Synthesis and characterization of ruthenium(II) azoimine-diphosphine mixed-ligand complexes

Ruthenium complexes of 1,4-diazabutadiene ligands with a cis-RuCl2 moiety for catalytic acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols: DFT evidence of chemically non-innocent ligand participation

The acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling (ADC) of primary alcohols to esters by diazabutadiene-coordinated ruthenium compounds is reported. Treatment of cis-Ru(dmso)4Cl2 in acetone at 56 °C with different 1,4-diazabutadienes [p-XC6H4N[double bond, length as m-dash]C(H)(H)C[double bond, length as m-dash]NC6H4X-p; X = H, CH3, OCH3, and Cl; abbreviated as DAB-X], gives trans-Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-X]2Cl2 as the kinetic product of substitution. Heating these products in o-xylene at 144 °C gives the thermodynamically favored cis-Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-X]2Cl2 isomers. Electronic structure calculations confirm the greater stability of the cis diastereomer. The molecular structures for each pair of geometric isomers have been determined by X-ray diffraction analyses. Cyclic voltammetry experiments on the complexes show an oxidative response and a reductive response within 0.50 to 0.93 V and -0.76 to -1.24 V vs. SCE respectively. The cis-Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-X]2Cl2 complexes function as catalyst precursors for the acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of primary alcohols to H2 and homo- and cross-coupled esters. When 1,4-butanediol and 1,5-pentanediol are employed as substrates, lactones and hydroxyaldehydes are produced as the major dehydrogenation products, while secondary alcohols afforded ketones in excellent yields. The mechanism for the dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzyl benzoate and H2 using cis-Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-H]2Cl2 (cis-1) as a catalyst precursor was investigated by DFT calculations. The data support a catalytic cycle that involves the four-coordinate species Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-H][κ1-N-DAB-H](κ1-OCH2Ph) whose protonated κ1-diazabutadiene moiety functions as a chemically non-innocent ligand that facilitates a β-hydrogen elimination from the κ1-O-benzoxide ligand to give the corresponding hydride HRu[κ2-N,N-DAB-H][κ1-N-DAB-H](κ2-O,C-benzaldehyde). H2 production follows a Noyori-type elimination to give (H2)Ru[κ2-N,N-DAB-H][κ1-N-DAB-H](κ1-O-benzaldehyde) as an intermediate in the catalytic cycle.

Observation on symmetry properties of sodium zinc(II)-2,9,16,23-phthalocyanine tetracarboxylate in water:NaOH solution

The shift of the Q-band of sodium zinc(II)-2,9,16,23-phthalocyanine tetracarboxylate (ZnPc(COONa)4) to about 800 nm is attributed to the influence of the electron-donating property of the carboxylate groups substituted in the β-position. ZnPc(COONa)4 which was found to have a symmetry of D 2h characterized by a splitting of the Q transition. This splitting was interpreted by the formation of dianionic symmetric ZnPc(COONa)4 resulting from the dissociation of the pyrrole protons as well as the possibility of Na(+) dissolution of ZnPc(COONa)4 in the aqueous solution of NaOH.

Trans/cis isomerization of [RuCl2{H2C=C(CH2PPh2)2)}(diamine)] complexes: synthesis, spectral, crystal structure and DFT calculations and catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated ketones

Three complexes of the general formula trans/cis-[Ru((II))(dppme)(N-N)Cl2] {dppme is H2C=C(CH2PPh2)2 and N-N is 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (trans/cis-(1)) and 1-methyl-1,2-diaminopropane (trans-(2)} were obtained by reacting trans-[RuCl2(dppme)2] with an excess amount of corresponding diamine in CH2Cl2 as a solvent. The complexes were characterized by an elemental analysis, IR, (1)H, (13)C and (31)P{1H} NMR, FAB-MS and UV-visible. The trans-(1) (kinetic product) readily isomerizes to the cis-(1) (thermodynamic product) and this process was followed by using (31)P{(1)H} NMR, cyclic voltammetry and UV-vis spectroscopy. The electrochemical studies on complex (1) reveal that the Ru(III)/Ru(II) couples are sensitive to the isomer (trans/cis) formed. The cis-(1) was confirmed by X-ray structure and (31)P{(1)H} NMR. Transfer-hydrogenation reactions for reduction of trans-4-phenyl-3-butene-2-one were conducted using complexes trans/cis-(1) and trans-(2). The electronic spectra of cis/trans-(1) in dichloromethane were calculated with the use of time-dependent DFT methods.