lewis Pair Catalyzed Dehydrogenative Oxidation of Indolines and Other Heterocycles

An acceptorless dehydrogenation of heterocycles catalyzed by frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) was developed. Oxidation with concomitant liberation of molecular hydrogen proceeded in high to excellent yields for N-protected indolines as well as four other substrate classes. The mechanism of this unprecedented FLP-catalyzed reaction was investigated by mechanistic studies, characterization of reaction intermediates by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystal analysis, and by quantum-mechanical calculations. Hydrogen liberation from the ammonium hydridoborate intermediate is the rate-determining step of the oxidation. The addition of a weaker Lewis acid as a hydride shuttle increased the reaction rate by a factor of 2.28 through a second catalytic cycle.

BCN–Co3O4 hybrid – a highly efficient catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction and dye degradation

The as-prepared Co₃O₄–BCN shows excellent activity towards the OER and dye degradation as compared to pristine Co₃O₄.

Iridicycle-Catalysed Imine Reduction: An Experimental and Computational Study of the Mechanism

The mechanism of imine reduction by formic acid with a single-site iridicycle catalyst has been investigated by density functional theory (DFT), NMR spectroscopy, and kinetic measurements. The NMR and kinetic studies suggest that the transfer hydrogenation is turnover-limited by the hydride formation step. The calculations reveal that, amongst a number of possibilities, hydride formation from the iridicycle and formate probably proceeds by an ion-pair mechanism, whereas the hydride transfer to the imino bond occurs in an outer-sphere manner. In the gas phase, in the most favourable pathway, the activation energies in the hydride formation and transfer steps are 26-28 and 7-8 kcal mol(-1) , respectively. Introducing one explicit methanol molecule into the modelling alters the energy barrier significantly, reducing the energies to around 18 and 2 kcal mol(-1) for the two steps, respectively. The DFT investigation further shows that methanol participates in the transition state of the turnover-limiting hydride formation step by hydrogen-bonding to the formate anion and thereby stabilising the ion pair.

Ruthenium(II) Complexes Containing Lutidine-Derived Pincer CNC Ligands: Synthesis, Structure, and Catalytic Hydrogenation of C-N bonds

A series of Ru complexes containing lutidine-derived pincer CNC ligands have been prepared by transmetalation with the corresponding silver-carbene derivatives. Characterization of these derivatives shows both mer and fac coordination of the CNC ligands depending on the wingtips of the N-heterocyclic carbene fragments. In the presence of tBuOK, the Ru-CNC complexes are active in the hydrogenation of a series of imines. In addition, these complexes catalyze the reversible hydrogenation of phenantridine. Detailed NMR spectroscopic studies have shown the capability of the CNC ligand to be deprotonated and get involved in ligand-assisted activation of dihydrogen. More interestingly, upon deprotonation, the Ru-CNC complex 5 e(BF4 ) is able to add aldimines to the metal-ligand framework to yield an amido complex. Finally, investigation of the mechanism of the hydrogenation of imines has been carried out by means of DFT calculations. The calculated mechanism involves outer-sphere stepwise hydrogen transfer to the C-N bond assisted either by the pincer ligand or a second coordinated H2 molecule.