Solvent-Switchable Remote C-H Activation via 1,4-Palladium Migration Enables Site-Selective C-P Bond Formation: A Tool for the Synthesis of P-Chiral Phosphinyl Imidazoles

Solvent-switchable and site-selective phosphorylation of imidazoles at the C2 or C5 position of the imidazole ring was achieved via 1,4-palladium migration. P-Chiral tert-butyl(aryl)phosphine oxides were cross-coupled to 1-(2-bromophenyl)-1H-imidazoles with high enantiospecificity, thereby leading to a novel class of chiral imidazole-based phosphine oxides. As proof of concept, reduction of an analogue yielded the corresponding P-chiral 2-phosphinyl imidazole ligand, which was shown to induce high enantioselectivity in the formation of axially chiral molecules synthesized via Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling.

Palladium-catalyzed generation of CO from formic acid for alkoxycarbonylation of internal alkenes involves a PTSA-assisted NH-Pd mechanism: a DFT mechanistic study

DFT calculations have been performed to find the mechanism of the alkyloxycarbonylation of an internal alkene with HCOOH catalyzed by a palladium complex with P,N hemilabile ligands. Four different cycles have been explored in detail, and a plausible catalytic cycle involves the decomposition of HCOOH/HCOOMe to CO, internal alkene isomerization, terminal alkene insertion, CO migratory insertion and methanolysis. It is shown that decomposition and isomerization processes involve a cooperative P,N hemilabile ligand and Pd(0) (NH-Pd) rather than the Pd(II) hydride (Pd-H) mechanism. Intriguingly, the simultaneous presence of PTSA acts as a hydrogen shuttle (H-shuttle), assisting CO generation and methanolysis. With such a mechanism, the rate-determining transition state corresponds to internal alkene isomerization, which is consistent with the experimental observation that isomerization was the slow step in this process. The back-bonding between palladium and olefin and rapid hydrogen transfer in the presence of a PTSA H-shuttle are responsible for the moderate barriers. In addition, a careful study of the solvent effect indicates that polar solvents, which are capable of hydrogen bonding, can promote the catalytic reactions. Mechanistic insights gained by this theoretical study have not only rationalized the experimental observations well but also have implications for new reaction development.

A practical concept for catalytic carbonylations using carbon dioxide

The rise of CO₂ in atmosphere is considered as the major reason for global warming. Therefore, CO₂ utilization has attracted more and more attention. Among those, using CO₂ as C1-feedstock for the chemical industry provides a solution. Here we show a two-step cascade process to perform catalytic carbonylations of olefins, alkynes, and aryl halides utilizing CO₂ and H₂. For the first step, a novel heterogeneous copper 10Cu@SiO₂-PHM catalyst exhibits high selectivity (≥98%) and decent conversion (27%) in generating CO from reducing CO₂ with H₂. The generated CO is directly utilized without further purification in industrially important carbonylation reactions: hydroformylation, alkoxycarbonylation, and aminocarbonylation. Notably, various aldehydes, (unsaturated) esters and amides are obtained in high yields and chemo-/regio-selectivities at low temperature under ambient pressure. Our approach is of interest for continuous syntheses in drug discovery and organic synthesis to produce building blocks on reasonable scale utilizing CO₂.

Ruthenium-catalysed hydroxycarbonylation of olefins

A ruthenium-catalysed hydroxycarbonylation of olefins. We report a ruthenium-catalysed hydroxycarbonylation of unfunctionalized olefins.

The first one-pot metathesis–hydroformylation procedure: a straight synthesis of 2-arylpropanals from renewable 1-propenylbenzenes

2-Arylpropanals are synthesised from renewable 1-propenylbenzenes via a two-step, one-pot procedure.

The Mechanism of the Intramolecular Hydrocarbyl Metathesis within a Planar Triruthenium Cluster: Combining Core Flexibility with Hydride Mobility

The transition metal catalysed formation and cleavage of C-C bonds is of utmost importance in synthetic chemistry. While most of the existing homogeneous catalysts are mononuclear, knowledge of the behaviour of polynuclear species is much more limited. By using computational methods, here we shed light into the mechanistic details of the thermally-induced isomerization of Cp*₃ Ru₃ (μ-H)₂ (μ₃ -η² -pentyne)(μ₃ -pentylidyne) (2) into Cp*₃ Ru₃ (μ-H)₂ (μ₃ -η² -octyne)(μ₃ -ethylidyne) (3), a process that involves the migration of a C₃ fragment between the hydrocarbyl ligands and across the plane formed by the three Ru centres. Our results show this to be a complex transformation that comprises of five individual rearrangements in an A→B→A→B→A order. Each so-called rearrangement A consists of the CH migration from the μ₃ -η² -alkyne into the μ₃ -alkylidine ligand in the other side of the Ru₃ plane. This process is facilitated by the cluster's ability to adopt open-core structures in which one Ru-Ru bond is broken and a new C-C bond is formed. In contrast, rearrangements B do not involve the formation or cleavage of C-C bonds, nor do they require the opening of the cluster core. Instead, they consist of the isomerization of the μ₃ -η² -alkyne and μ₃ -alkylidyne ligands on each side of the triruthenium plane into μ₃ -alkylidyne and μ₃ -η² -alkyne, respectively. Such transformation implies the migration of three H atoms within the hydrocarbyl ligands, and in this case, it is aided by the cluster's ability to behave as a H reservoir. All in all, this study highlights the plasticity of these Ru₃ clusters, whereby Ru-Ru, Ru-C, Ru-H, C-C, and C-H bonds are formed and broken with surprising ease.

