Hydrogenation and hydrosilylation activity of homogeneous and immobilized dicarbonyl(2,4-pentanedionato)rhodium complexes

Rhodium complex with ethylene ligands supported on highly dehydroxylated MgO: synthesis, characterization, and reactivity

Mononuclear rhodium complexes with reactive olefin ligands, supported on MgO powder, were synthesized by chemisorption of Rh(C(2)H(4))(2)(C(5)H(7)O(2)) and characterized by infrared (IR), (13)C MAS NMR, and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopies. IR spectra show that the precursor adsorbed on MgO with dissociation of acetylacetonate ligand from rhodium, with the ethylene ligands remaining bound to the rhodium, as confirmed by the NMR spectra. EXAFS spectra give no evidence of Rh-Rh contributions, indicating that site-isolated mononuclear rhodium species formed on the support. The EXAFS data also show that the mononuclear complex was bonded to the support by two Rh-O bonds, at a distance of 2.18 A, which is typical of group 8 metals bonded to oxide supports. This is the first simple and nearly uniform supported mononuclear rhodium-olefin complex, and it appears to be a close analogue of molecular catalysts for olefin hydrogenation in solution. Correspondingly, the ethylene ligands bonded to rhodium in the supported complex were observed to react with H(2) to form ethane, and the supported complex was catalytically active for the ethylene hydrogenation at 298 K. The ethylene ligands also underwent facile exchange with C(2)D(4), and exposure of the sample to carbon monoxide led to the formation of rhodium gem dicarbonyls.

A silica-supported, switchable, and recyclable hydroformylation-hydrogenation catalyst

A homogeneous hydroformylation catalyst, designed to produce selectively linear aldehydes, was covalently tethered to a polysilicate support. The immobilized transition-metal complex [Rh(A)CO]+(1+)), in which A is N-(3-trimethoxysilane-n-propyl)-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)phenoxazine, was prepared both via the sol-gel process and by covalent anchoring to silica. 1+ was characterized by means of (31)P and (29)Si MAS NMR, FT-IR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Polysilicate immobilized Rh(A) performed as a selective hydroformylation catalyst showing an overall selectivity for the linear aldehyde of 94.6% (linear to branched aldehyde ratio of 65). In addition 1-nonanol, obtained via the hydrogenation of the corresponding aldehyde, was formed as an unexpected secondary product (3.6% at 20% conversion). Under standard hydroformylation conditions, 1+ and HRh(A)(CO)(2)(1) coexist on the support. This dual catalyst system performed as a hydroformylation/hydrogenation sequence catalyst (Z), giving selectively 1-nonanol from 1-octene; ultimately, 98% of 1-octene was converted to mainly 1-nonanal and 97% of the nonanal was hydrogenated to 1-nonanol. The addition of 1-propanol completely changes Z in a hydroformylation catalyst (X), which produces 1-nonanal with an overall selectivity of 93%, and completely suppresses the reduction reaction. If the atmosphere is changed from CO/H(2) to H(2) the catalyst system is switched to the hydrogenation mode (Y), which shows a clean and complete hydrogenation of 1-octene and 1-nonanal within 24 h. The immobilized catalyst can be recycled and the system can be switched reversibly between the three "catalyst modes" X, Y, and Z, completely retaining the catalyst performance in each mode.