Highly Efficient Dehydrogenative Coupling of Hydrosilanes with Amines or Amides Using Supported Gold Nanoparticles

Hydroxyapatite‐supported gold nanoparticles (Au/HAP) can act as a highly active and reusable catalyst for the coupling of hydrosilanes with amines under mild conditions. Various silylamines can be selectively obtained from diverse combinations of equimolar amounts of hydrosilanes with amines including less reactive bulky hydrosilanes. This study also highlights the applicability of Au/HAP to the selective synthesis of silylamides through the coupling of hydrosilanes with amides, demonstrating the first example of an efficient heterogeneous catalyst. Moreover, Au/HAP shows high reusability and applicability for gram‐scale synthesis.     

An Easily Accessed Nickel Nanoparticle Catalyst for Alkene Hydrosilylation with Tertiary Silanes

The first efficient and non‐precious nanoparticle catalyst for alkene hydrosilylation with commercially relevant tertiary silanes has been developed. The nickel nanoparticle catalyst was prepared in situ from a simple nickel alkoxide precatalyst Ni(O^tBu)₂?x KCl. The catalyst exhibits high activity for anti‐Markovnikov hydrosilylation of unactivated terminal alkenes and isomerizing hydrosilylation of internal alkenes. The catalyst can be applied to synthesize a single terminal alkyl silane from a mixture of internal and terminal alkene isomers, and to remotely functionalize an internal alkene derived from a fatty acid.     

A Highly Efficient and Broadly Applicable Cationic Gold Catalyst

Gold catalysts capable of promoting reactions at low‐level loadings under mild conditions are the exception rather than the norm. We examined reactions where the regeneration of cationic gold catalyst (e.g., protodeauration) was the turnover limiting stage. By manipulating electron density on the substituents around phosphorus and introducing steric handles we designed a phosphine ligand that contains two electron‐rich ortho‐biphenyl groups and a cyclohexyl substituent. This ligand formed a gold complex that catalyzed common types of gold‐catalyzed reactions including intra‐ and intermolecular X? H (X=C, N, O) additions to alkynes and cycloisomerizations, with high turnover numbers at room temperature or slightly elevated temperatures (≤50 °C). Our new ligand can be prepared in one step from commercially available starting materials.     

Catalyst parameters determining activity and selectivity of supported gold nanoparticles for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols: the molecular reaction mechanism

As previously reported for for solventless reactions, gold nanoparticles supported on ceria are also excellent general heterogeneous catalysts for the aerobic oxidations of alcohols in organic solvents. Among organic solvents it was found that toluene is a convenient one. A systematic study on the influence of the particle size and gold content on the support has established that the activity correlates linearly with the total number of external gold atoms, and with the surface coverage of the support. Amongst catalysts with different supports, but similar gold particle size and content, gold on ceria exhibits the highest activity. By means of a kinetic study (influence of sigma+ parameter, kinetic isotopic effect, temperature, alcohol concentration and oxygen pressure) a mechanistic proposal consisting of the formation of metal-alcoholate, beta-hydride shift from carbon to metal and M--H oxidation has been proposed that explains all experimental results.     

Highly Efficient Transition Metal Nanoparticle Catalysts in Aqueous Solutions

A ligand design is proposed for transition metal nanoparticle (TMNP) catalysts in aqueous solution. Thus, a tris(triazolyl)‐polyethylene glycol (tris‐trz‐PEG) amphiphilic ligand, 2 , is used for the synthesis of very small TMNPs with Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, Pd, Ag, Pt, and Au. These TMNP‐ 2 catalysts were evaluated and compared for the model 4‐nitrophenol reduction, and proved to be extremely efficient. High catalytic efficiencies involving the use of only a few ppm metal of PdNPs, RuNPs, and CuNPs were also exemplified in Suzuki–Miyaura, transfer hydrogenation, and click reactions, respectively.     

单分子层保护纳米 Au 粒子表面配位催化剂的制备及其应用

 贵金属纳米粒子由于其小尺寸效应而表现出特殊的催化性能. 综述了纳米 Au 粒子表面配位催化剂的制备方法及其在催化中的应用. 由于 Au 可与硫化物形成配位键, 所以硫化物可在 Au 表面形成有序单分子膜. 单分子膜保护的 Au 纳米粒子具有非常好的溶解性、分散性、稳定性, 以及由不同的表面功能团而导致的不同的催化性能. 该催化体系兼具均相催化剂和多相催化剂的特点, 这对开发新型催化剂具有重要的理论和实际意义.     

