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.     

Synthesis of enantiomerically enriched propargylamines by copper-catalyzed addition of alkynes to enamines

The first copper(I) bromide/Quinap-catalyzed synthesis of enantiomerically enriched propargylamines by addition of alkynes to enamines is reported. Various functionalized terminal alkynes add smoothly to Nprotected enamines to afford the corresponding amines in good to high yields and moderate to good enantiomeric excesses. The influence of the metal salt, the ligand, and the protecting group on the conversion, the reaction rate, and the stereoselectivity of the reaction are investigated. The scope of the reaction and further transformations of the resulting propargylamines (deprotection, Pauson-Khand reaction) are also described.     

Bimetallic Catalysis using Transition and Group 11 Metals: An Emerging Tool for C?C Coupling and Other Reactions

Bimetallic catalysis refers to homogeneous processes in which either two transition metals (TM), or one TM and one Group 11 (G11) element (occasionally Hg also), cooperate in a synthetic process (often a C? C coupling) and their actions are connected by a transmetalation step. This is an emerging research area that differs from the isolated or tandem applications of the now classic processes (Stille, Negishi, Suzuki, Hiyama, Heck). Most of the reactions used so far combine Pd with a second metal, often Cu or Au, but syntheses involving very different TM couples (e.g., Cr/Ni in the catalyzed vinylation of aldehydes) have also been developed. Further development of the topic will soon demand a good knowledge of the mechanisms involved in bimetallic catalysis, but this knowledge is very limited for catalytic processes. However, there is much information available, dispersed in the literature, coming from basic research on exchange reactions occurring out of any catalytic cycle, in polynuclear complexes. These are essentially the same processes expected to operate in the heart of the catalytic process. This Review gathers together these two usually isolated topics in order to stimulate synergy between the bimetallic research coming from more basic organometallic studies and the more synthetic organic approaches to this chemistry.     

Bystanding F+ oxidants enable selective reductive elimination from high-valent metal centers in catalysis

Reductive elimination from partially or completely oxidized metal centers is a vital step in a myriad of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions. One strategy for promoting otherwise challenging reductive elimination reactions is to oxidize the metal center using a two-electron oxidant (that is, from M((n)) to M((n+2))). However, many of the commonly used oxidants for this type of transformation contain oxygen, nitrogen, or halogen moieties that are subsequently capable of participating in reductive elimination, thus leading to a mixture of products. In this Minireview, we examine the use of bystanding F(+) oxidants for addressing this widespread problem in organometallic chemistry and describe recent applications in Pd(II) /Pd(IV) and Au(I) /Au(III) catalysis. We then briefly discuss a rare example in which one-electron oxidants have been shown to promote selective reductive elimination in palladium(II)-catalyzed C-H functionalization, which we view as a promising future direction in the field.     

N-heterocyclic carbenes as organocatalysts

Organocatalyzed reactions represent an attractive alternative to metal-catalyzed processes notably because of their lower cost and benign environmental impact in comparison to organometallic catalysis. In this context, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been studied for their ability to promote primarily the benzoin condensation. Lately, dramatic progress in understanding their intrinsic properties and in their synthesis have made them available to organic chemists. This has resulted in a tremendous increase of their scope and in a true explosion of the number of papers reporting NHC-catalyzed reactions. Here, we highlight the ever-increasing number of reactions that can be promoted by N-heterocyclic carbenes.     

Syntheses,structures and catalytic activities of low-coordinated rare-earth metal complexes containing 2,2′-pyridylpyrrolides

Reactions of the ligand precursors 2-(2′-pyridyl)-3,5-Me₂-pyrrole ( L ¹ H) and 2-(2-pyridyl)-3,4,5-Me₃-pyrrole ( L ² H) with [(Me₃Si)₂N]₃RE(μ-Cl)Li(THF)₃ in toluene afforded a series of low-coordinated rare-earth metal bis-amido complexes L ¹ RE[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ [RE = Y ( 1a ), Dy ( 1b ), Er ( 1c ), Yb ( 1d )] and L ² RE[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ [RE = Y ( 2a ), Dy ( 2b ), Er ( 2c ), Yb ( 2d )]. With the ionic radius of rare-earth metal increasing, the reaction of L ¹ H and [(Me₃Si)₂N]₃RE(μ-Cl)Li(THF)₃ gave dinuclear complexes ( L ¹ )₂RE(μ-Cl)(μ-η⁵:η¹:η¹- L ¹ )RE( L ¹ )[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ [RE = Sm ( 1e ), Pr ( 1f )]; however, the reaction of L ² H and [(Me₃Si)₂N]₃Sm(μ-Cl)Li(THF)₃ afforded ( L ² )₂Sm[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ ( 2e ). Results indicated that the ionic radius of rare-earth metal and subtle change in the ligands have substantial effects on the structure and bonding mode of complexes. The complexes showed a high catalytic activity for the ring-opening reaction of cyclohexene oxide with amines to afford various β-aminoalcohols under mild solvent-free conditions.     