Spectroscopic Study of Sol-Gel Entrapped Triruthenium Dodecacarbonyl Catalyst Reveals Hydride Formation

Triruthenium dodecacarbonyl exhibits increased catalytic activity toward hydrogenation reactions when encapsulated in alumina sol-gels. In this study, we demonstrate structural and electronic changes induced by the encapsulation process. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveals that the carbonyl vibrational modes dramatically red shift during aging in the sol-gel glass. These shifts are attributed to the formation of the metal hydride: [HRu₃(CO)₁₁]^-. A comparison to the FTIR spectrum of synthesized [NEt₄][HRu₃(CO)₁₁] confirms this assignment. XPS studies show that the Ru 3d_5/2 peak of [HRu₃(CO)₁₁]^- also shifts to lower binding energy, consistent with an increased electron density on the Ru nuclei compared to Ru₃(CO)₁₂ and confirmed by density functional calculations. This study should open the door to further investigations into the hydride's role in the previously observed catalytic activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify the presence of [HRu₃(CO)₁₁]^- in the alumina sol-gel.

Synthesis and hydroformylation evaluation of Fréchet-type organometallic dendrons with N,O-salicylaldimine Rh(i) complexes at the focal point

A series of organometallic dendrons containing N,O-salicylaldimine entities at the focal point were synthesised by reacting the N,O-salicylaldimine-functionalised Fréchet dendrons (G0, G1 and G2) with a [Rh(μ-Cl)(η2:η2-COD)]2 dimer to yield the corresponding Rh(COD) [COD = cyclooctadiene] complexes. These Rh(COD) complexes were exposed to an atmosphere of CO to yield a new class of rhodium carbonyl organometallic dendrons with Rh(CO)2 units at the focal point. All the compounds were characterised using standard spectroscopic and analytical techniques, these include nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and single-crystal X-ray diffraction for compounds 1, 4 and 7. All of the complexes were evaluated in the hydroformylation of 1-octene, with excellent conversion and chemoselectivity towards aldehydes. The G0-(CO)2 catalyst precursor (7) was active in the hydroformylation of 1-octene, styrene, 7-tetradecene, methyl oleate, triolein, d-limonene and R-citronellal. The conversion and chemoselectivity towards aldehydes for 7-tetradecene, methyl oleate, triolein and d-limonene were promising. Across a particular dendron series, an increase in chemoselectivity was observed due to the dendritic effect. Mercury drop tests were performed for the G0-analogues and these confirm that the hydroformylation can be attributed to a combination of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis.

Toward a mild dehydroformylation using base-metal catalysis

Dehydroformylation, a challenging, underexplored reaction, can be performed under mild conditions using a designed cooperative base metal catalyst system.

Dehydroformylation, or the reaction of aldehydes to produce alkenes, hydrogen gas, and carbon monoxide, is a powerful transformation that is underdeveloped despite the high industrial importance of the reverse reaction, hydroformylation. Interestingly, nature routinely performs a related transformation, oxidative dehydroformylation, in the biosynthesis of cholesterol and related sterols under mild conditions using base-metal catalysts. In contrast, chemists have recently developed a non-oxidative dehydroformylation method; however, it requires high temperatures and a precious-metal catalyst. Careful study of both approaches has informed our efforts to design a base-metal catalyzed, mild dehydroformylation method that incorporates benefits from each while avoiding several of their respective disadvantages. Importantly, we show that cooperative base metal catalysis presents a powerful, mechanistically unique approach to reactions which are difficult to achieve using conventional catalyst design.

Ruthenium-catalyzed hydroformylation: from laboratory to continuous miniplant scale

Ruthenium running its rounds – recycling of a homogeneous ruthenium catalyst for hydroformylation of linear aliphatic alkenes by ex situ product extraction and successful application in a continuously operated miniplant for 90 h.

Highly regioselective osmium-catalyzed hydroformylation

The first highly regioselective and general osmium-catalyzed hydroformylation of olefins to aldehydes is reported. The combination of Os3(CO)12 and imidazoyl-substituted phosphine ligands allows n-selective (up to 99%) hydroformylation of bulk aliphatic as well as functional alkenes in good yields (64-87%).

Ruthenium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of alkenes using carbon monoxide

The first ruthenium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of alkenes with alcohols using carbon monoxide as carbonyl source is realized.

Ruthenium-catalyzed reductive amination without an external hydrogen source

A ruthenium-catalyzed reductive amination without an external hydrogen source has been developed using carbon monoxide as the reductant and ruthenium(III) chloride (0.008-2 mol %) as the catalyst. The method was applied to the synthesis of antianxiety agent ladasten.

Using aqueous ammonia in hydroaminomethylation reactions: ruthenium-catalyzed synthesis of tertiary amines

The direct synthesis of tertiary amines from ammonia and olefins is presented. Using a combination of Ru3 (CO)12 and 2-phosphino-substituted imidazole ligand as catalyst system allows for hydroaminomethylation reactions of bulk aliphatic and functionalized olefins. Tertiary amines are obtained in an atom-efficient domino process in moderate to good isolated yields (45-76%) with excellent regioselectivities (n/iso up to 99:1).

Sequential hydroformylation/diels-alder processes: one-pot synthesis of polysubstituted cyclohexenes, cyclohexadienes, and phthalates from alkynes

A novel, one-pot hydroformylation/Diels-Alder sequence for the synthesis of multisubstituted cyclohexenes, cyclohexadienes, and phthalates has been developed. Various alkynes were efficiently converted into the corresponding products in good yields and with excellent diastereoselectivity through palladium-catalyzed hydroformylation followed by an AAD-type reaction (AAD: Amides-Aldehydes-Dienophiles). In view of the availability of the substrates, the atom-efficiency of the overall process, and the convenient introduction of substituents in the cyclohexene ring, this method complements current methods for the preparation of polysubstituted cyclohexane derivatives.