In Situ Generation of ArCu from CuF2 Makes Coupling of Bulky Aryl Silanes Feasible and Highly Efficient

A bimetallic system of Pd/CuF₂, catalytic in Pd and stoichiometric in Cu, is very efficient and selective for the coupling of fairly hindered aryl silanes with aryl, anisyl, phenylaldehyde, p‐cyanophenyl, p‐nitrophenyl, or pyridyl iodides of conventional size. The reaction involves the activation of the silane by Cu^II, followed by disproportionation and transmetalation from the Cu^I(aryl) to Pd^II, upon which coupling takes place. Cu^III formed during disproportionation is reduced to Cu^I(aryl) by excess aryl silane, so that the CuF₂ system is fully converted into Cu^I(aryl) and used in the coupling. Moreover, no extra source of fluoride is needed. Interesting size selectivity towards coupling is found in competitive reactions of hindered aryl silanes. Easily accessible [PdCl₂(IDM)(AsPh₃)] (IDM = 1,3‐dimethylimidazol‐2‐ylidene) is by far the best catalyst, and the isolated products are essentially free from As or Pd (<1 ppm). The mechanistic aspects of the process have been experimentally examined and discussed.     

In Situ Generated Gold Nanoparticles on Active Carbon as Reusable Highly Efficient Catalysts for a C −C Stille Coupling

Gold nanoparticle catalysts are important in many industrial production processes. Nevertheless, for traditional C ?C cross‐coupling reactions they have been rarely used and Pd catalysts usually give a superior performance. Herein we report that in situ formed gold metal nanoparticles are highly active catalysts for the cross coupling of allylstannanes and activated alkylbromides to form C ?C bonds. Turnover numbers up to 29 000 could be achieved in the presence of active carbon as solid support, which allowed for convenient catalyst recovery and reuse. The present study is a rare case where a gold metal catalyst is superior to Pd catalysts in a cross‐coupling reaction of an organic halide and an organometallic reagent.     

Industrial Applications of Gold Catalysis

Gold catalysis has recently found its first large‐scale applications in the chemical industry. This Minireview provides a critical analysis of the success factors and of the main obstacles that had to be overcome on the long way from the discovery to the commercialization of gold catalysts. The insights should be useful to researchers in both academia and industry working on the development of tomorrow's gold catalysts to tackle significant environmental and economic issues.     

Graphite‐Supported Gold Nanoparticles as Efficient Catalyst for Aerobic Oxidation of Benzylic Amines to Imines and N‐Substituted 1,2,3,4‐Tetrahydroisoquinolines to Amides: Synthetic Applications and Mechanistic Study

Selective oxidation of amines using oxygen as terminal oxidant is an important area in green chemistry. In this work, we describe the use of graphite‐supported gold nanoparticles (AuNPs/C) to catalyze aerobic oxidation of cyclic and acyclic benzylic amines to the corresponding imines with moderate‐to‐excellent substrate conversions (43–100 %) and product yields (66–99 %) (19 examples). Oxidation of N‐substituted 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinolines in the presence of aqueous NaHCO₃ solution gave the corresponding amides in good yields (83–93 %) with high selectivity (up to amide/enamide=93:4) (6 examples). The same protocol can be applied to the synthesis of benzimidazoles from the reaction of o‐phenylenediamines with benzaldehydes under aerobic conditions (8 examples). By simple centrifugation, AuNPs/C can be recovered and reused for ten consecutive runs for the oxidation of dibenzylamine to N‐benzylidene(phenyl)methanamine without significant loss of catalytic activity and selectivity. This protocol “AuNPs/C+O₂” can be scaled to the gram scale, and 8.9 g (84 % isolated yield) of 3,4‐dihydroisoquinoline can be obtained from the oxidation of 10 g 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinoline in a one‐pot reaction. Based on the results of kinetic studies, radical traps experiment, and Hammett plot, a mechanism involving the hydrogen‐transfer reaction from amine to metal and oxidation of M‐H is proposed.     