Self-supported chiral catalysts for heterogeneous enantioselective reactions

The development of heterogeneous chiral catalysts for enantioselective reactions is highly desirable in order to overcome some drawbacks of homogeneous catalysts. Different from the conventional approaches by using various types of supports or biphasic systems for the recovery and reuse of homogeneous catalysts, a conceptually new strategy for heterogenization of homogeneous chiral catalysts, that is, a "self-supporting" approach, has been developed to use homochiral metal-organic coordination polymers generated by the self-assembly of chiral multitopic ligands with metal ions, and thus obviates the use of any support. In this concept article, the success of this "self-supporting" strategy will be exemplified in heterogeneous catalysis of asymmetric carbonyl-ene, sulfoxidation, epoxidation, and asymmetric hydrogenation reactions.     

Ligand-template directed assembly: an efficient approach for the supramolecular encapsulation of transition-metal catalysts

Supramolecular encapsulation of small guest molecules inside well-defined cavities of molecular capsules has witnessed broad attention because of the unusual behaviour of these systems. The molecular capsules generally consist of rigid complementary building blocks that are held together by multiple, complementary non-covalent interactions. Interestingly, it has been shown that chemical transformations can take place inside these capsules and in some examples the reaction is accelerated, while in other cases otherwise instable intermediates could be isolated in the capsulated form. Many reactions of interest require a transition-metal (TM) catalyst, and the creation of new capsules in which such catalysts are implemented within the structure is thus required for the development of resourceful type of catalyst systems for these processes. In this concept article we will discuss new strategies to arrive at such systems, with a focus on a ligand-templated approach. In this approach, multifunctional ligands are used as templates for the encapsulation process by supramolecular building blocks and concomitantly for the formation of TM complexes that are active in catalytic processes. The obtained encapsulated transition-metal catalysts show unusual reactivity and selectivity behaviour that will be discussed in detail.     

Neutral Tridentate PNP Ligands and Their Hybrid Analogues: Versatile Non‐Innocent Scaffolds for Homogeneous Catalysis

Ligands in coordination chemistry and homogeneous catalysis are traditionally “static” spectators that do not actively participate in the catalytic cycle. However, such classic systems do not provide additional “handles” that could facilitate or trigger alternative productive reaction pathways. Recent advances in the use of novel nitrogen‐centered pincer systems have unveiled interesting opportunities for cooperative catalysis. The chemistry of pyridine‐derived, neutral ligands is discussed, with a specific focus on their non‐innocent behavior and potential as facilitators for metal‐mediated organic transformations. This overview should provide inspiration and an incentive to incorporate non‐innocent ligands and their metal complexes within old and new homogeneously catalyzed reactions.     

钯铜共催化苯并唑类杂环与芳基溴的直接芳基化反应研究

研究开发了一个实用高效的钯铜共催化体系,1%Pd(OAc)2与10%CuCl2.2H2O双金属组合催化剂在弱碱和0.5 equiv PPh3配体存在下,顺利催化苯并唑类杂环与各种芳基溴的直接芳基化,并得到良好的收率.该钯铜共催化体系具有钯催化计量低、配体廉价易得、底物适用范围广、反应条件温和等特点.     

Comparative dimerization of 1-butene with a variety of metal catalysts, and the investigation of a new catalyst for C=H bond activation

Catalytic dimerization of 1-butene by a variety of catalysts is carried out, and the products are analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Catalysts based on cobalt and iron can produce highly linear dimers, with the cobalt-based dimers exceeding 97 % linearity. Catalysts based on vanadium and aluminum prefer to make branched dimers, which are most often methyl-heptenes in the case of vanadium and almost exclusively 2-ethyl-1-butene in the case of aluminum. The vanadium catalyst also produces substantial amounts of dienes and alkanes, suggesting a competing hydrogenation/dehydrogenation pathway that appears to involve vinyl Cbond;H bond activation. Nickel catalysts are generally less selective than those based on iron or cobalt for making linear dimers, but they can make dimers with 60 % linearity. The major by-products for the nickel systems are trisubstituted internal olefins. An important side reaction that must be considered for dimerization reactions is 1-butene isomerization to 2-butene, which makes recycling the butene difficult for a linear dimerization process. Aluminum, iron, and vanadium systems promote very little isomerization, but nickel and cobalt systems tend to isomerize the undimerized substrate heavily.     

多金属氧簇催化研究进展

多金属氧簇由于其组成和结构易于调控、具有酸性、氧化还原性、低毒性和低腐蚀性等优点,作为工业催化剂具有广阔的应用前景,是多酸化学领域的研究热点之一。本文综述了近5年来多金属氧簇在催化领域中研究的新进展,主要包括多金属氧簇的酸催化、氧化催化、双功能催化、加氢和活化二氧化碳合成碳酸酯等催化反应以及多金属氧簇的工业化应用等,并对未来发展趋势进行了展望。