Mechanistic Study on Oxorhenium-Catalyzed Deoxydehydration and Allylic Alcohol Isomerization

Transition metal-catalyzed deoxydehydration: missing pieces of the puzzle

Deoxydehydration (DODH) is a transformation that converts a vicinal diol into an olefin with the help of a sacrificial reductant.

Kinetics Study of the Hydrodeoxygenation of Xylitol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 Catalyst

In this study, we elucidate the reaction kinetics for the simultaneous hydrodeoxygenation of xylitol to 1,2-dideoxypentitol and 1,2,5-pentanetriol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 (2.0 weight% Re, 0.30 weight% Pd) catalyst. The reaction was determined to be a zero-order reaction with respect to xylitol. The activation energy was elucidated through an Arrhenius relationship as well as non-Arrhenius kinetics. The Arrhenius relationship was investigated at 150–170 °C and a constant H2 pressure of 10 bar resulting in an activation energy of 48.7 ± 10.5 kJ/mol. The investigation of non-Arrhenius kinetics was conducted at 120–170 °C and a sub-Arrhenius relation was elucidated with activation energy being dependent on temperature, and ranging from 10.2–51.8 kJ/mol in the temperature range investigated. Internal and external mass transfer were investigated through evaluating the Weisz–Prater criterion and the effect of varying stirring rate on the reaction rate, respectively. There were no internal or external mass transfer limitations present in the reaction.

Oxidation–reductive coupling of alcohols catalyzed by oxo-vanadium complexes

Oxo-vanadium complexes catalyze the novel oxidation–reductive coupling of benzylic and allylic alcohols.

Perrhenate-Catalyzed Deoxydehydration of a Vicinal Diol: A Comparative Density Functional Theory Study

Oxo-rhenium compounds, such as perrhenate salts, have demonstrated preferable activity in catalyzing the deoxydehydration (DODH) reaction in the presence of reductants. Here, the first computational details of the reported DODH mechanisms are presented using the density functional theory (DFT) (M06/6-311+G(d,p)/LANL2DZ) to investigate the conversion of a vicinal diol into the corresponding alkene by ReO₄^- as a catalyst. The DFT studies were carried out to evaluate the DODH mechanisms, from the energy point of view, for the conversion of phenyl-1,2-ethanediol to styrene by perrhenate anion in the presence of PPh₃ as a reductant through a detailed comparison of two potential pathways including pathway A and pathway B. Pathway A includes the sequence of condensation of oxo-Re(VII) with diol before the reduction of Re(VII) to Re(V), whereas pathway B involves the reduction of oxo-Re(VII) to oxo-Re(V) before the condensation process. In pathway B, two basic routes (B1 and B2) are possible, which can take place through different reaction steps, including the extrusion of alkene from Re(V)-diolate in route B1, and the second reduction of the Re(V)-diolate by reductant and then the extrusion of alkene from the Re(III)-diolate intermediate in route B2. The intermediates and the Gibbs free energy changes, including ΔG°_g and ΔG°_sol, have been calculated for alternative pathways (A and B) in the gas and solvent (chlorobenzene and methanol) phases and compared to each other. In addition, the transition states and the activation energy barriers for two pathways (A and B) in the gas phase and in chlorobenzene have been calculated. The key transition states include the nucleophilic attack of PPh₃ on an Re═O bond, the dissociation of OPPh₃ from the rhenium moiety, the transfer of an H atom of diol to the oxo ligand in an oxo-Re bond through the condensation step, and the extrusion of styrene from the Re-diolate complexes. The DFT results indicate that the DODH reaction is thermodynamically feasible through both pathways (A and B). However, the calculations reveal that the perrhenate-catalyzed DODH reaction through pathway A has the lowest overall activation barrier energy among the DODH mechanism routes.

Deoxydehydration of vicinal diols and polyols catalyzed by pyridinium perrhenate salts

Simple ammonium and pyridinium perrhenate salts were evaluated as catalysts for the deoxydehydration (DODH) of diols into alkenes.