Beyond transition block metals: exploring the reactivity of phosphine PTA and its oxide [PTA(O)] towards gallium(iii)

The water-soluble cage-like phosphine PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) and its phosphine oxide derivative [PTA(O)] (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane-7-oxide) were used to explore their reactivity towards two gallium(iii)-halide precursors, namely GaCl3 and GaI3, for the first time. By using various reaction conditions, a series of N-mono-protonated phosphine salts with [GaCl4]- or [I]- as counterions were obtained in all cases, while the formation of coordinated Ga-PTA and Ga-[PTA(O)] complexes was not observed. All compounds were characterized in solution using multinuclear NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C{1H}, 31P{1H} and 71Ga) and in the solid state using FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray crystal diffraction. The new Ga-phosphine salts resulted stable and highly soluble in aqueous solution at room temperature. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were also performed to further rationalize the coordination features of PTA with Ga3+ metal ion, highlighting that the phosphorus-gallium bond is about twice weaker than the phosphorus-metal bond commonly established by PTA with transition metals such as gold. Furthermore, the mono-protonation of PTA (or [PTA(O)]) makes the formation of ionic gallium-PTA coordination complexes thermodynamically unstable, as confirmed experimentally by the formation of Ga-phosphine salts reported herein.

Thermally Stable P-Chiral Supramolecular Phosphines, their Self-Assembly and Implication in Rh-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrogenation

P-chiral supramolecular phosphine ligands are crucial for asymmetric transformations, but their synthesis is tedious. We report a one-step synthesis of thermally stable P-chiral supramolecular phosphines and their performance in the asymmetric hydrogenation of functionalized alkenes. A rational designing and synthesis of (R, R)-QuinoxP* ligated palladium complex (Pd-2) in excellent yield is reported. This Pd-2 catalyzed a direct P-C coupling of 2,3-dihydro-1-H-phosphindole (A1)/1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophosphindoline (A2) with 1-(3-iodophenyl)urea (B1)/2-iodo /6-hydroxy pyridine (B2) and,produced corresponding ligands L1-L3. The P-C coupling between A1 and B2 produced 6-(2,3-dihydro-1H-phosphindol-1-yl)pyridine-2(1H)-one (L2) with an excellent enantiomeric excess of up to 99 %. L2 was found to be remarkably stable even at 150 °C and did not oxidize/hydrolyze for at least 24 hours in open air. Such thermal stability and an impediment to oxidation are unprecedented. L2 self-assembled and produced L2-C1 (Pt), L2-C2(Pd), and L2-C3(Rh) assemblies. The utility of the self-assembled P-chiral ligand was demonstrated in the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation (AH) of functionalized olefins. The L2-C3 catalyzed AH of functionalized alkenes and delivered chiral products with excellent enantioselectivity of >99 %. A small library of 16 substrates was subjected to AH using L2-C3 to produce chiral compounds with excellent conversion and ee.

Enhanced Host-Guest Association and Fluorescence in Copolymers from Copper Salphen Complexes by Supramolecular Internalization of Anions

We describe the synthesis, crystallographic characterization of a new Cu-Salphen compound and its use as a host Lewis-acid against guest anions in two versions: a) free molecule, b) copolymerized with methyl methacrylate:n-butyl acrylate (1 : 4-wt.) as protective co-monomers. Higher contents in Cu-Salphen yielded larger and more homogeneous polymer sizes. Polymer size together with glass transitions, heat capacity, thermal degradation, guest-saturation degrees and host-guest species distribution profiles from spectrophotometric titrations explained growths of up to 630-fold in K₁₁ and 180000-fold in K₁₂ for the host's binding site attributable to a solvophobic protection from the macromolecular structure. Spectrofluorimetry revealed blue-shifted×13-16 larger luminescence for Cu-Salphen in the polymers (λ_em =488-498 nm) than that of the non-polymerized counterpart (λ_em =510-543 nm) and "turn-on" blue-shifted enhanced fluorescence upon guest association. We propose a cooperative incorporation of the guests occurring from the outer medium toward internally protected binding site pockets in the random coil polymer conformations.