Highly Efficient Photoreduction of Low-Concentration CO2 to Syngas by Using a Polyoxometalates/RuII Composite

At present, the fixation of CO₂ always requires it to be extracted from the atmosphere first, which leads to more energy consumption. Thus, direct photoreduction of low-concentration CO₂ to useful chemicals (e.g., syngas) under sunlight is significant from an energy-saving and environmentally friendly perspective. Here, the design and fabrication of a [Ru(bpy)₃]/[Co₂₀Mo₁₆P₂₄] composite is demonstrated for visible-light-driven syngas production from diluted CO₂ (3–20 %) gas with a high yield of approximately 1000 TONs (turnover number of syngas). This activity is an order of magnitude higher than the reported system with [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺ participation. With evidence from ultrafast transient absorption, GC-MS, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and in situ transient photovoltage tests, a clear and fundamental understanding of the highly efficient photoreduction of CO₂ by the [Ru(bpy)₃]/[Co₂₀Mo₁₆P₂₄] composite is achieved. Making use of the structure and property designable polyoxometalates towards the photo-fixation of CO₂ is a conceptually distinct and commercially interesting strategy for making useful chemicals and environmental protection.     

Efficient Tandem Synthesis of Methyl Esters and Imines by Using Versatile Hydrotalcite‐Supported Gold Nanoparticles

Efficient basic hydrotalcite (HT)‐supported gold nanoparticle (AuNP) catalysts have been developed for the aerobic oxidative tandem synthesis of methyl esters and imines from primary alcohols catalyzed under mild and soluble‐base‐free conditions. The catalytic performance can be fine‐tuned for these cascade reactions by simple adjustment of the Mg/Al atomic ratio of the HT support. The one‐pot synthesis of methyl esters benefits from high basicity (Mg/Al=5), whereas moderate basicity greatly improves imine selectivity (Mg/Al=2). These catalysts outperform previously reported AuNP catalysts by far. Kinetic studies show a cooperative enhancement between AuNP and the surface basic sites, which not only benefits the oxidation of the starting alcohol but also the subsequent steps of the tandem reactions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that straightforward control of the composition of the support has been shown to yield optimum AuNP catalysts for different tandem reactions.     

Hydrotalcite-supported gold catalyst for the oxidant-free dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol: studies on support and gold size effects

Gold nanoparticles with uniform mean sizes (≈3 nm) loaded onto various supports have been prepared and studied for the oxidant-free dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde and hydrogen. The use of hydrotalcite (HT), which possesses both strong acidity and strong basicity, provides the best catalytic performance. Au/HT catalysts with various mean Au particle sizes (2.1-21 nm) have been successfully prepared by a deposition-precipitation method under controlled conditions. Detailed catalytic reaction studies with these catalysts demonstrate that the Au-catalyzed dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol is a structure-sensitive reaction. The turnover frequency (TOF) increases with decreasing Au mean particle size (from 12 to 2.1 nm). A steep rise in TOF occurs when the mean Au particle size becomes smaller than 4 nm. Our present work suggests that the acid-base properties of the support and the size of Au nanoparticles are two key factors controlling the alcohol dehydrogenation catalysis. A reaction mechanism is proposed to rationalize these results. It is assumed that the activation of the β-C-H bond of alcohol, which requires the coordinatively unsaturated Au atoms, is the rate-determining step.     

Direct Amidation from Alcohols and Amines through a Tandem Oxidation Process Catalyzed by Heterogeneous‐Polymer‐Incarcerated Gold Nanoparticles under Aerobic Conditions

We describe herein a highly elegant and suitable synthesis of amide products from alcohols and amines through a tandem oxidation process that uses molecular oxygen as a terminal oxidant. Carbon‐black‐stabilized polymer‐incarcerated gold (PICB‐Au) or gold/cobalt (PICB‐Au/Co) nanoparticles were employed as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst depending on alcohol reactivity and generated only water as the major co‐product of the reaction. A wide scope of substrate applicability was shown with 42 examples. The catalysts could be recovered and reused without loss of activity by using a simple operation.     

A Tris(triazolate) Ligand for a Highly Active and Magnetically Recoverable Palladium Catalyst of Selective Alcohol Oxidation Using Air at Atmospheric Pressure

High efficiency and selectivity, easy magnetic recovery and recycling, and use of air as the oxidant at atmospheric pressure are major objectives for oxidation catalysis in terms of sustainable and green processes. A tris(triazolyl) ligand, so far only used in copper‐catalyzed alkyne azide cycloadditions, was found to be extremely efficient in SiO₂/γ‐Fe₂O₃‐immobilized palladium complexes. It was characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X‐ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and found to fulfill the combined conditions for the selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones.