All-metal aromatic complexes show high reactivity in the oxidation reaction of methane and some hydrocarbons

The C-H activations of methane, ethane, propane, and propene catalyzed by all-metal aromatic complexes Al(4)Fe were investigated. The results reveal that the rate-determining barrier of methane activation reaction with Al(4)Fe is lower than that of both some well-known inorganic catalysts and some metal organic catalysts. It was found that the all-metal aromatic complexes have high reactivity for the C-H activation of ethane, propane, and propene. Further research showed that the ability of all-metal aromatic complex to accept an electron and the degree of electron delocalization on its aromatic plane had obvious influences on the reactivity of Al(4)Fe. The present work predicts a new kind of catalyst for the alkyl C-H activation reaction: all-metal aromatic catalyst.     

Alkane C-H activation and catalysis by an O-donor ligated iridium complex

The first examples of well-defined, O-donor ligated, late-metal complexes that are competent for alkane C-H activation are reported. These complexes exhibit thermal and protic stability and are efficient catalysts for H/D exchange reactions with alkanes.     

DFT/ECP study of C-H activation by (PCP)Ir and (PCP)Ir(H)2(PCP=eta3-1,3-C6H3(CH2PR2)2). Enthalpies and free energies of associative and dissociative pathways

(PCP)Ir(H)2 (PCP = eta3-1,3-C6H3(CH2PR2)2) complexes are highly effective catalysts for the dehydrogenation of alkanes; in particular, they are the first efficient molecular catalysts for alkane dehydrogenation that do not require a sacrificial hydrogen acceptor. Using density functional theory/effective core potential methods, we have examined C-H bond cleavage in alkanes and arenes by both (PCP)Ir and (PCP)Ir(H)2. C-H addition to the dihydride is accompanied by loss of H2; both associative and dissociative pathways for this exchange reaction have been examined. The energetic barrier (deltaE(is not equal)) for associative displacement of H2 by benzene is much lower than the barrier for a dissociative pathway involving initial loss of H2; however, the pathways have very comparable free energy barriers (deltaG(is not equal)). Extrapolation to the higher temperatures, bulkier phosphine ligands, and the alkane substrates used experimentally leads to the conclusion that the pathway for the "acceptorless" dehydrogenation of alkanes is dissociative. For hydrocarbon/hydrocarbon exchanges, which are required for transfer-dehydrogenation, dissociative pathways are calculated to be much more favorable than associative pathways. We emphasize that it is the free energy, not just the internal energy or enthalpy, that must be considered for elementary steps that show changes in molecularity.     

DFT calculations of d0 M(NR)(CHtBu)(X)(Y) (M = Mo, W; R = CPh3, 2,6-iPr-C6H3; X and Y = CH2tBu, OtBu, OSi(OtBu)3) olefin metathesis catalysts: structural, spectroscopic and electronic properties

DFT(B3PW91) calculations have been carried out to rationalise the structural, electronic and spectroscopic properties of Mo and W imido M(NR1)(CHR2)(X)(Y) olefin metathesis catalysts by using either simplified or actual ligands of the experimental complexes. The calculated structures, energetics (preference for the syn isomer and alkylidene rotational barrier for the syn/anti interconversion), and spectroscopic properties (NMR J(C-H) coupling constants) are in good agreement with available experimental data. Additionally, the alkylidene nu(C-H) stretching frequencies, not available experimentally, have been calculated. These quasi-tetrahedral complexes have a linear imido group and a C-H alkylidene agostic interaction, which stabilizes the syn isomer. Whether looking at M(NR1)(CHR2)(X)(Y), M = Mo, W, or the isolobal Re complexes, Re(CR1)(CHR2)(X)(Y), a linear correlation is obtained between both the alkylidene nu(C-H) stretching frequencies and J(C-H) coupling constants with the calculated alkylidene C-H bond lengths. These correlations show that the strength of the alpha-C-H agostic interaction increases from alkylidyne Re to imido group 6 complexes and from Mo to W. The NBO and AIM Bader analyses show firstly that the imido and alkylidyne groups are both triply bonded to the metal, but that the triply bonded imido ligand is a weaker electron donor than the alkylidyne, hence the stronger alpha-C-H agostic interaction for group 6 imido complexes. Secondly, one of the pi bonds of the triply bonded ligand is weakened at the transition state of the alkylidene rotation: while no lone pair is formed, the metal-ligand triple bond is polarized. This is more favourable for an imido than for an alkylidyne ligand, hence the lower alkylidene rotational barrier for the former complexes. Conversely, the aryl imido is even less of an electron donor than the alkyl imido group, which in turn strengthens the alpha-C-H agostic interaction and lowers the alkylidene rotational barrier even more.     

