Enantioselective reduction of prochiral ketones using spiroborate esters as catalysts

Novel spiroborate esters derived nonracemic 1,2-aminoalcohols and ethylene glycol are reported as highly effective catalysts for the asymmetric borane reduction of a variety of prochiral ketones with borane-dimethyl sulfide complex at room temperature. Optically active alcohols were obtained in excellent chemical yields using 0.1-10 mol % of catalysts with up to 99% ee.     

Efficient, recoverable, copper-free Sonogashira reaction under FBS and thermomorphic mode

The solubility property of high fluorine content ligands allows us to report in this article the accomplishment under the fluorous biphasic system (FBS) the Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira reactions using novel recyclable Pd catalysts with fluorous-ponytails in the structure of 2,2′-bpy ligands that are only soluble in perfluorinated solvents at room temperature. Alternatively, without using any fluorous solvent but under the thermomorphic mode, the same Pd catalysts proceed with the Cu-free Sonogashira reactions homogeneously in DMF at 135 ± 5 °C, whereas the product mixtures after reaction remain in solution and the Pd catalysts precipitate from DMF at low temperature.     

Catalytic dehydrogenation of cyclooctane with titanium, zirconium and hafnium metallocene complexes

Metallocene complexes in combination with cocatalysts like methylalumoxane (MAO) are not only excellent catalysts for olefin polymerization but also appropriate catalysts for the activation of alkanes in homogeneous (autoclave) and heterogeneous (fixed bed reactor) reactions. The activities of the catalysts depend on the temperature, the cocatalysts, additives, the central metal and the ligand structure. Generally, complexes with low steric demands and MAO as cocatalyst gave the highest activities. The comparison of different π-ligands resulted in the following activity order: cyclopentadienyl > indenyl > fluorenyl. The influence of σ-ligands and n-donor ligands gave the following activity order: -Cl > -PMe₃ > -CH₂Ph > -(CH₂)₄CH₃ > -NPh₃. The activities depended on the nature of the cocatalyst and decreased in the following order: MAO ? AlMe₃ > AlEt₃. The addition of aluminum powder and the Lewis base NPh₃ increased the activity of the Cp₂ZrCl₂/MAO catalyst. The Cp₂ZrCl₂/MAO/NPh₃ catalyst showed the highest activity in homogeneous reactions with 458 turnovers in 16 h at 300 °C. The Cp₂ZrCl₂/MAO/NPh₃/SI1102 catalyst gave the highest activity in heterogeneous catalysis with 206 turnovers in 5 h at 350 °C. None of the catalysts required a hydrogen acceptor like an external olefin.     

Catalytic dehydrogenation of cyclooctane with neutral iridium(I) complexes

A series of new 1,5-cyclooctadiene iridium(I) complexes with chelating ligands has been synthesized. The ligands are naphthoxyimines, carboxylates and alcoholates. The complexes catalyze the homogeneous dehydrogenation of cyclooctane to give cyclooctene and hydrogen without an external hydrogen acceptor up to rates of 75 turnovers. The catalysts are active for at least 48 h at a temperature of 300 °C. The ligand structure has an influence on the activity and selectivity of the corresponding catalysts.     

Pyrolytic hydrolysis of polycarbonate in the presence of earth-alkali oxides and hydroxides

The rise in the use of polycarbonate (PC) calls for the development of after-use treatments. In this work, we describe a process for obtaining bisphenol A (BPA), phenol and isopropenyl phenol (IPP) from PC by hydrolysis at temperatures between 300 and 500 °C. The experiments were carried out in a steam atmosphere in the presence of MgO, CaO, Mg(OH)₂ or Ca(OH)₂ as catalysts, respectively. The results were compared with the hydrolysis of PC in the absence of any catalysts. All of these catalysts accelerated the hydrolysis of PC drastically, with MgO and Mg(OH)₂ being more effective than their Ca counterparts. The differences between oxides and hydroxides were negligible indicating the same mechanism for both, oxides and hydroxides. BPA was the main product at 300 °C, with a yield of 78% obtained in the presence of MgO. At 500 °C, BPA was mainly degraded to phenol and isopropenyl phenol (IPP). It can be shown that a combined process involving PC hydrolysis at 300 °C and BPA fission at 500 °C leads to high yields of phenol and IPP and the drastic decrease of residue.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis of d-glucuronic acid derivatives using cost-effective solid acid catalysts

Monomode microwave-assisted coupling of d-glucuronic acid with alcohols, in the presence of various impregnated acid catalysts, was successfully performed, affording in almost quantitative yields the corresponding monosubstituted β-d-glucofuranosidurono-6,3-lactones in less than 10 min at 85 °C. This study evidences the synergy of microwaves and impregnated acid catalysts as a fast and clean strategy in the field of carbohydrate chemistry.     

The mechanism of ethylene polymerization by nickel salicylaldiminato catalysts - Agostic interactions and their kinetic isotope effects

The ethylene polymerization reaction of a neutral nickel catalyst was studied by DFT calculations at the Becke3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. As in related cases a β-agostic bond stabilizes the nickel alkyl ground states. Transition states for the insertion of the olefin show a distinct α-agostic interaction, which has not been observed for late metal polymerization catalysts before. An ethylene-alkyl complex was identified as the resting state of the reaction. The overall barrier height of the reaction amounts to 17.54 kcal/mol, which slightly increases to 17.60 kcal/mol for the polymerization of deuterated ethylene. Therefore, a small positive kinetic isotope effect (k_H/k_D = 1.09) can be calculated, which is caused by the α-agostic interaction in the transition state. A comparison to other late metal based polymerization systems reveals that the ethylene coordination step of highly active catalysts is significantly lower in energy compared to catalysts which are only moderately active.     

Two bis-[1-(aryliminomethyleny)-2-oxy-naphthalen] nickel catalysts for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate

Two bis-(1-arylliminomethylenyl-2-oxy-naphthalen) nickel complexes (aryl = 2-methylphenyl, complex 1; aryl = 2,6-diisoproylphenyl, complex 2) were reacted with alkylaluminium in presence of equimolar PPh₃ and tested as catalysts in methyl methacrylate (MMA) polymerization. The two nickel catalysts can initiate polymerization of MMA with good to high activity, the highest activity reaching 1.1 × 10⁵ g PMMA/(mol Ni · h) by less bulky complex 1 at 0.8 mol/L of MMA, 400 of Al/Ni ratio and 0 °C. In addition, the structures of nickel complexes and polymerization conditions, such as monomer concentration, polymerization temperature and Al/Ni molar ratio on catalytic activity of polymerization have great influences on catalytic activity and product properties.     

Room temperature synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives using reusable cobalt hydroxide (II) and cobalt oxide (II) as efficient solid catalysts

Here we demonstrate the synthesis of benzimidazoles through the coupling of 1,2-phenylenediamine with aldehydes by using Co(OH)₂ and similarly CoO(II) as efficient solid catalysts in ethanol at room temperature. The Co(OH)₂ solid catalyst gave better yields (82-98%) in short reaction times (4-7 h) than CoO(II) catalyst (80-94%, 6-9 h). These commercially available cheap catalysts are more active than many reported expensive heterogeneous catalysts.     

Palladium catalyzed alkynylation of aryl halides (Sonogashira reaction) in water

The palladium catalyzed alkynylation of aryl halides (Sonogashira reaction) has been achieved in pure water without any additives or phase transfer catalysts. The reaction, which requires only 0.5 mol % of Pd(PPh₃)₄ catalyst, is remarkably fast (30 min at 70 °C) producing high yields of the aryl alkyne products.     

Preparation of N-arylpiperazines and other N-aryl compounds from aryl bromides as scaffolds of bioactive compounds

Aryl bromides are coupled with N-compounds to give the corresponding arylamines in the presence of a palladium catalyst, a suitable ligand, and a weak base. The catalysts perform well for a large number of different starting material combinations at 100-150 °C with drops of toluene or without solvent, and with low catalyst levels (0.12 mol % Pd). The low catalyst amount makes the process environment friendly.     

Improved catalysis of nitrone 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions by solving the aggregation issue of the DBFOX/Ph-transition metal complexes

A new method has been demonstrated to solve the aggregation issue of metal complex catalysts; Steric protection of the metal center of catalysts was effective in the cases of DBFOX/Ph-transition metal complexes by structural modification of chiral ligand. The new ligands have been successfully applied to the nitrone cycloadditions to a variety of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. Excellent enantioselectivities up to 99% ee have been demonstrated in the reactions at room temperature with a catalytic loading of 2 mol %.     

Spiroborate catalyzed reductions with N,N-diethylaniline borane

Reduction of esters, amides, and ketones by N,N-diethylaniline borane is accelerated by catalysts derived from spiroborate complexes. Esters are reduced at ambient temperature in less than 4 h with this amine borane and 5 mol % spiroborate 6. Functional group selectivity shows ketone and tertiary amide reduction is faster than ester or nitrile reduction.     

