Mechanism of Alcohol–Water Dehydrogenative Coupling into Carboxylic Acid Using Milstein’s Catalyst: A Detailed Investigation of the Outer-Sphere PES in the Reaction of Aldehydes with an Octahedral Ruthenium Hydroxide

Kinetic Isotope Effects and the Mechanism of CO2 Insertion into the Metal-Hydride Bond of fac-(bpy)Re(CO)3H

The 1,2-insertion reaction of CO2 into metal-hydride bonds of d6-octahedral complexes to give κ1-O-metal-formate products is the key step in various CO2 reduction schemes and as a result has attracted extensive mechanistic investigations. For many octahedral catalysts, CO2 insertion follows an associative mechanism in which CO2 interacts directly with the coordinated hydride ligand instead of the more classical dissociative mechanism that opens an empty coordination site to bind the substrate to the metal prior to a hydride migration step. To better understand the associative mechanism, we conducted a systematic quantum chemical investigation on the reaction between CO2 and fac-(bpy)Re(CO)3H (1-Re-H; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) starting with the gas phase and then moving to THF and other solvents with increased dielectric constants. Detailed analyses of the potential energy surfaces (PESs) and intrinsic reaction coordinates (IRCs) reveal that the reaction is enabled in all media by an initial stage of making a 3c-2e bond between the carbon of CO2 and the metal-hydride bond that is most consistent with an organometallic bridging hydride Re-H-CO2 species. Once CO2 is bent and anchored to the metal-hydride bond, the reaction proceeds by a rotation motion via a cyclic transition state TS2 that interchanges Re-H-CO2 and Re-O-CHO coordination. The combined stages provide an asynchronous-concerted pathway for CO2 insertion on the Gibbs free energy surface with TS2 as the highest energy point. Consideration of TS2 as a rate-determining TS gives activation barriers, inverse KIEs, substituent effects, and solvent effects that agree with the experimental data available in this system. An important new insight revealed by the analyses of the results is that the initial stage of the reaction is not a hydride transfer step as has been assumed in some studies. In fact, the loose vibration of the TS that can be identified for the first stage of the reaction in solution (TS1) does not involve the Re-H stretching vibrational mode. Accordingly, the imaginary frequency of TS1 is insensitive to deuteration, and therefore, TS1 leads to no significant KIE.

Homogeneous Reforming of Aqueous Ethylene Glycol to Glycolic Acid and Pure Hydrogen Catalyzed by Pincer-Ruthenium Complexes Capable of Metal-Ligand Cooperation

Glycolic acid is a useful and important α-hydroxy acid that has broad applications. Herein, the homogeneous ruthenium catalyzed reforming of aqueous ethylene glycol to generate glycolic acid as well as pure hydrogen gas, without concomitant CO₂ emission, is reported. This approach provides a clean and sustainable direction to glycolic acid and hydrogen, based on inexpensive, readily available, and renewable ethylene glycol using 0.5 mol % of catalyst. In-depth mechanistic experimental and computational studies highlight key aspects of the PNNH-ligand framework involved in this transformation.

Calculations on the non-classical β-hydride elimination observed in trans-(H)(OMe)-Ir(Ph)(PMe3)3: possible production and reaction of methyl formate

