Cobalt-catalysed reductive C-H alkylation of indoles using carboxylic acids and molecular hydrogen

A catalytic collaboration: pairing transition metals and Lewis acids for applications in organic synthesis

The use of metal catalysts to accelerate an organic transformation has proven indispensable for access to structural motifs having applications across medicinal, polymer, materials chemistry, and more. Most catalytic approaches have cast transition metals in the "leading role"; these players mediate important reactions such as C-C cross coupling and the hydrogenation of unsaturated bonds. These catalysts may require collaboration, featuring Lewis acidic or basic additives to promote a desired reaction outcome. Lewis acids can serve to accelerate reactions by way of substrate stabilization and/or activation, and as such, are valuable in optimizing catalytic transformations. A burgeoning area of chemical research which unifies these concepts has thus sought to develop transition metal complexes having ambiphilic (containing a Lewis basic and acidic unit) ligands. This approach takes advantage of metal-ligand cooperativity to increase the efficiency of a given chemical transformation, leveraging intramolecular interactions between a transition metal and an adjacent secondary ligand site. While this has shown significant potential to facilitate challenging and important transformations, there remains unexplored depth for creativity and future advancement. This Frontier highlights inter- and intramolecular combinations of transition metals and Lewis acids that together, provide a collaborative platform for chemical synthesis.

Electroreductive alkylations of (hetero)arenes with carboxylic acids

Carboxylic acids are widely available and generally inexpensive from abundant biomass feedstocks, and they are suitable and generic coupling partners in synthetic chemistry. Reported herein is an electroreductive coupling of stable and versatile carboxylic acids with (hetero)arenes using protons as the hydrogen source. The application of an earth-abundant titanium catalyst has significantly improved the deoxygenative reduction process. Preliminary mechanistic studies provide insights into the deoxygenative reduction of in-situ generated ketone pathway, and the intermediacy generation of ketyl radical and alkylidene titanocene. Without the necessity of pressurized hydrogen or stoichiometric hydride as reductants, this protocol enables highly selective and straightforward synthesis of various functionalized and structurally diverse alkylbenzenes under mild conditions. The utility of this reaction is further demonstrated through practical and valuable isotope incorporation from readily available deuterium source.

Regioselective C3Alkylation of Indoles for the Synthesis of Bis(indolyl)methanes and 3-Styryl Indoles

Herein, we describe an efficient transition-metal-free regioselective C3alkylation of indoles for the synthesis of bis(indolyl)methanes and 3-styryl indoles. Nitrobenzene is employed as the oxidant to oxidize the alcohols in the presence of a strong base and the reaction avoids the use of transition metals such as Ru and Mn. The protocol provides a favorable route to access biologically active compounds such as arundine, vibrindole A, and turbomycin B.

Oxygen Dependent Switchable Selectivity during Ruthenium Catalyzed Selective Synthesis of C3-Alkylated Indoles and Bis(indolyl)methanes

Herein, we report a ligand-centered redox-controlled oxygen-dependent switchable selectivity during ruthenium-catalyzed selective synthesis of C3-alkylated indoles and bis(indolyl)methanes (BIMs). A wide variety of C3-alkylated indoles and BIMs were prepared selectively in moderate to good isolated yields by coupling a wide variety of indoles and alcohols, catalyzed by a well-defined, air-stable, and easy-to-prepare Ru(II)-catalyst (1a) bearing a redox-active tridentate pincer (L1a). Catalyst 1a efficiently catalyzed the C3-alkylation of indoles under an argon atmosphere while, under an oxygen environment, exclusively producing the BIMs. A few drug molecules containing BIMs were also synthesized efficiently. 1a exhibited excellent chemoselectivity with alcohols containing internal carbon-carbon double bonds. Mechanistic investigation revealed that the coordinated azo-aromatic ligand actively participates during the catalysis. During the dehydrogenation of alcohols, the azo-moiety of the ligand stores the hydrogen removed from the alcohols and subsequently transfers the hydrogen to the alkylideneindolenine intermediate, forming the C3-alkylated indoles. While under an oxygen environment, the transfer of hydrogen from the ligand scaffold to the molecular oxygen generates H2O2, leaving no scope for hydrogenation of the alkylideneindolenine intermediate, rather than it undergoing 1,4-Michael-type addition forming the BIMs.

Well-Defined NNS-Mn Complex Catalyzed Selective Synthesis of C-3 Alkylated Indoles and Bisindolylmethanes Using Alcohols

Herein, we demonstrated Mn-catalyzed selective C-3 functionalization of indoles with alcohols. The developed catalyst can also furnish bis(indolyl)methanes from the same set of substrates under slightly modified reaction conditions. Mechanistic studies reveal that the C-3 functionalization of indoles is going via a borrowing hydrogen pathway. To highlight the practical utility, a diverse range of substrates including nine structurally important drug molecules are synthesized. Furthermore, we also introduced a one-pot cascade strategy for synthesizing C-3 functionalized indoles directly from 2-aminophenyl ethanol and alcohol.