The influence of mineral catalysts on racemization of secondary alcohols under pyrolytic temperatures: II part

Pyrolysis of S-1-phenylethanol (PE) with and without catalysts at different temperatures (80-600 °C) has been carried out. In the presence of catalysts the partial racemization (≤25%) and formation of products like styrene, acetophenone and chiral benzylic ethers formation have been detected. Without a catalyst almost no racemization was observed and products formation was not appreciable. The kinetics of racemization has been calculated and the effect of different kind of catalysts has been studied. Pyrolysis of (S)-1-phenylpropanol (PPEs) and (S)-1-phenyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (FEs) have also been carried out at 500 °C on zirconium dioxide. The behaviors of catalysts during pyrolysis experiments are studied using SEM technique. A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) model was created using the results obtained with all catalysts at different temperatures and with the main products, i.e., acetophenone, dibenzylic ethers and styrene to discriminate the catalysts on the basis of their effects. Chemical properties of catalysts that are responsible of different effects are deduced.     

Silica gel supported InBr3 and InCl3: new catalysts for the facile and rapid oxidation of 2′-hydroxychalcones and flavanones to their corresponding flavones under solvent free conditions

Silica gel supported InBr₃ or InCl₃ (15-20 mol %) were explored as a new solid-support catalysts for the facile and efficient oxidation, under solvent free conditions, of 2′-hydroxychalcones and flavanones to yield the corresponding flavones in >80% yield. The catalysts are easily prepared, stable, and efficient under mild reaction conditions.     

Fast transient infrared studies in material science: development of a novel low dead-volume, high temperature DRIFTS cell

A prototype DRIFTS flow reaction chamber was designed and developed in order to find analytical application in the study of heterogeneous catalysts operating at high temperatures under fast transient gas feed conditions. Minimisation of dead-volumes allows gas replacement in 8-10 s at 10 mL min⁻¹ total flow. To overcome problems related to the reactivity of the cell walls under alternating oxidizing/reducing gases, the cell was built with Inconel 600™, which was tested to be very inert even at high temperatures. The sample holder, which was developed to closely resemble a micro plug-flow reactor, poses some problems in terms of heat transfer to the outer body of the cell (limiting then the maximum reachable temperature) and of the correct measurement of the actual sample temperature. These problems were solved with a careful re-design of the upper part of the cell. The second prototype thus derived is able to reach temperatures up to 803 K and allows gas replacement in less than 4 s at 10 mL min⁻¹. The cell is inserted in a MCT-FT-IR, which allows to collect high quality spectra with a 1 s time-resolution. The downstream flow can be analysed by a quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an enclosed source and by a commercial GC. The performances of this prototype cell are presented showing some tests carried out with ceria-zirconia (Ce_xZr_1−xO₂) catalysts for CO abatement under real operando conditions.     

Mg-Al hydrotalcites as the first heterogeneous basic catalysts for the Kornblum oxidation of benzyl halides to benzaldehydes using DMSO

Mg-Al hydrotalcites (Mg/Al = 2, 3, 5) act as efficient heterogeneous base catalysts for the conversion of benzyl halides to the corresponding benzaldehydes using DMSO as an oxidant.     

A sustainable one-pot synthesis of cinnamyl acetate in triacetin

A sustainable one-pot synthesis of cinnamyl acetate from cinnamaldehyde is demonstrated for the first time using immobilized Baker’s yeast and free or immobilized acid as catalysts and triacetin as solvent. Employing the immobilized yeast and Amberlyst-36 allowed full conversion and 91% selectivity for cinnamyl acetate after 96 h at room temperature, and both the catalysts and triacetin were successfully recycled.     

Highly efficient synthesis of functionalized tertiary alcohols catalyzed by potassium alkoxide-crown ether complexes

A highly efficient Mukaiyama aldol reaction between ketones and trimethylsilyl enolates in the presence of potassium alkoxide-crown ether complexes as Lewis base catalysts (0.3-5 mol %), which minimized the competing retro-aldol reaction, was developed. These catalysts promoted other addition reactions of trimethylsilyl reagents to ketones and aldimines, such as silyltrifluoromethylation, silylcyanation, and silylphosphonylation. A direct hydrophosphonylation of ketones also proceeded when the catalysts were used as a Brønsted base under mild reaction conditions.     

Novel monoligated imine–Pd–NHC complexes: extremely active pre-catalysts for Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of aryl chlorides

Novel monoligated imine–Pd–NHC pre-catalysts with extremely high activity for the coupling of aryl chlorides and aryl boronic acids have been well explored. Three diffident catalysts could be obtained through one reaction. Changes in imine ligands would lead to remarkable variation on catalytic activity. Under mild reaction conditions, high reaction yields were achieved. A wide range of biphenyls could be efficiently obtained at ultra low catalyst loadings of 0.005 mol %.