Phosphorus Ligands in Hydroformylation and Hydrogenation: A Personal Account

Metal-catalyzed hydroformylation and hydrogenation heavily rely on ligands, among which phosphorous ligands play a pivotal role. This personal account presents a selection of three distinct classes of phosphorous ligands, namely, monodentate meta-substituted phosphinites, bis-phosphites, and P-chiral supramolecular phosphines, developed in our group. The synthesis of these ligands, isolation, characterization, and their performance in transition metal-catalyzed hydroformylation, isomerizing hydroformylation, and asymmetric hydrogenation of olefins is summarized. The state of the art development in iron-catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes and our contributions to the field is discussed. Use of phosphines enabled iron-catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes under mild conditions. Thus, this account demonstrates the central role of phosphorus ligands in industrially relevant transformations such as hydrogenation and hydroformylation. The seemingly matured field of ligand discovery still holds significant potential and will steer the field of homogeneous catalysis.

Acrylic Polymers Containing a Nickel Salphen Complex: An Approach to Supramolecular and Macromolecular Systems

The synthesis, characterization and crystallographic analysis is reported of a new Nickel Salphen complex and its radical copolymerization with n-butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate to produce novel host macromolecules with tunable association against guest anions. Spectrophotometric titrations of the complex and of the polymers revealed that a supramolecular regulation of guest-binding accessibility was enabled by the number of Ni-Salphen units per chain. The latter content in turn, determined the chain size and molecular weight uniformity upon polymerization, and likely increased the strength in interchain/intrachain non-covalent interactions over the nickel center and the acrylic domains. The study also showed that incorporation of the monomer into the acrylic polymer backbone opened the possibility for the nickel binding site to gain access to host:guest stoichiometric discrimination, switching from 1 : 1 (major) and 1 : 2 (minor) both coexisting for the host when in the free form, to mostly 1 : 2 when in the polymerized version.

Orthogonal Coordination Chemistry of PTA toward Ru(II) and Zn(II) (PTA = 1,3,5-Triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) for the Construction of 1D and 2D Metal-Mediated Porphyrin Networks

This work demonstrates that PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) behaves as an orthogonal ligand between Ru(II) and Zn(II), since it selectively binds through the P atom to ruthenium and through one or more of the N atoms to zinc. This property of PTA was exploited for preparing the two monomeric porphyrin adducts with axially bound PTA, [Ru(TPP)(PTA-κP)₂] (1, TPP = meso-tetraphenylporphyrin) and [Zn(TPP)(PTA-κN)] (3). Next, we prepared a number of heterobimetallic Ru/Zn porphyrin polymeric networks—and two discrete molecular systems—mediated by P,N-bridging PTA in which either both metals reside inside a porphyrin core, or one metal belongs to a porphyrin, either Ru(TPP) or Zn(TPP), and the other to a complex or salt of the complementary metal (i.e., cis,cis,trans-[RuCl₂(CO)₂(PTA-κP)₂] (5), trans-[RuCl₂(PTA-κP)₄] (7), Zn(CH₃COO)₂, and ZnCl₂). The molecular compounds 1, 3, trans-[{RuCl₂(PTA-κ²P,N)₄}{Zn(TPP)}₄] (8), and [{Ru(TPP)(PTA-κP)(PTA-κ²P,N)}{ZnCl₂(OH₂)}] (11), as well as the polymeric species [{Ru(TPP)(PTA-κ²P,N)₂}{Zn(TPP)}]_∞ (4), cis,cis,trans-[{RuCl₂(CO)₂(PTA-κ²P,N)₂}{Zn(TPP)}]_∞ (6), trans-[{RuCl₂(PTA-κ²P,N)₄}{Zn(TPP)}₂]_∞ (9), and [{Ru(TPP)(PTA-κ³P,2N)₂}{Zn₉(CH₃COO)₁₆(CH₃OH)₂(OH)₂}]_∞ (10), were structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 4, 6, 9, and 10 are the first examples of solid-state porphyrin networks mediated by PTA. In 4, 6, 8, 9, and 11 the bridging PTA has the κ²P,N binding mode, whereas in the 2D polymeric layers of 10 it has the triple-bridging mode κ³P,2N. The large number of compounds with the six-coordinate Zn(TPP) (the three polymeric networks of 4, 6 and 9, out of five compounds) strongly suggests that the stereoelectronic features of PTA are particularly well-suited for this relatively rare type of coordination. Interestingly, the similar 1D polymeric chains 4 and 6 have different shapes (zigzag in 4 vs “Greek frame” in 6) because the {trans-Ru(PTA-κ²P,N)₂} fragment bridges two Zn(TPP) units with anti geometry in 4 and with syn geometry in 6. Orthogonal “Greek frame” 1D chains make the polymeric network of 9. Having firmly established the binding preferences of PTA toward Ru(II) and Zn(II), we are confident that in the future a variety of Ru/Zn solid-state networks can be produced by changing the nature of the partners. In particular, there are several inert Ru(II) compounds that feature two or more P-bonded PTA ligands that might be exploited as connectors of well-defined geometry for the rational design of solid-state networks with Zn–porphyrins (or other Zn compounds).

