Remarkable Positive Effect of Silver Salts on Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Acyclic Imines with Cp*Ir Complexes Bearing Chiral N-Sulfonylated Diamine Ligands

Catalysis, kinetics and mechanisms of organo-iridium enantioselective hydrogenation-reduction

The synthesis of chiral molecules is of great importance to the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, flavour and fragrance industries.

Synthesis of a Half-Sandwich Hydroxidoiridium(III) Complex Bearing a Nonprotic N-Sulfonyldiamine Ligand and Its Transformations Triggered by the Brønsted Basicity

Synthesis and reactivities of a new mononuclear hydroxidoiridium(III) complex with a pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) ligand are reported. The hydroxido ligand was introduced into an iridium complex having a nonprotic amine chelate derived from N-mesyl-N’,N’-dimethylethylenediamine by substitution of the chloride ligand using KOH. The resulting hydroxidoiridium complex was characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. The hydroxido complex was able to deprotonate benzamide and acetonitrile, and showed an ability to accept a hydride from 2-propanol to generate the corresponding hydrido complex quantitatively. In the reaction with mandelonitrile, a cyanide anion was transferred to the iridium center in preference to the hydride transfer. The cyanidoiridium complex was also identified in the reaction with acetone cyanohydrin, and could serve as catalyst species in the transfer hydrocyanation of benzaldehyde.

Accessible Bifunctional Oxy-Tethered Ruthenium(II) Catalysts for Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation

A concise synthesis of new oxy-tethered ruthenium complexes effective for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones is described. The oxy-tether was constructed via a defluorinative etherification arising from an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of a perfluorinated phenylsulfonyl substituent. The obtained tethered complexes exhibited desirable catalytic activity and selectivity, especially in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of functionalized aromatic ketones. The robustness and rigidity of the tether contribute to their superior catalytic performance relative to the nontethered prototype complex.

Practical synthesis of enantiopure benzylamines by catalytic hydrogenation or transfer hydrogenation reactions in isopropanol using a Ru-pybox catalyst

A Ru/Ph-pybox catalyst provides a very high enantioselectivity in the hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation of N-aryl imines.

Reversible Hydride Transfer to N,N'-Diarylimidazolinium Cations from Hydrogen Catalyzed by Transition Metal Complexes Mimicking the Reaction of [Fe]-Hydrogenase

[Fe]-hydrogenase is a key enzyme involved in methanogenesis and facilitates reversible hydride transfer from H₂ to N⁵,N¹⁰-methenyltetrahydromethanopterin (CH-H₄MPT⁺). In this study, a reaction system was developed to model the enzymatic function of [Fe]-hydrogenase by using N,N'-diphenylimidazolinium cation (1⁺) as a structurally related alternative to CH-H₄MPT⁺. In connection with the enzymatic mechanism via heterolytic cleavage of H₂ at the single metal active site, several transition metal complex catalysts capable of such activation were utilized in the model system. Reduction of 1[BF₄] to N,N'-diphenylimidazolidine (2) was achieved under 1 atm H₂ at ambient temperature in the presence of an equimolar amount of NEt₃ as a proton acceptor. The proposed catalytic pathways involved the generation of active hydride complexes and subsequent intermolecular hydride transfer to 1⁺. The reverse reaction was accomplished by treatment of 2 with HNMe₂Ph⁺ as the proton source, where [(η⁵-C₅Me₅)Ir{(p-MeC₆H₄SO₂)NCHPhCHPhNH}] was found to catalyze the formation of 1⁺ and H₂ with high efficiency. These results are consistent with the fact that use of 2,6-lutidine in the forward reaction or 2,6-lutidinium in the reverse reaction resulted in incomplete conversion. By combining these reactions using the above Ir amido catalyst, the reversible hydride transfer interconverting 1⁺/H₂ and 2/H⁺ was performed successfully. This system demonstrated the hydride-accepting and hydride-donating modes of biologically relevant N-heterocycles coupled with proton concentration. The influence of substituents on the forward and reverse reactivities was examined for the derivatives of 1⁺ and 2 bearing one para-substituted N-phenyl group.

Triply Halide-Bridged Dinuclear Iridium(III) Complexes with Chiral Diphosphine Ligands as New Easy-to-Handle Iridium Catalysts for Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Imines and N-Heteroaromatics

Iridium(III) complexes bearing chiral ligands have proved to be active species in asymmetric hydrogenation of C=N bonds, though there are only a few iridium(III) precursors. We prepared triply halide-bridged dinuclear iridium complexes bearing chiral diphosphine ligands by simple treatment of the iridium(I) precursor, chiral diphosphine, and aqueous hydrogen halide. The strong advantage of these dinuclear iridium complexes is that they are air and moisture stable, leading to easy handling in asymmetric synthesis. The dinuclear iridium complexes exhibited high catalytic activity toward asymmetric hydrogenation of imines and N-heteroaromatics. Moreover, we demonstrated the application of triply halide-bridged dinuclear ruthenium(II) and rhodium(III) catalyst precursors for the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketonic substrates and simple olefins, respectively.

Enantioselective hydrogenation of cyclic imines catalysed by Noyori–Ikariya half-sandwich complexes and their analogues

Trifluoroacetic acid activates cyclic imines in a new non-air sensitive asymmetric hydrogenation method. New transfer hydrogenation catalysts are demonstrated.

Iridicycle-Catalysed Imine Reduction: An Experimental and Computational Study of the Mechanism

The mechanism of imine reduction by formic acid with a single-site iridicycle catalyst has been investigated by density functional theory (DFT), NMR spectroscopy, and kinetic measurements. The NMR and kinetic studies suggest that the transfer hydrogenation is turnover-limited by the hydride formation step. The calculations reveal that, amongst a number of possibilities, hydride formation from the iridicycle and formate probably proceeds by an ion-pair mechanism, whereas the hydride transfer to the imino bond occurs in an outer-sphere manner. In the gas phase, in the most favourable pathway, the activation energies in the hydride formation and transfer steps are 26-28 and 7-8 kcal mol(-1) , respectively. Introducing one explicit methanol molecule into the modelling alters the energy barrier significantly, reducing the energies to around 18 and 2 kcal mol(-1) for the two steps, respectively. The DFT investigation further shows that methanol participates in the transition state of the turnover-limiting hydride formation step by hydrogen-bonding to the formate anion and thereby stabilising the ion pair.

Chiral phosphine-phosphoramidite ligands for highly enantioselective hydrogenation of N-arylimines

The asymmetric hydrogenation of N-arylimines with the chiral phosphine-phosphoramidite ligand, (Sc,Sa)-PEAPhos 2b, has been developed, in which high turnover numbers and excellent enantioselectivity were achieved.

Oxidation catalysis in air with Cp*Ir: influence of added ligands and reaction conditions on catalytic activity and stability

The systematic evaluation of Ir catalysts generates the highest reported TONs and a safe protocol for air oxidation.

Hydrogenation of carboxylic acid derivatives with bifunctional ruthenium catalysts

This paper focuses on recent advances in the chemistry of bifunctional Ru catalysts with chelate protic amine ligands effective for hydrogenation of polar carbonyl compounds. The rational design of the cooperating amine ligand that adjusts the balance of the electronic factors on the M/NH units in the bifunctional catalysts is crucial to exploit the characteristic catalytic performance with a wide scope and high practicability. These bifunctional molecular catalysts offer a great opportunity to develop new fundamental processes for the straightforward hydrogenation of carboxylic acid derivatives as a powerful alternative for classical reduction using stoichiometric amounts of metal hydride reagents.

A highly active cyclometallated iridium catalyst for the hydrogenation of imines

A cyclometallated iridium complex containing an imino ligand has been shown to catalyse the hydrogenation of imines. The catalyst is highly active and selective for imino bonds, with a wide variety of imines being hydrogenated in less than 1 hour at a substrate/catalyst (S/C) ratio of 2000 at 20 bar H2 pressure and 75 °C.

Advantageous asymmetric ketone reduction with a competitive hydrogenation/transfer hydrogenation system using chiral bifunctional iridium catalysts

Asymmetric ketone hydrogenation with bifunctional amidoiridium complexes in methanol or ethanol proceeds competitively with asymmetric transfer hydrogenation, in which the pressurised hydrogen can suppress involuntary racemisation of the product.

Practical aspects and mechanism of asymmetric hydrogenation with chiral half-sandwich complexes

This review is oriented toward the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) of imines regarding mostly fundamental, yet important topics from the practical point of view. Development of analytical methods for the monitoring of ATH (i.e., kinetics and stereoselectivity) belongs to those topics, as well as studies on the influence of reaction conditions and structural variations on the reaction performance. The second part is devoted to the reaction mechanism with the emphasis on imine ATH and catalyst behaviour under acidic conditions. The review also addresses the asymmetric hydrogenation (AH) of ketones and imines using molecular hydrogen and the application of ATH in pharmaceutical projects. The contributions of our group to each area are included.

The N-H functional group in organometallic catalysis

The organometallic approach is one of the most active topics in catalysis. The application of NH functionality in organometallic catalysis has become an important and attractive concept in catalyst design. NH moieties in the modifiers of organometallic catalysts have been shown to have various beneficial functions in catalysis by molecular recognition through hydrogen bonding to give catalyst-substrate, ligand-ligand, ligand-catalyst, and catalyst-catalyst interactions. This Review summarizes recent progress in the development of the organometallic catalysts based on the concept of cooperative catalysis by focusing on the NH moiety.