Substitution of hydrogen by deuterium changes the regioselectivity of ethylbenzene hydroxylation by an oxo-iron-porphyrin catalyst

Heme oxo-iron complexes are powerful oxygenation catalysts of environmentally benign hydroxylation processes. We have performed density functional theoretic calculations on a model system, that is, an oxo-iron-porphyrin (Por) complex [(Fe=O)Cl(Por)], and studied its reactivity toward a realistic substrate, namely, ethylbenzene. The calculations showed that the dominant reaction process in the gas phase is benzyl hydroxylation leading to 1-phenylethanol, with an energetic barrier of 9.1 kcal mol(-1), while the competing para-phenyl hydroxylation has a barrier 3.0 kcal mol(-1) higher in energy. This benzyl hydroxylation barrier is the lowest C-H hydroxylation barrier we have obtained so far for oxo-iron-porphyrin complexes. Due to electronic differences between the intermediates in the phenyl and benzyl hydroxylation processes, the phenyl hydroxylation process is considerably stabilised over the benzyl hydroxylation mechanism in environments with a large dielectric constant. In addition, we calculated kinetic isotope effects of the substitution of one or more hydrogen atoms of ethylbenzene by deuterium atoms and studied its effect on the reaction barriers. Thus, in a medium with a large dielectric constant, a regioselectivity change occurs between [H(10)]ethylbenzene and [D(10)]ethylbenzene whereby the deuterated species gives phenol products whereas the hydrogenated species gives mainly 1-phenylethanol products. This remarkable metabolic switching was analysed and found to occur due to 1) differences in strength between a C-H versus a C-D bond and 2) stabilisation of cationic intermediates in a medium with a large dielectric constant. We have compared our calculations with experimental work on synthetic oxo-iron-porphyrin catalysts as well as with enzyme-reactivity studies.     

乙二醛在Pd4团簇吸附、解离以及选择氧化

采用第一性原理密度泛函理论,我们研究了乙二醛在具有四面体结构的Pd4团簇上吸附、解离以及氧化反应历程.研究表明:乙二醛中C-H键是最容易断裂的,断裂后形成的HCOOC基团分别和O或OH反应形成乙醛酸,也就是说乙二醛经过脱氢,选择氧化形成产物乙醛酸.在整个反应过程中,所需要的能垒均小于11.53 Kcal/mol.我们的研究不仅有助于理解乙二醛氧化的反应机理,而且对于今后设计更好的乙二醛选择氧化催化剂有一定的帮助作用.     

Pathways for C-H bond cleavage of propane σ-complexes on PdO(101)

We used dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D3) calculations to investigate the initial C-H bond cleavage of propane σ-complexes adsorbed on the PdO(101) surface. The calculations predict that propane molecules adsorbed in η(1) configurations can undergo facile C-H bond cleavage on PdO(101), where the energy barrier for C-H bond activation is lower than that for desorption for each molecular complex. The preferred pathway for propane dissociation on PdO(101) corresponds to cleavage of a primary C-H bond of a so-called staggered p-2η(1) complex which initially coordinates with the surface by forming two H-Pd dative bonds, one at each CH(3) group. Among all of the adsorbed propane complexes, the staggered p-2η(1) complex has the highest binding energy and must overcome the lowest energy barrier for C-H bond scission. Analysis of the atomic charges reveals that propane C-H bond cleavage occurs heterolytically on PdO(101), and suggests that primary C-H bond activation is favored because a more stabilizing charge distribution develops within the 1-propyl transition state structures. Lastly, we conducted kinetic simulations using microkinetic models derived from the DFT-D3 structures, and find that the models reproduce the apparent activation energy for propane dissociation on PdO(101) to within 14% of that determined experimentally. We show that the entropic contributions of the adsorbed transition structures greatly exceed those predicted by the harmonic oscillator model, and that quantitative agreement with the apparent dissociation pre-factor may be obtained by approximating two of the frustrated adsorbate motions as free motions while treating the remaining modes as harmonic vibrations.     

