Synthesis of methyltrioxorhenium(VII) arylamine complexes and mono- and bis(ortho)-chelated arylaminorhenium(VII) trioxides

Synthesis, characterization and application of organorhenium(vii) trioxides in metathesis reactions and epoxidation catalysis

Four novel organorhenium(vii) oxides of the type L-ReO3 are presented: [4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]trioxorhenium 1b, [4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]trioxorhenium 2b, [4-(trifluoromethyl)tetrafluorophenyl]trioxorhenium(THF) 3b·THF and (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)trioxorhenium 5. As intermediate products, the novel diarylzinc compounds bis[4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]zinc 2a and bis[2,6-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]zinc 4a were prepared. The properties and structure of 1b-5 were studied by means of 1H, 13C, 19F and 17O NMR, IR, MS, TGA and elemental analysis. Due to the strong Lewis acidity of the Re(vii) centres crystal structures of complexes 1b and 2b were obtained as THF adducts 1b·THF and 2b·THF. Complexes 1b, 2b, 3b·THF and 5 have been examined as catalysts in olefin epoxidation using cis-cyclooctene as a model substrate. Epoxide yields of around 80% and TOFs >1300 h-1 can be obtained with 1b, 2b and 3b·THF using TBHP as an oxidant in CDCl3 at 55 °C, exceeding the only reported catalytically active aryl trioxorhenium complex xylyltrioxorhenium (XTO). Moreover, 1b shows catalytic activity in the self-metathesis of 1-hexene with good yields using Et2AlCl as a co-catalyst. Additionally, 1b and 5 were found to be efficient catalysts for the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene. Polynorbornene with high molecular weight can be obtained in good yields at room temperature using RnAlCl3-n as a co-catalyst. 5 is the first example of an amido trioxorhenium(vii) complex active in olefin metathesis.

Organorhenium(vii) and organomolybdenum(vi) oxides: syntheses and application in olefin epoxidation

The first members of the classes of the organorhenium(VII) oxides and organomolybdenum(VI) oxides were described during the 1960s and 1970s. However, despite the fact that methyltrioxorhenium(VII)(MTO) is probably the best examined organometallic oxide known, many of its derivatives as well as the Mo congeners were not tested for any application. Nevertheless, it is known that several organomolybdenum oxides, particularly those of formula eta5-(C5R5)MoO2Cl and eta5-(C5R5)MoO2R' are powerful epoxidation catalysts if applied together with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP). MTO catalyzes a broad variety of organic reactions, among them being olefin epoxidation--in this case with the "green" oxidant H2O2- the most thoroughly examined. The heterogenization of the molybdenum compounds as well as of MTO both on carrier materials and in ionic liquids has already been achieved and it is to be expected that a suitable modification of the organic ligands will lead to applications in chiral catalysis in the near future.