Electronic and solvent effects in the reaction of zinc porphyrins with a metal imidazolate complex or 1-methylimidazole

Supramolecular bidentate phosphorus ligands based on bis-zinc(ii) and bis-tin(iv) porphyrin building blocks

Selective metal-ligand interactions have been used to prepare supramolecular bidentate ligands by mixing monodentate ligands with a suitable template. For these assemblies pyridine phosphorus ligands and a zinc(II) porphyrin dimer were used. In the rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation of 1-octene and styrene improved selectivities have been obtained for some of the assembled bidentate ligand systems. In the palladium catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation similar effects were observed; the enantioselectivity increased by using a bisporphyrin template. The preparation of supramolecular catalyst systems was also explored using tin-oxygen interactions. Dihydroxotin(IV) porphyrin and carboxylic phosphorus ligands assemble into supramolecular ligands and the phosphorus donor atom coordinates to transition metals. The stronger oxygen-tin bond, compared to pyridine-zinc does not result in a better performance of the catalyst.

Encapsulation of Transition Metal Catalysts by Ligand-Template Directed Assembly

Encapsulated transition metal catalysts are presented that are formed by templated self-assembly processes of simple building blocks such as porphyrins and pyridylphosphine and phosphite ligands, using selective metal-ligand interactions. These ligand assemblies coordinate to transition metals, leading to a new class of transition metal catalysts. The assembled catalyst systems were characterized using NMR and UV-vis spectroscopy and were identified under catalytic conditions using high-pressure infrared spectroscopy. Tris-3-pyridylphosphine binds three mesophenyl zinc(II) porphyrin units and consequently forms an assembly with the phosphorus donor atom completely encapsulated. The encapsulated phosphines lead exclusively to monoligated transition metal complexes, and in the rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of 1-octene the encapsulation of the catalysts resulted in a 10-fold increase in activity. In addition, the branched aldehyde was formed preferentially (l/b = 0.6), a selectivity that is highly unusual for this substrate, which is attributed to the encapsulation of the transition metal catalysts. An encapsulated rhodium catalyst based on ruthenium(II) porphyrins and tris-meta-pyridyl phosphine resulted in an even larger selectivity for the branched product (l/b = 0.4). These encapsulated catalysts can be prepared easily, and various template ligands and porphyrins, such as tris-3-pyridyl phosphite and ruthenium(II) porphyrins, have been explored, leading to catalysts with different properties.