A combined experimental and computational study on the sulfoxidation by high-valent iron bispidine complexes

Iron-bispidine complexes are efficient catalysts for the oxidation of thioanisole to phenylmethylsulfoxide with iodosylbenzene as oxidant. With the tetradentate bispidine ligand L(1) (L(1) = 2,4-pyridyl-3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane)) the catalytic efficiency is smaller than with the pentadentate bispidine ligand L(2) (L(2) = 2,4-pyridyl-7-(pyridine-2-ylmethyl)-3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane)). Based on the redox potentials (iron complexes with L(1) are stronger oxidants than with L(2)) and known efficiencies in catalytic olefin oxidation and C-H activation reactions, the expectations were different. A DFT-based analysis is used to explain the apparent contradiction, and this is based on differences in the electronic ground states of the ferryl complexes as well as in the oxygen transfer transition states.     

Investigating the oxidation of alkenes by non-heme iron enzyme mimics

Iron is emerging as a key player in the search for efficient and environmentally benign methods for the functionalisation of C-H bonds. Non-heme iron enzymes catalyse a diverse array of oxidative chemistry in nature, and small-molecule complexes designed to mimic the non-heme iron active site have great potential as C-H activation catalysts. Herein we report the synthesis of a series of organic ligands that incorporate key features of the non-heme iron active site. Iron(ii) complexes of these ligands have been generated in situ and their ability to promote hydrocarbon oxidation has been investigated. Several of these systems promote the biomimetic dihydroxylation of cyclohexene at low levels, when hydrogen peroxide is used as the oxidant; allylic oxidation products are also observed. An investigation of ligand stability reveals formation of several breakdown products under the conditions of the oxidative turnover reactions. These products arise via oxidative decarboxylation, dehydration and deamination reactions. Taken together these results indicate that competing mechanisms are at play with these systems: biomimetic hydroxylation involving high-valent iron species, and allylic oxidation via Fenton chemistry and Haber-Weiss radical pathways.     

Carboxylation of arene C-H bonds with CO2: a DFT-based approach to catalyst design

A prototypical catalytic cycle for the direct carboxylation of unactivated arene C-H bonds with CO(2) based on ruthenium(II) pincer complexes as catalysts is proposed and investigated by density functional theory (DFT) methods. The energetic span model is used to predict the turnover frequency (TOF) of various potential catalysts, evaluating their efficiency for this reaction. In addition to modifications of the catalyst structure, we also investigated the effect of the substrate, the solvent, and the influence of a base on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the reaction. Turnover frequencies in the range of 10(5)-10(7) h(-1) are predicted for the best systems. Alternative reaction pathways that might prevent the reaction are also investigated. In all cases, either the respective intermediates are found to be unstable or activation barriers are found to be very high, thereby indicating that these alternative pathways will not interfere with the proposed catalytic cycle. As a result, several ruthenium pincer complexes are suggested as very promising candidates for experimental investigation as catalysts for the carboxylation of arene C-H bonds with CO(2).     

Olefin metathesis catalyst: stabilization effect of backbone substitutions of N-heterocyclic carbene

Ruthenium olefin metathesis catalysts bearing an N-phenyl-substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand that are resistant to decomposition through C-H activation have been prepared and tested in ring closing metathesis (RCM), cross metathesis (CM), and ROMP reactions. The N, N'-diphenyl-substituted NHC complex proved to be one of the most efficient catalysts in RCM to form tetrasubstituted olefins.     

Weak hydrogen bonding can initiate alkane C-H bond activation in acidic zeolites

Ab initio calculations at the Hartree-Fock self-consistent field/single determinant (SCF) and configuration interaction multi-determinant (CI) expansion levels have been used to show that isobutane primary C-H bond activation occurs via direct protium exchange with the zeolite surface via a weakly hydrogen-bonded complex. The calculated 15 kcal/mol activation barrier agrees with the 13.7 kcal/mol value from a recently reported experimental study (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 1847-1852). Overall, the mechanism described in this contribution demonstrates that weak C-H to O hydrogen bonding leads to complexes at the zeolite acid site that can facilitate C-H bond activation.     

Chelation-assisted rhodium hydride-catalyzed regioselective H/D exchange in arenes

A series of air stable rhodium(III) hydride complexes are synthesized via cyclometalation of functionalized arenes, and are active catalysts for regioselective H/D exchange in various arenes via chelation-assisted C-H activation in acetone-d₆.     

Is the ruthenium analogue of compound I of cytochrome p450 an efficient oxidant? A theoretical investigation of the methane hydroxylation reaction

High-valent metal-oxo complexes catalyze C-H bond activation by oxygen insertion, with an efficiency that depends on the identity of the transition metal and its oxidation state. Our study uses density functional calculations and theoretical analysis to derive fundamental factors of catalytic activity, by comparison of a ruthenium-oxo catalyst with its iron-oxo analogue toward methane hydroxylation. The study focuses on the ruthenium analogue of the active species of the enzyme cytochrome P450, which is known to be among the most potent catalysts for C-H activation. The computed reaction pathways reveal one high-spin (HS) and two low-spin (LS) mechanisms, all nascent from the low-lying states of the ruthenium-oxo catalyst (Ogliaro, F.; de Visser, S. P.; Groves, J. T.; Shaik, S. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 2874-2878). These mechanisms involve a bond activation phase, in which the transition states (TS's) appear as hydrogen abstraction species, followed by a C-O bond making phase, through a rebound of the methyl radical on the metal-hydroxo complex. However, while the HS mechanism has a significant rebound barrier, and hence a long lifetime of the radical intermediate, by contrast, the LS ones are effectively concerted with small barriers to rebound, if at all. Unlike the iron catalyst, the hydroxylation reaction for the ruthenium analogue is expected to follow largely a single-state reactivity on the LS surface, due to a very large rebound barrier of the HS process and to the more efficient spin crossover expected for ruthenium. As such, ruthenium-oxo catalysts (Groves, J. T.; Shalyaev, K.; Lee, J. In The Porphyrin Handbook; Biochemistry and Binding: Activation of Small Molecules, Vol. 4; Kadish, K. M., Smith, K. M., Guilard, R., Eds.; Academic Press: New York, 2000; pp 17-40) are expected to lead to more stereoselective hydroxylations compared with the corresponding iron-oxo reactions. It is reasoned that the ruthenium-oxo catalyst should have larger turnover numbers compared with the iron-oxo analogue, due to lesser production of suicidal side products that destroy the catalyst (Ortiz de Montellano, P. R.; Beilan, H. S.; Kunze, K. L.; Mico, B. A. J. Biol. Chem. 1981, 256, 4395-4399). The computations reveal also that the ruthenium complex is more electrophilic than its iron analogue, having lower hydrogen abstraction barriers. These reactivity features of the ruthenium-oxo system are analyzed and shown to originate from a key fundamental factor, namely, the strong 4d(Ru)-2p(O,N) overlaps, which produce high-lying pi(Ru-O), sigma(Ru-O), and sigma(Ru-N) orbitals and thereby to lead to a preference of ruthenium for higher-valent oxidation states with higher electrophilicity, for the effectively concerted LS hydroxylation mechanism, and for less suicidal complexes. As such, the ruthenium-oxo species is predicted to be a more robust catalyst than its iron-oxo analogue.     

咔唑桥连NCN齿形钯配合物催化的唑类C-H键直接芳基化反应

基于咔唑的强给电子能力合成了一种对空气稳定的齿形钯配合物催化剂(C1~C6).这种钯催化剂可高效催化唑类和溴代芳烃的直接芳基化反应,在空气条件下,碳酸钾为碱,无需其他添加剂,即取得了较好的催化活性与底物普适性.在相对温和的条件和催化剂用量为0.5mol%时,即可实现噻唑与溴代芳烃直接芳基化反应顺利进行.值得一提的是,这是目前以KOAc为碱的反应体系中,反应活性最高的催化体系.     

C-H键活化反应的密度泛函理论模拟对简化模型的评估

采用密度泛函理论方法, 模拟了Rh(PPh₃)₃Cl催化的C-H键活化/C-C键偶联反应. 将反应机理分为C-H键活化、 迁移插入和还原消除3个过程进行讨论. 计算结果表明, 势能面的最高点为迁移插入的过渡态, 相对于初始原料的自由能为108.3 kJ/mol. 为了探索简化计算模型对模拟反应机理的影响, 使用2种模型催化剂Rh(PMe₃)₃Cl和Rh(PH₃)₃Cl表征相同的反应过程, 结果表明配体简化模型不合理, 主要是因为PPh₃配体的空间效应和熵效应非常明显.     

