Theoretical study of rhodium(III)-catalyzed hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into formic acid. Significant differences in reactivity among rhodium(III), rhodium(I), and ruthenium(II) complexes

The title reaction was theoretically investigated, where cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(3)](+) and cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)](+) were adopted as models of the catalyst. The first step of the catalytic cycle is the CO(2) insertion into the Rh(III)-H bond, of which the activation barrier (E(a)) is 47.2 and 28.4 kcal/mol in cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(3)](+) and cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)](+), respectively, where DFT(B3LYP)-calculated E(a) values (kcal/mol unit) are given hereafter. These results indicate that an active species is not cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(3)](+) but cis-[RhH(2)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)](+). After the CO(2) insertion, two reaction courses are possible. In one course, the reaction proceeds through isomerization (E(a) = 2.8) of [RhH(eta(1)- OCOH)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](+), five-centered H-OCOH reductive elimination (E(a) = 2.7), and oxidative addition of H(2) to [Rh(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)(2)](+) (E(a) = 5.8). In the other one, the reaction proceeds through isomerization of [RhH(eta(1)-OCOH)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)(H(2))](+) (E(a) = 5.9) and six-centered sigma-bond metathesis of [RhH(eta(1)-OCOH)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)O)](+) with H(2) (no barrier). RhH(PH(3))(2)-catalyzed hydrogenation of CO(2) proceeds through CO(2) insertion (E(a) = 1.6) and either the isomerization of Rh(eta(1)-OCOH)(PH(3))(2)(H(2)) (E(a) = 6.1) followed by the six-centered sigma-bond metathesis (E(a) = 0.3) or H(2) oxidative addition to Rh(eta(1)-OCOH)(PH(3))(2) (E(a) = 7.3) followed by isomerization of RhH(2)(eta(1)-OCOH)(PH(3))(2) (E(a) = 6.2) and the five-centered H-OCOH reductive elimination (E(a) = 1.9). From these results and our previous results of RuH(2)(PH(3))(4)-catalyzed hydrogenation of CO(2) (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 3867), detailed discussion is presented concerning differences among Rh(III), Rh(I), and Ru(II) complexes.     

Carbon dioxide hydrogenation to formic acid by using a heterogeneous gold catalyst

AUROlite, consisting of gold supported on titania (picture shows extrudates in a steel net cage), is a robust catalyst for the production of catalyst-free HCOOH/NEt(3) adducts from H(2), CO(2), and neat NEt(3). Pure HCOOH is freed from the adducts by amine exchange.     

Ruthenium (II)-sulfonated BINAP: A novel water-soluble asymmetric hydrogenation catalyst.

Ruthenium (II)-sulfonated-BINAP has been synthesized and this novel water-soluble complex is shown to be an excellent asymmetric hydrogenation catalyst for 2-acylamino acid precursors and methylenesuccinic acid in both methanolic as well as in neat water solvent systems. Enantiomeric excesses approaching 90% have been obtained in aqueous and methanolic solvents. Effects of solvent, pressure and the addition of organic base on enantioselectivity are described.     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes with new water-soluble monotosylated ethylenediamines as ligands

New water-soluble monotosylated ethylenediamines containing quaternary ammonium groups were conveniently synthesized from ethylenediamine. The ruthenium catalysts prepared in situ from ruthenium complex [RuCl₂(p-cymene)]₂ and water-soluble monotosylated ethylenediamine ligands were used in transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes, and excellent conversions and chemoselectivities were achieved with sodium formate as reductant in neat water.     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed cyclization of azabenzonorbornadienes with alkynes

The ruthenium-catalyzed cyclization of azabenzonorbornadienes with alkynes leads to an unanticipated dihydrobenzoindole framework. Depending on the structure of the alkyne and the Ru catalyst, either a dihydrobenzoindole and/or a [2+2] cycloaddition product could be formed. Cp*Ru(COD)Cl was found to be an active catalyst for the cyclization of an azabenzonorbornadiene with a propargylic alcohol to produce the dihydrobenz[g]indole as a single regio and stereoisomer in good yield. For other alkynes, selective formation of the dihydrobenz[g]indole is possible by using a cationic Ru catalyst, [Cp*Ru(CH3CN)3]PF6.     

Ruthenium(II) complex catalysts bearing a pyridyl-supported pyrazolyl-imine ligand for transfer hydrogenation of ketones

A new class of hemilabile unsymmetrical 2-(1-arylimino)-6-(pyzazol-1-yl)pyridine ligands and their ruthenium(II) and nickel(II) NNN complexes were synthesized. The Ru(II) complex catalysts have been fully characterized and exhibited good to excellent catalytic activity in the transfer hydrogenation (TH) of ketones in refluxing 2-propanol. These results have demonstrated rare examples of active ruthenium(II) NNN complex catalysts that do not feature a N-H functionality for TH of ketones.     

Palladium(II)-catalyzed sequential hydroxylation-carboxylation of biphenyl using formic acid as a carbonyl source

[reaction: see text] A simultaneous hydroxylation-carboxylation of biphenyl occurred to give 4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarboxylic acid, which has wide potential application as a polyester monomer.     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed homo-Diels-Alder reactions of disubstituted alkynes and norbornadiene

The homo-Diels-Alder (HDA) reaction of norbornadiene (NBD) and internal functionalized alkynes leading to 8,9-disubstituted deltacyclenes using readily available electron-rich phosphine-ruthenium(II) catalysts is described.     

Ru(II)催化有机叠氮与炔反应机理的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论, 对在Ru(II)催化剂存在下, 有机叠氮化合物和末端炔的反应机理作了深入理论研究. 在B3LYP/LANL2DZ水平上, 对该反应体系中势能面各驻点的几何构型进行了全优化计算, 并经振动频率分析确定了过渡态和中间体, 通过内禀反应坐标(IRC)的计算, 确认了反应物、中间体、过渡态和产物的相关性. 对多个反应通道的协同反应以及分步反应进行了研究. 结果表明: 协同反应通道Ic和分步反应通道IIc是反应能垒较低的反应通道, 活化自由能较其它反应通道低, 有利于1,5-二取代1,2,3-三唑的生成, 具有特定的区域选择性, 与实验结果吻合.     

Base-catalyzed hydrogenation: rationalizing the effects of catalyst and substrate structures and solvation

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been used to study the base-catalyzed hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds. It is found that these hydrogenation reactions share many common features with S(N)2 reactions. Both types of reactions are described by double-well energy profiles, with deep wells and a low or negative overall energy barrier in the gas phase, while the solution-phase profiles show very shallow wells and much higher barriers. For the hydrogenation reactions, the assembly of the highly ordered transition structure is found to be a major limiting factor to the rate of reaction. In the gas phase, the overall barriers for reactions catalyzed by Group I methoxides increase steadily down the group, due to the decreasing charge density on the metal. On the other hand, for Group II and Group III metals, the overall barriers decrease down the group, which is attributed to the increasing ionic character of the metal-oxygen bond. The reaction with B(OCH(3))(3) has an exceptionally high barrier, which is attributed to pi-electron donation from the oxygen lone pairs of the methoxy groups to the formally vacant p orbital on B, as well as to the high covalent character of the B-O bonds. In solution, these reactivity trends are generally the opposite of the corresponding gas-phase trends. While similar barriers are obtained for reactions catalyzed by methoxides and by tert-butoxides, reactions with benzyloxides have somewhat higher barriers. Aromatic ketones are found to be more reactive than purely aliphatic ketones. Moreover, comparison between catalytic hydrogenation of 2,2,5,5-tetramethylcyclopentanone and pivalophenone shows that factors such as steric effects may also be important in differentiating their reactivity. Solvation studies with a wide range of solvents indicate a steady decrease in barrier with decreasing solvent dielectric constant, with nonpolar solvents generally leading to considerably lower barriers than polar solvents. In practice, a good balance between polarity and catalyst solubility is required in selecting the most suitable solvent for the base-catalyzed hydrogenation reaction.     

Sustainable conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid with Rh-decorated phosphorous-doped fullerenes: a theoretical study

Structural Chemistry - We performed density functional calculations to study conversion of carbon dioxide to formic acid through designed catalyst of Rh-decorated phosphorous-doped fullerenes. Two...     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed synthesis of 2-arylbenzimidazole and 2-arylbenzothiazole in water

Transition Metal Chemistry - Benzimidazoles/benzothiazoles are heterocyclic compounds which contain a five membered heteroatom and a benzene ring. They constitute a crucial structural unit of...     

Palladium(II)-catalyzed addition of arylboronic acid to nitriles

The addition of arylboronic acid to nitriles catalyzed by palladium(II) species in the presence of bipyridine as the ligand was developed. The use of bipyridine is crucial for changing the properties of arylpalladium species from more electrophilic to more nucleophilic making the reaction possible.     

Selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid on electrodeposited SnO_2@N-doped porous carbon catalysts

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO_2 is a promising route for energy storage and utilization. Herein we synthesized SnO_2 nanosheets and supported them on N-doped porous carbon (N-PC) by electrodeposition for the first time. The SnO_2 and N-PC in the SnO_2@N-PC composites had exellent synergistic effect for electrocatalytic reduction of CO_2 to HCOOH. The Faradaic efficiency of HCOOH could be as high as 94.1% with a current density of 28.4 mA cm-2 in ionic liquid-MeCN system. The reaction mechanism was proposed on the basis of some control experiments. This work opens a new way to prepare composite electrode for electrochemical reduction of CO_2.     

Hydrogen storage and delivery: immobilization of a highly active homogeneous catalyst for the decomposition of formic acid to hydrogen and carbon dioxide

The homogeneous catalytic system, based on water-soluble ruthenium(II)–TPPTS catalyst (TPPTS = meta-trisulfonated triphenylphosphine), selectively decomposes HCOOH into H₂ and CO₂ in aqueous solution. Although this reaction results in only two gas products, heterogeneous catalysts could be advantageous for recycling, especially for dilute formic acid solutions, or for mobile, portable applications. Several approaches have been used to immobilize/solidify the homogeneous ruthenium–TPPTS catalyst based on ion exchange, coordination and physical absorption. The activity of the various heterogeneous catalysts for the decomposition of formic acid has been determined. These heterogenized catalysts offer the advantage of easy catalyst separation/recycling in dilute formic acid, or for mobile, portable applications.     

Ruthenium(II)-catalyzed regio- and stereoselective hydroarylation of alkynes via directed C-H functionalization

The ruthenium-catalyzed hydroarylation of alkynes with benzamides proceeds regio- and stereoselectively through a directed C-H bond cleavage. Preliminary mechanistic investigations indicate that the reaction involves amide-directed ortho-metalation, carbometalation of alkyne, and protonolysis. Similarly, phenylazoles also add to alkynes regioselectively.     

Room-temperature Ru(II)-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of ketones and aldehydes in air

Transfer hydrogenation (TH) of ketones and aldehydes was efficiently carried out in 2-propanol at room temperature by means of a ruthenium(II) complex catalyst bearing a 2-(benzoimidazol-2-yl)-6-(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine ligand. TH of the ketone substrates proceeded in air, reaching final TOFs of up to 59,400 h⁻¹, and the reduction of aldehydes proceeded under a nitrogen atmosphere to achieve final TOFs of up to 5940 h⁻¹.     

Recyclable catalyst for conversion of carbon dioxide into formate attributable to an oxyanion on the catalyst ligand

The catalyst recycling in the conversion of CO2 into formate using the iridium complex with 4,7-dihydroxy-1,10-phenanthroline as a catalyst precursor is described. The catalyst precursor was dissolved in an aqueous KOH solution under CO2 pressure prior to the reaction, but was precipitated spontaneously at the end of the reaction. The acidification by the generation of formate caused the transformation from the water-soluble deprotonated form into the water-insoluble protonated form. When the reaction was carried out at 60 degrees C for 20 h using 0.1 M KOH solution under 6 MPa of H2:CO2 (1:1), the catalyst precursor was precipitated spontaneously and the added KOH was consumed completely. The catalyst was recovered by filtration, and the product was obtained by the evaporation of the filtrate. Iridium leaching into the filtrate was found to be 0.11 ppm (<2% of the loaded Ir). The recovered catalyst retained high catalytic activity for four cycles. Consequently, the CO2 conversion using the complex is an environmentally benign process, whose significant features are as follows: (i) catalyst recycling by self-precipitation/filtration, (ii) waste-free process, (iii) the easy isolation of the product, (iv) high efficiency under relatively mild conditions, and (v) aqueous catalysis without the use of organic materials. Furthermore, we have demonstrated the significant roles of the oxyanion generated from the acidic phenolic hydroxyl on the catalyst ligand, which are the catalyst recovery by acid-base equilibrium, as well as the water-solubility by its polarity and the catalyst activation by its electron-donating ability.     

Palladium(II)- and platinum(II)-catalyzed addition of stabilized carbon nucleophiles to ethylene and propylene

PdCl(2)(CH(3)CN)(2) and [PtCl(2)(H(2)C[double bond]CH(2))](2) catalyze the addition of beta-dicarbonyl compounds to ethylene and propylene.