Oxidative Addition to Palladium(0) Made Easy through Photoexcited‐State Metal Catalysis: Experiment and Computation

Visible‐light induced, palladium catalyzed alkylations of α,β‐unsaturated acids with unactivated alkyl bromides are described. A variety of primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl bromides are activated by the photoexcited palladium metal catalyst to provide a series of olefins at room temperature under mild reaction conditions. Mechanistic investigations and density functional theory (DFT) studies suggest that a photoinduced inner‐sphere mechanism is operative in which a barrierless, single‐electron transfer oxidative addition of the alkyl halide to Pd⁰ is key for the efficient transformation.     

Oxidative addition of cyclic 1-oxa-5,6-ditelluraspirooctane to platinum(0) complexes

The oxidative addition of cyclic ditelluride 1-oxa-5,6-ditelluraspirooctane, Te(2)C(5)H(8)O, to bis(triphenylphosphine)(norbornene)platinum(0), [Pt(PPh(3))(2)(eta(2)-nb)], and to [1,8-bis(diphenylphosphino)naphthalene](norbornene)platinum(0), [Pt(dppn)(eta(2)-nb)], lead to the formation of dinuclear and mononuclear tellurolato platinum(ii) complexes, respectively, as a consequence of Te-Te bond cleavage; no Te-C bond cleavage was observed.     

Lewis Acid-Promoted Oxidative Addition at a [Ni0(diphosphine)2] Complex: The Critical Role of a Secondary Coordination Sphere

Oxidative addition represents a critical elementary step in myriad catalytic transformations. Here, the importance of thoughtful ligand design cannot be overstated. In this work, we report the intermolecular activation of iodobenzene (PhI) at a coordinatively saturated 18-electron [Ni⁰(diphosphine)₂] complex bearing a Lewis acidic secondary coordination sphere. Whereas alkyl-substituted diphosphine complexes of Group 10 are known to be unreactive in such reactions, we show that [Ni⁰(P₂B^Cy₄)₂] (P₂B^Cy₄=1,2-bis(di(3-dicyclohexylboraneyl)-propylphosphino)ethane) is competent for room-temperature PhI cleavage to give [Ni^II(P₂B^Cy₄)(Ph)(I)]. This difference in oxidative addition reactivity has been scrutinized computationally – an outcome that is borne out in ring-opening to provide the reactive precursor – for [Ni⁰(P₂B^Cy₄)₂], a “boron-trapped” 16-electron κ¹-diphosphine Ni(0) complex. Moreover, formation of [Ni^II(P₂B^Cy₄)(Ph)(I)] is inherent to the P₂B^Cy₄ secondary coordination sphere: treatment of the Lewis adduct, [Ni⁰(P₂B^Cy₄)₂(DMAP)₈] with PhI provides [Ni^II(P₂B^Cy₄)₂(DMAP)₈(I)]I via iodine-atom abstraction and not a [Ni^II(Ph)(I)(diphosphine)] compound – an unusual secondary sphere effect. Finally, the reactivity of [Ni⁰(P₂B^Cy₄)₂] with 4-iodopyridine was surveyed, which resulted in a pyridyl-borane linked oligomer. The implications of these outcomes are discussed in the context of designing strongly donating, and yet labile diphosphine ligands for use in a critical bond activation step relevant to catalysis.     

Oxidative Addition of Alkenyl and Alkynyl Iodides to a AuI Complex

The first isolated examples of intermolecular oxidative addition of alkenyl and alkynyl iodides to Au^I are reported. Using a 5,5′‐difluoro‐2,2′‐bipyridyl ligated complex, oxidative addition of geometrically defined alkenyl iodides occurs readily, reversibly and stereospecifically to give alkenyl‐Au^III complexes. Conversely, reversible alkynyl iodide oxidative addition generates bimetallic complexes containing both Au^III and Au^I centers. Stoichiometric studies show that both new initiation modes can form the basis for the development of C?C bond forming cross‐couplings.     

Oxidative Addition of Haloheteroarenes to Palladium(0): Concerted versus SNAr‐Type Mechanism

The kinetics of the oxidative additions of haloheteroarenes HetX (X=I, Br, Cl) to [Pd⁰(PPh₃)₂] (generated from [Pd⁰(PPh₃)₄]) have been investigated in THF and DMF and the rate constants have been determined. In contrast to the generally accepted concerted mechanism, Hammett plots obtained for substituted 2‐halopyridines and solvent effects reveal a reaction mechanism dependent on the halide X of HetX: an unprecedented S_NAr‐type mechanism for X=Br or Cl and a classical concerted mechanism for X=I. These results are supported by DFT studies.     

Reactions of Aluminium Tribromide with Tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)nickel(0) and Tetrakis(triethylphosphite)nickel(0) Complexes

Reactions of aluminium tribromide with the Ni(0) phosphine and phosphite complexes are studied by EPR method. AlBr₃was found to cause the oxidation of the transition metal in the (PPh₃)₄Ni complex to the univalent state with the formation of the tetracoordinated (PPh₃)₃NiBr complex. With an excess of AlBr₃, the phosphine ligands are eliminated from the coordination sphere of Ni(I), and the coordinatively unsaturated complexes are destroyed to give the colloidal nickel. In the reaction of (P(OEt)₃)₄Ni with AlBr₃, Ni(0) is also oxidized to Ni(I), but the acido ligand is not eliminated even with a 15-fold excess of the Lewis acid. The activity of catalytic systems on the basis of the Ni(0) phosphine complexes and the Lewis acids in the low-molecular oligomerization reactions of olefines is determined by the cationic coordinatively unsaturated Ni(I) complexes formed in these systems.     

