Cleavage of water-insoluble alkylallylcarbonates catalysed by a palladium/TPPTS/cyclodextrin system: effect of phosphine/cyclodextrin interactions on the reaction rate

Anticancer Water-Soluble Organoruthenium Complexes: Synthesis and Preclinical Evaluation

The synthesis, characterisation, and evaluation of the in vitro cytotoxicity of five maleonitriledithiolate-based ruthenium metal complexes bearing various phosphine ligands towards two ovarian cancer cell lines (A2780 and A2780cisR), one non-small-cell lung cancer cell line (H460) and one normal prostate cell line (PNT2) are presented herein. These 18-electron complexes were designed with four water-soluble phosphine ligands to increase the water-solubility character of the corresponding electron-deficient ruthenium complex which showed great in vitro promises, and triphenylphosphine for comparison. The complexes with triphenylphosphine-3,3',3''-trisulfonic acid and triphenylphosphine present similar cytotoxicity compared to the 16-electron precursor, with equal cytotoxicity to both A2780 and A2780cisR. Hints at the mechanism of action suggest an apoptotic pathway based on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. No toxicity was observed in preliminary in vivo pilot studies for these two complexes in subcutaneous A2780 and A2780cisR xenograft models, with some evidence of tumour growth delay.

Transition Metal Complexes Coordinated by Water Soluble Phosphane Ligands: How Cyclodextrins Can Alter the Coordination Sphere?

The behaviour of platinum(II) and palladium(0) complexes coordinated by various hydrosoluble monodentate phosphane ligands has been investigated by ³¹P{¹H} NMR spectroscopy in the presence of randomly methylated β-cyclodextrin (RAME-β-CD). This molecular receptor can have no impact on the organometallic complexes, induce the formation of phosphane low-coordinated complexes or form coordination second sphere species. These three behaviours are under thermodynamic control and are governed not only by the affinity of RAME-β-CD for the phosphane but also by the phosphane stereoelectronic properties. When observed, the low-coordinated complexes may be formed either via a preliminary decoordination of the phosphane followed by a complexation of the free ligand by the CD or via the generation of organometallic species complexed by CD which then lead to expulsion of ligands to decrease their internal steric hindrance.

Telomerization of butadiene with glycerol: reaction control through process engineering, solvents, and additives

Owing to the large amount of glycerol that is formed as a by-product during biodiesel production, there have been great efforts to develop new reactions and processes based on glycerol as a renewable feedstock. One example is the telomerization of butadiene with glycerol which provides an atom-economic route to amphiphilic molecules. The reaction is catalyzed by homogeneous palladium catalysts which necessitates efficient catalyst recycling. By employing an aqueous biphasic system, an increased selectivity towards the desired mono-ethers was observed in the telomerization reaction. The performance of the reaction and separation and recycling of the catalyst were optimized by the addition of organic solvents as well as cyclodextrins. By adding cyclodextrins, the conversion of glycerol could be increased and the leaching of palladium could be reduced. Leaching of palladium into the organic phase could be lowered also by using 2-octanol or 2-propanol as additional solvents. Furthermore, the catalyst system could be stabilized by adding nitriles or phosphonium salts, and radical polymerization, which leads to fouling, could be inhibited successfully.

A property-matched water-soluble analogue of the benchmark ligand PPh3

A series of sulfonated biphenylphosphanes were readily prepared from commercially available, inexpensive, and air-stable organic compounds. Of these, the trisulfonated trisbiphenylphosphane can be considered as a true water-soluble analogue of PPh(3) as the cone angle and basicity of both phosphanes are very close and result in a similar coordination mode on palladium and rhodium complexes. The catalytic performance of the trisulfonated trisbiphenylphosphane was evaluated in the aqueous hydroformylation of 1-decene and the Tsuji-Trost reaction.

Regioselectivity in aqueous palladium catalysed hydroxycarbonylation of styrene: a catalytic and mechanistic study

Regioselectivity control was studied in palladium catalysed hydroxycarbonylation of styrene in neat water with water-soluble phosphines, mostly trisulfonated triphenylphosphine, TPPTS, but also N-bis(N',N'-diethyl-2-aminoethyl)-4-aminomethylphenyl-diphenylphosphine, N3P. The factor giving the highest changes in regioselectivity in the TPPTS system, under similar reaction conditions, is the temperature. In the N3P case, only a minor variation in the n/i ratio as a function of temperature is observed. Insitu normal- and high-pressure NMR experiments were performed to obtain further information about the catalytic cycle and the reaction intermediates. Two palladium hydride intermediates, a palladium eta3-benzylic complex and both the branched and linear palladium acyl complexes were identified in the HP NMR experiments. The hydroxycarbonylation in water using styrene as a substrate operates using a hydride mechanism for pathways leading to both linear and branched product. Insertion of styrene in the palladium-hydride bond gives an eta3-benzyl compound. A high CO pressure gives a kinetic preference for the iso-acyl in the next step. In the TPPTS system, at moderate temperatures, the hydrolysis of the iso-acyl is faster than its conversion to the thermodynamically more stable n-acyl. A low n/i therefore requires high pressures and reasonably low temperatures. The N3P ligand always favours the linear product since isomerisation of the iso-acyl to the n-acyl in this system is fast under all conditions investigated.

Rhodium Complexes Non-Covalently Bound to Cyclodextrins: Novel Water-Soluble Supramolecular Catalysts for the Biphasic Hydroformylation of Higher Olefins

A new class of cationic alpha-cyclodextrins bearing 2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammoniopropyl groups has been synthesised. We investigated their efficiency as mass-transfer promoters in a biphasic hydroformylation reaction catalysed by a rhodium trisulfonated triphenylphosphine system. These cationic alpha-cyclodextrins greatly increased the reaction rate, the chemoselectivity, and, surprisingly, the linear-to-branched aldehyde ratio. We attributed this unexpected enhancement of the linear-to-branched aldehyde ratio to the in situ formation of new catalytic supramolecular species obtained by ion-exchange between the catalyst ligand and the cationic alpha-cyclodextrins.