Cobalt-N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes in Catalysis

Cobalt-NHC complexes have emerged as an attractive class of 3d transition metal catalysts for a broad range of chemical processes, including cross-coupling, hydrogenation, hydrofunctionalization and cycloaddition reactions. Herein, we present a comprehensive review of catalytic methods utilizing cobalt-NHC complexes with a focus on catalyst structure, the role of the NHC ligand, properties of the catalytic system, mechanism and synthetic utility. The survey clearly suggests that the recent emergence of well-defined cobalt-NHC catalysts may have a tremendous utility in the design and application of catalytic reactions using more abundant 3d transition metals.

Deoxygenative Functionalizations of Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids

Conversion of carbonyl compounds, including aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids, into functionalized alkanes via deoxygenation would be highly desirable from a sustainability perspective and very enabling in chemical synthesis. This review covers the recent methodology development in carbonyl and carboxyl deoxygenative functionalizations, highlighting some typical and significant contributions in this field. These advances will be categorized based on types of bond formation, and in each part, selected examples will be discussed from their generalized mechanistic perspectives. Four summarized reactivity modes of aldehydes and ketones during the deoxygenation, namely, bis-electrophile, carbenoid, bis-nucleophile and alkyl radical, are presented, while the carboxylic acids are deoxygenated mainly via activated carbonyl or acetal intermediates.

Reductive electrophilic C-H alkylation of quinolines by a reusable iridium nanocatalyst

The incorporation of a coupling step into the reduction of unsaturated systems offers a desirable way for diverse synthesis of functional molecules, but it remains to date a challenge due to the difficulty in controlling the chemoselectivity. Herein, by developing a new heterogeneous iridium catalyst composed of Ir-species (Ir^δ+) and N-doped SiO₂/TiO₂ support (Ir/N-SiO₂/TiO₂), we describe its application in reductive electrophilic mono and dialkylations of quinolines with various 2- or 4-functionalized aryl carbonyls or benzyl alcohols by utilizing renewable formic acid as the reductant. This catalytic transformation offers a practical platform for direct access to a vast range of alkyl THQs, proceeding with excellent step and atom-efficiency, good substrate scope and functional group tolerance, a reusable catalyst and abundantly available feedstocks, and generation of water and carbon dioxide as by-products. The work opens a door to further develop more useful organic transformations under heterogeneous reductive catalysis.

By developing a heterogeneous iridium catalyst composed of a N-doped SiO₂/TiO₂ support and Ir-species (Ir/N-SiO₂/TiO₂), its application in reductive electrophilic alkylation of quinolines with various aryl carbonyls or benzyl alcohols is presented.

Catalytic Reductive Alcohol Etherifications with Carbonyl-Based Compounds or CO2 and Related Transformations for the Synthesis of Ether Derivatives

Ether derivatives have myriad applications in several areas of chemical industry and academia. Hence, the development of more effective and sustainable protocols for their production is highly desired. Among the different methodologies reported for ether synthesis, catalytic reductive alcohol etherifications with carbonyl-based moieties (aldehydes/ketones and carboxylic acid derivatives) have emerged in the last years as a potential tool. These processes constitute appealing routes for the selective production of both symmetrical and asymmetrical ethers (including O-heterocycles) with an increased molecular complexity. Likewise, ester-to-ether catalytic reductions and hydrogenative alcohol etherifications with CO2 to dialkoxymethanes and other acetals, albeit in less extent, have undergone important advances, too. In this Review, an update of the recent progresses in the area of catalytic reductive alcohol etherifications using carbonyl-based compounds and CO2 have been described with a special focus on organic synthetic applications and catalyst design. Complementarily, recent progress made in catalytic acetal/ketal-to-ether or ester-to-ether reductions and other related transformations have been also summarized.

Transition metal-catalyzed C–H functionalizations of indoles

This review summarises a wide range of transformations on the indole skeleton, including arylation, alkenylation, alkynylation, acylation, nitration, borylation, and amidation, using transition-metal catalyzed C–H functionalization as the key step.

Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol under mild conditions

This review summarizes the concepts, mechanisms, drawbacks and challenges of the state-of-the-art catalysis for CO₂ to MeOH under mild conditions. Thoughtful guidelines and principles for future research are presented and discussed.

A General Regioselective Synthesis of Alcohols by Cobalt-Catalyzed Hydrogenation of Epoxides

A straightforward methodology for the synthesis of anti-Markovnikov-type alcohols is presented. By using a specific cobalt triphos complex in the presence of Zn(OTf)2 as an additive, the hydrogenation of epoxides proceeds with high yields and selectivities. The described protocol shows a broad substrate scope, including multi-substituted internal and terminal epoxides, as well as a good functional-group tolerance. Various natural-product derivatives, including steroids, terpenoids, and sesquiterpenoids, gave access to the corresponding alcohols in moderate-to-excellent yields.