Oxidative Addition to Palladium(0) Diphosphine Complexes: Observations of Mechanistic Complexity with Iodobenzene as Reactant

Using a combination of electrochemical and NMR techniques, the oxidative addition of PhX to three closely related bis‐diphosphine P₂Pd⁰ complexes, where the steric bulk of just one substituent was varied, has been analysed quantitatively. For the complex derived from MetBu₂P, a rapid reaction ensued with PhI following an associative mechanism, and data was also obtained by cyclic voltammetry for PhOTs, PhBr and PhCl, revealing distinct relative reactivities from the related (PCx₃)₂Pd complex (Cx=cyclohexyl) previously studied. The corresponding EttBu₂P complex reacted more slowly with PhI and was studied by NMR spectroscopy. The reaction course indicated a mixture of pathways, with contribution from a component that was [PhI] independent. For the CxtBu₂P complex, reaction was again monitored by NMR spectroscopy, and was even slower. At high PhI concentrations reaction was predominantly linear in [PhI], but at lower concentrations the [PhI] independent pathway was again observed, and an accelerating influence of the reaction product was observed over the concentration range. The NMR spectra of the EttBu₂P and CxtBu₂P complexes conducted in C₆D₆ shows some line broadening that was augmented on addition of PhI. NMR experiments carried out in parallel show that there is rapid ligand exchange between free phosphine and the Pd₂Pd complex and also a slow ligand crossover between different P₂Pd complexes. DFT calculations were carried out to further test the feasibility of C₆D₆ involvement in the oxidative addition process, and located Van der Waals complexes for association of the P₂Pd⁰ complexes with either PhI or benzene. PhI or solvent‐assisted pathways for ligand loss are both lower in energy than direct ligand dissociation. Taken all together, these results provide a consistent explanation for the surprising complexity of an apparently simple reaction step. The clear dividing line between reactions that give a di‐ or monophosphine palladium complex after oxidative addition clarifies the participation of the ligand in coupling catalysis.     

Oxidative addition of some geminal halonitroalkanes to iridium(I) and platinum(0) compounds

Oxidative addition of 1-chloro-1-nitroethane to trans-IrCl(CO)-[P(CH₃)₂C₆H₅]₂ followed by treatment of the initial product with pyridine yields a new iridium(III) complex IrCl(py)[COC(NO₂)CH₃][P(CH₃)₂C₆H₅]₂, whose structure has been confirmed by X-rays crystallography. Two intermediate products have been observed by NMR spectroscopy; their structures have been tentatively assigned. The reaction of the corresponding bromine derivatives yields two isomers of the composition IrBr₂(CO)[CH(NO₂)CH₃][P(CH₃)₂C₆H₅]₂, and these are not affected by pyridine. The reaction of 1-chloro-1-nitroethane with Pt[P(C₆H₅)₃]₄ takes a completely different course in that yields nitrorethane and cis-PtCl₂[P(C₆H₅)₃]₂ as the main products, with no detectable formation of the products of oxidation addition. A brief mechanistic investigation points towards the participation of radicals and radical anions as transient intermediates and a mechanism is proposed which explains most of the experimental results.     

Physical and Chemical Properties of Four-Membered Bis(triphenylphosphane)platinum(II) Sulfenato Thiolato Complexes

The reaction of isolable dithiirane 1-oxides with (Ph 3 P) 2 Pt( m 2 -C 2 H 4 ) provided the title complexes in high yields. 31 P NMR spectroscopy of the phosphine ligands of the complexes and x-ray crystallographic analysis of a complex were reported.     

Oxidative addition reactions of carbon diselenide and areneselenols to some iridium(I) and platinum(0) complexes

Reaction of carbon diselenide in 3 to 1 molar ratio, and areneselenols in equimolar ratio, with trans-IrCl(CO)(PPPh₃)₂ and PtL₄, gives oxidative addition products, IrCl(CO)CSe₂)(PPh₃)₂, Pt(CSe₂)L₂, IrHCl(CO)(SeC₆H₄Me-p)(PPh₃)₂, and PtH(SeR)L₂, respectively (R = Ph and p-MeC₆H₄; L = PPh₃ and PPh₂Me). However, reactions of PtL₄ with an excess of areneselenols afford bis(arylselenide) complexes Pt(SeR)₂L₂. The configurations of these complexes are discussed on the basis of their IR and PMR spectra. The carbon diselenide adducts are suggested to have configurations similar to the corresponding carbon disulfide adducts. The platinum hydrides are found to exist as a mixture of cis and trans isomers in solution, both the isomers being labile with regard to dissociative exchange of the tertiary phosphine ligands. The trans configurations of Pt(SeR)₂(PPh₂Me)₂ are unambiguously shown by the virtually coupled triplet pattern of the PPh₂Me signals.