The octahedral trans hydrido-alkoxide complex trans-(H)(OMe)-Ir(Ph)(PMe3)3 (2-OCH3) was prepared by Milstein and coworkers by addition of methanol to Ir(Ph)(PMe3)3 (1). 2-OCH3 was discovered to undergo a methanol catalyzed outer-sphere carbonyl de-insertion in which a vacant coordination site is not required. The reaction yields the octahedral trans dihydride complex trans-(H)2-Ir(Ph)(PMe3)3 (2-H) as a kinetic product along with formaldehyde derivatives reported as [CH2=O]x. We investigate the mechanism and products of this reaction using density functional theory. The de-insertion transition state has an ion-pair character leading to a high barrier in benzene continuum: ΔG ‡ = 27.9 kcal/mol. Adding one methanol molecule by H-bonding to the alkoxide of 2-OCH3 lowers the barrier to 22.7 kcal/mol. When the calculations are conducted in a methanol continuum, the barrier drops to 8.8 kcal/mol. However, the thermodynamics of de-insertion are endergonic by near 5 kcal/mol in both benzene and methanol. The calculations identify a low energy outer-sphere H/OMe metathesis pathway that transforms the formaldehyde and another 2-OCH3 molecule directly into a second 2-H complex and methyl formate. Likewise, a second H/OCH3 metathesis reaction interconverting methyl formate and 2-OCH3 into 2-H and dimethyl carbonate is computed to be exergonic and kinetically facile. These results imply that the production of methyl formate and dimethyl carbonate from 2-OCH3 is plausible in this system. The net transformation from the square planar 1 and methanol to 2-H and either methyl formate or dimethyl carbonate would represent a unique stoichiometric dehydrogenative coupling reaction taking place at room temperature by an outer-sphere mechanism.

A New Mechanism of Metal-Ligand Cooperative Catalysis in Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones

We report iridium catalysts IrCl(η⁵-Cp*)(κ²-(2-pyridyl)CH₂NSO₂C₆H₄X) (1-Me, X = CH₃ and 1-F, X = F) for transfer hydrogenation of ketones with 2-propanol that operate by a previously unseen metal-ligand cooperative mechanism. Under the reaction conditions, complexes 1 (1-Me and 1-F) derivatize to a series of catalytic intermediates: Ir(η⁵-Cp*)(κ²-(C₅H₄N)CHNSO₂Ar) (2), IrH(η⁵Cp*)(κ²-(2-pyridyl)CH₂NSO₂Ar) (3), and Ir(η⁵-Cp*)(κ³-(2-pyridyl)CH₂NSO₂Ar) (4). The structures of 1-Me and 4-Me were established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. A rate-determining, concerted hydrogen transfer step (2 + R₂CHOH ⇄ 3 + R₂CO) is suggested by kinetic isotope effects, Eyring parameters (ΔH ^≠ = 29.1(8) kcal mol^-1 and ΔS ^≠ = -17(19) eu), proton-hydride fidelity, and DFT calculations. According to DFT, a nine-membered cyclic transition state is stabilized by an alcohol molecule that serves as a proton shuttle.

Ligand dynamics and protonation preferences of Rh and Ir complexes bearing an almost, but not quite, pendent base

Pendent nucleophiles can assist transition metals mediate bond rearrangements (e.g. as proton acceptors), but can also act as inhibitory hemilabile ligands. This dual nature has been studied in a series of rhodium and iridium complexes that exhibit disparate nucleophile binding ability in the ground state and in protonation reactions.

Ruthenium PNN(O) Complexes: Cooperative Reactivity and Application as Catalysts for Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling Reactions

The novel tridentate PNNOH pincer ligand LH features a reactive 2-hydroxypyridine functionality as well as a bipyridyl-methylphosphine skeleton for meridional coordination. This proton-responsive ligand coordinates in a straightforward manner to RuCl(CO)(H)(PPh3)3 to generate complex 1. The methoxy-protected analogue LMe was also coordinated to Ru(II) for comparison. Both species have been crystallographically characterized. Site-selective deprotonation of the 2-hydroxypyridine functionality to give 1' was achieved using both mild (DBU) and strong bases (KOtBu and KHMDS), with no sign of involvement of the phosphinomethyl side arm that was previously established as the reactive fragment. Complex 1' is catalytically active in the dehydrogenation of formic acid to generate CO-free hydrogen in three consecutive runs as well as for the dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols, giving high conversions to different esters and outperforming structurally related PNN ligands lacking the NOH fragment. DFT calculations suggest more favorable release of H2 through reversible reactivity of the hydroxypyridine functionality relative to the phosphinomethyl side arm.