This work demonstrates, through the X-ray structural characterization of several polymeric Ru/Zn networks, that PTA (1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) behaves as an orthogonal ligand between Ru(II) and Zn(II). In fact, PTA selectively binds through the P atom to ruthenium and through one or more of the N atoms to zinc.

Synthesis of a Novel Zn-Salphen Building Block and Its Acrylic Terpolymer Counterparts as Tunable Supramolecular Recognition Systems

In this work, we present the synthesis of a novel Zn-Salphen complex containing an allyl group, which was used as building block in the further preparation of a new family of functional terpolymers. These polymers were obtained through radical co-polymerization with methyl metacrylate (MMA) and n-butyl acrylate (nBuA) in different ratios. The supramolecular recognition behavior of each polymer was evaluated via potentiometric measurements against selected anions in aqueous media. Interestingly, this proof of concept study shows that these systems were selective against only fluoride (F⁻) or both, fluoride and acetate (OAc⁻), by tailoring the relative content of Zn-Salphen monomer, thus making them a promising starting point for modular design of chemical sensors through straightforward synthetic approaches.

Ligand Template Strategies for Catalyst Encapsulation

Binding of molecules in molecular cages based on self-assembled concave building blocks has been of great interest to scientists for decades. The binding of static molecular fragments inside cage-like molecular structures is generally based on complementarity of host and guest in terms of shape and interactions. The encapsulation of homogeneous catalysts in molecular cages is of interest as activity, selectivity, and stability can be controlled by the cage as second coordination sphere, reminiscent of how enzymes control chemical reactivity. Homogeneous catalysts, however, are not static guest molecules as catalysts change in shape, charge, and polarity during the catalytic cycle, representing the challenges involved in cage controlled catalysis. To address these issues, we developed a new strategy that we coined the "ligand template approach for catalyst encapsulation". This strategy relies on ligand building blocks that contain multiple orthogonal binding sites: the central ligand (mostly phosphorus) is bound to the transition metal required for catalysis, while other binding sites are used to construct a cage structure around the transition metal atom through self-assembly. By design, the catalyst is inside the capsule during the catalytic cycle, as the central ligand is coordinated to the catalyst. As the approach is based on a self-assembly process of building blocks, the catalyst properties can be easily modulated by modification of building blocks involved. In this Account, we elaborate on template ligand strategies for single catalyst encapsulation, based on divergent ligand templates and the extension to nanospheres with multiple metal complexes, which are formed by assembly of convergent ligand templates. Using the mononuclear approach, a variety of encapsulated catalysts can be generated, which have led to highly (enantio)selective hydroformylation reactions for encapsulated rhodium atoms. Besides the successes of encapsulated rhodium catalysts in hydroformylation, mononuclear ligand template capsules have been applied in asymmetric hydrogenation, the Heck reaction, copolymerization, gold catalyzed cyclization reactions, and hydrosilylation reactions. By changing the capsule building blocks the electronic and steric properties around the transition metal atom have successfully been modified, which translates to changes in catalyst properties. Using the convergent ligand templates, nanospheres have been generated with up to 24 complexes inside the sphere, leading to very high local concentrations of the transition metal. The effect of local concentrations was explored in gold catalyzed cyclization reactions and ruthenium catalyzed water oxidation, and for both reactions, spectacular reaction rate enhancements have been observed. This Account shows that the template ligand approach to provide catalyst in well-defined specific environments is very versatile and leads to catalyst properties that are not achievable with traditional approaches.

Post-assembly guest oxidation in a metallo-supramolecular host and structural rearrangement to a coordination polymer

PTA hosted in a copper metallo-supramolecular triangle undergoes post-assembly oxidation to form PTAO in aerated solutions. The oxidation is triggered by selected co-solvents that also govern the formation of the final crystalline product leading to a discrete host-guest triangle {PTAO@[Cu(o-L)]3} or to a 1D coordination polymer {(PTAO)2@[Cu8][Cu2]}∞ containing a {Cu8} ring with a double hosting pocket.