Mechanistic Study of Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative C-H/C-H Coupling of Polyfluoroarenes with Simple Arenes

Pd-catalyzed oxidative C-H/C-H coupling reaction is an emerging type of C-H acti-vation reaction, which attracts great interests because both reaction partners do not re-quire pre-functionalization. In the present study, we employed DFT methods to investigatethe mechanism of Pd(OAc)₂-catalyzed oxidative C-H/C-H coupling of pentafluoroben-zene with benzene. Four possible pathways were examined in the C-H activation part: path A benzene-pentafluorobenzene mechanism (C-H activation of benzene occurs before the C-H activation of pentafluorobenzene), path B pentafluorobenzene-benzene mechanism (C-H activation of benzene occurs after the C-H activation of pentafluorobenzene), path C benzene-pentafluorophenylsilver mechanism (C-H activation of benzene and subsequenttransmetalation with pentafluorophenyl silver complex), path D pentafluorophenylsilver-benzene mechanism (transmetalation with pentafluorophenyl silver complex and subsequent C-H activation of benzene). Based on the calculations, the sequences of two C-H activation steps are found to be different in the oxidative couplings of same substrates (i.e. pentaflu-orobenzene and benzene) in different catalytic systems, where the additive Ag salts played a determinant role. In the absence of Ag salts, the energetically favored pathway is path B (i.e. the C-H activation of pentafluorobenzene takes place before the C-H cleavage of benzene). In contrast, with the aid of Ag salts, the coordination of pentafluorophenylsilver to Pd center could occur easily with a subsequent C-H activation of benzene in the second step, and the second step significantly raises the whole reaction barrier. Alternatively, in thepresence of Ag salts, the kinetically preferred mechanism is path C (i.e. the C-H activation of benzene takes place in the first step followed by transmetalation with pentafluorophenyl-silver complex), which is similar to path A. The calculations are consistent with the H/D exchange experiment and kinetic isotope effects. Thus the present study not only offers a deeper understanding of oxidative C-H/C-H coupling reaction, but also provides helpful insights to further development of more efficient and selective oxidative C-H/C-H coupling reactions.     

The activation of the C-H bond in acetylene by second row transition metal atoms

Summary The C-H activation reaction of acetylene by second row transition metal atoms has been studied including electron correlation of all valence electrons. Binding energies have been computed for both -coordinated complexes and C-H insertion products. It is found that for most atoms the -coordinated complexes are thermodynamically favoured, just as in the case for the corresponding ethylene reaction. The barrier height for the C-H insertion increases from acetylene to ethylene and to methane. This is in line with the experimental finding that there should be an inverse relation between C-H bond strengths and the difficulty to activate these bonds. To explain the detailed differences between the C-H activation of acetylene and ethylene, the interaction with two, rather than one, - and *-orbitals for acetylene is of key importance. The barrier height for the acetylene reaction increases significantly between niobium and molybdenum going to the right in the periodic table, just as for all oxidative addition reactions previously studied. The origin of this increase is that noibium has one empty 4d-orbital but for molybdenum all 4d-orbitals are occupied. Rhodium has the lowest barrier for C-H activation for all systems studied.     

分子水平上低碳烷烃催化选择氧化的初步研究

烃类选择氧化在石油化工中极其重要.近二十多年来,随着石油化工原料逐步从烯烃、芳烃等不饱和烃向资源丰富和价格相对低廉的烷烃的转化,研究烷烃的氧化活化和定向转化来取代相应的烯烃和芳烃工艺具有非常重要的学术意义和工业价值.因而,烷烃的选择活化和氧化得到了世界范围内的     

Mechanism of benzene hydroxylation by high-valent bare Fe(IV)=O2+: explicit electronic structure analysis

The conversion of benzene to phenol by high-valent bare FeO(2+) was comprehensively explored using a density functional theory method. The conductor-like screen model (COSMO) was used to mimic the role of solvent effect with acetonitrile chosen as the solvent. Two radical mechanisms and one oxygen insertion mechanism were tested for this conversion. The first radical mechanism can also be named as the concerted mechanism in which the hydrogen-atom abstraction process is accomplished via a four-centered transition state. The second radical mechanism is initiated by a direct hydrogen-atom abstraction with a collinear C-H-O transition structure. It is actually the same as the well-accepted rebound mechanism for the C-H bond activation by heme and nonheme iron-oxo catalysts. The third is an oxygen insertion mechanism which is essentially an aromatic electrophilic attack leading to an arenium σ-complex intermediate. The formation of a precomplex with an η(4) coordinate environment in the first radical mechanism is energetically more favorable. However, the relatively lower activation energy barrier of the oxygen insertion mechanism compared to the radical ones makes it highly competitive if the Fe=O(2+) collides with benzene in the proper orientation. The detailed potential energy surfaces also indicate that the second radical mechanism, i.e., the benzene C-H bond activation through the rebound mechanism, is less favorable. This thorough theoretical study, especially the electronic structure analysis, may offer very important clues for understanding and studying C-H bond activation by iron-based catalysts and enzymatic reactions in protein active pockets.