Homogeneous cobalt-catalyzed deoxygenative hydrogenation of amides to amines

Herein, the first general and efficient homogeneous cobalt-catalyzed deoxygenative hydrogenation of amides to amines is presented.

Cobalt-Catalyzed Reductive Alkylation of Amines with Carboxylic Acids

Direct reductive alkylation of amines with carboxylic acid is carried out by using an inexpensive, air-stable cobalt/triphos catalytic system with molecular hydrogen as the reductant. This efficient synthetic method proceeds through reduction and condensation, followed by reduction of the in situ-generated imine into the amine in a green catalytic process.

Cyclopentyl Methyl Ether: An Elective Ecofriendly Ethereal Solvent in Classical and Modern Organic Chemistry

Solvents represent one of the major contributions to the environmental impact of fine-chemical synthesis. As a result, the use of environmentally friendly solvents in widely employed reactions is a challenge of vast real interest in contemporary organic chemistry. Within this Review, a great variety of examples showing how cyclopentyl methyl ether has been established as particularly useful for this purpose are reported. Indeed, its low toxicity, high boiling point, low melting point, hydrophobicity, chemical stability towards a wide range of conditions, exceptional stability towards the abstraction of hydrogen atoms, relatively low latent heat of vaporization, and the ease with which it can be recovered and recycled enable its successful employment as a solvent in a wide range of synthetic applications, including organometallic chemistry, catalysis, biphasic reactions, oxidations, and radical reactions.

The roles of Lewis acidic additives in organotransition metal catalysis

We present recent advances in prominent organotransition metal-catalysed reactions in which Lewis acid cocatalysts are employed to increase catalyst activity or selectivity. The roles of Lewis acids are discussed.

Cobalt Complexes as an Emerging Class of Catalysts for Homogeneous Hydrogenations

Catalytic hydrogenation using molecular hydrogen represents a green and practical approach for reductions of all kinds of organic chemicals. Traditionally, in the majority of these processes the presence of transition metal catalysts is required. In this regard, noble-metal-based catalysts have largely been implemented, such as the application of iridium, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, and others. Recently, the employment of earth-abundant 3d metals has emerged to replace the utilization of scarce noble metals because of their availability, lower cost, and often reduced toxicity. In this respect, several cobalt complexes, in the form of either molecularly well-defined or in situ-formed complexes, are receiving increasing attention from the scientific community. Importantly, the stability and reactivity of the complexes have greatly been supported by multidentate ligands under steric and/or electronic influences. For instance, tridentate or tetradentate phosphine ligands indirectly tune the reactivity of the metal center to accelerate the overall process, whereas direct participation of the ligand in pincer-type complexes through ligand-metal cooperation regulates the elementary steps in the catalytic cycle. In this Account, we emphasize specifically the advancements in cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenations using molecular hydrogen accomplished in our group. A variety of substrate classes ranging from simple molecules (e.g., carbon dioxide) to complex compounds were explored under the mild and efficient catalytic conditions. Notable examples include the reduction of carbon dioxide to afford either formates using a Co(BF₄)₂·6H₂O/Tetraphos catalyst system or methanol employing a Co(acac)₃/Triphos complex in the presence of HNTf₂. As interesting examples of the synthesis of fine chemicals, cobalt-promoted hydrogenations of nitriles to primary amines and reductive alkylations of indoles using carboxylic acids as alkylating agents are highlighted. Moreover, highly selective hydrogenations of N-heteroarenes under additive-free conditions were possible by the application of specific cobalt complexes. More recently, a set of carboxylic esters could be hydrogenated to the corresponding alcohols with high efficiency by the use of a well-defined cobalt-PNP pincer catalyst. In particular, the decent reactivity of cobalt catalysts enabled high selectivity and functional group tolerance to be achieved. Throughout our studies, it was found that the pairing of a suitable cobalt precursor and an appropriate tridentate or tetradentate phosphine ligand plays a crucial role harnessing the desired reactivity, while other monodentate and bidentate phosphine ligands showed no reactivity in these investigations. Our developments could provide supervisory information for the future exploration of cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenation reactions and other types of reactions involving cobalt catalysis. Furthermore, relevant contributions from other groups, remaining challenges, and future perspectives in this research area are also presented.

Tailored Cobalt-Catalysts for Reductive Alkylation of Anilines with Carboxylic Acids under Mild Conditions

The first cobalt-catalyzed hydrogenative N-methylation and alkylation of amines with readily available carboxylic acid feedstocks as alkylating agents and H₂ as ideal reductant is described. Combination of tailor-made triphos ligands with cobalt(II) tetrafluoroborate significantly improved the efficiency, thus promoting the reaction under milder conditions. This novel protocol allows for a broad substrate scope with good functional group tolerance, even in the presence of reducible alkenes, esters, and amides.

Catalytic (de)hydrogenation promoted by non-precious metals – Co, Fe and Mn: recent advances in an emerging field

This review is aimed at introducing the remarkable progress made in the last three years in the development of base metal catalysts for hydrogenations and dehydrogenative transformations.