A Simple Iridicycle Catalyst for Efficient Transfer Hydrogenation of N‐Heterocycles in Water

A cyclometalated iridium complex is shown to catalyse the transfer hydrogenation of various nitrogen heterocycles, including but not limited to quinolines, isoquinolines, indoles and pyridinium salts, in an aqueous solution of HCO₂H/HCO₂Na under mild conditions. The catalyst shows excellent functional‐group compatibility and high turnover number (up to 7500), with catalyst loadings as low as 0.01 mol % being feasible. Mechanistic investigation of the quinoline reduction suggests that the transfer hydrogenation proceeds via both 1,2‐ and 1,4‐addition pathways, with the catalytic turnover being limited by the step of hydride transfer.     

Terpyridine Diphosphine Ruthenium Complexes as Efficient Photocatalysts for the Transfer Hydrogenation of Carbonyl Compounds

The cationic achiral and chiral terpyridine diphosphine ruthenium complexes [RuCl(PP)(tpy)]Cl (PP=dppp ( 1 ), (R,R)-Skewphos ( 2 ) and (S,S)-Skewphos ( 3 )) are easily obtained in 85–88 % yield through a one-pot synthesis from [RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃], the diphosphine and 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (tpy) in 1-butanol. Treatment of 1 – 3 with NaPF₆ in methanol at RT affords quantitatively the corresponding derivatives [RuCl(PP)(tpy)]PF₆ (PP=dppp ( 1 a ), (R,R)-Skewphos ( 2 a ) and (S,S)-Skewphos ( 3 a )). Reaction of [RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃] with (S,R)-Josiphos or (R)-BINAP in toluene, followed by treatment with tpy in 1-butanol and finally with NaPF₆ in MeOH gives [RuCl(PP)(tpy)]PF₆ (PP=(S,R)-Josiphos ( 4 a ), (R)-BINAP ( 5 a )) isolated in 78 % and 86 % yield, respectively. The chiral derivatives have been isolated as single stereoisomers and 3 a , 4 a have been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The tpy complexes with NaOiPr display high photocatalytic activity in the transfer hydrogenation (TH) of carbonyl compounds using 2-propanol as the only hydrogen donor and visible light at 30 °C, at remarkably high S/C (up to 5000) and TOF values up to 264 h⁻¹. The chiral enantiomers 2 , 2 a and 3 , 3 a induce the asymmetric photocatalytic TH of acetophenone, affording (S)- and (R)-1-phenylethanol with 51 and 52 % ee, respectively, in a MeOH/2-propanol mixture.     

Ruthenacycles and Iridacycles as Transfer Hydrogenation Catalysts

In this review, we describe the synthesis and use in hydrogen transfer reactions of ruthenacycles and iridacycles. The review limits itself to metallacycles where a ligand is bound in bidentate fashion to either ruthenium or iridium via a carbon–metal sigma bond, as well as a dative bond from a heteroatom or an N-heterocyclic carbene. Pincer complexes fall outside the scope. Described are applications in (asymmetric) transfer hydrogenation of aldehydes, ketones, and imines, as well as reductive aminations. Oxidation reactions, i.e., classical Oppenauer oxidation, which is the reverse of transfer hydrogenation, as well as dehydrogenations and oxidations with oxygen, are described. Racemizations of alcohols and secondary amines are also catalyzed by ruthenacycles and iridacycles.     

手性羰基铁体系催化酮的不对称氢转移氢化

手性羰基铁络合物很少被用于芳香酮的不对称氢转移氢化.利用不同的羰基铁络合物与手性双胺双膦配体现场络合,形成手性胺膦铁催化体系.考察了它们对多种芳香酮的不对称氢转移催化氢化性能.结果表明,三核的手性胺膦铁簇合物是催化芳香酮不对称氢转移氢化的较好体系.当用三核的铁簇合物[Et₃NH]⁺[HFe₃(CO)₁₁]^-体系催化1,1-二苯基丙酮的氢化时,最高可获得98%的对映选择性.通过现场红外光谱测定,揣测羰基铁簇合物Fe₃(CO)₁₂在催化反应过程中保持三核的簇合物的簇骼不变.     

Ni2P Nanoalloy as an Air-Stable and Versatile Hydrogenation Catalyst in Water: P-Alloying Strategy for Designing Smart Catalysts

Non-noble metal-based hydrogenation catalysts have limited practical applications because they exhibit low activity, require harsh reaction conditions, and are unstable in air. To overcome these limitations, herein we propose the alloying of non-noble metal nanoparticles with phosphorus as a promising strategy for developing smart catalysts that exhibit both excellent activity and air stability. We synthesized a novel nickel phosphide nanoalloy (nano-Ni₂P) with coordinatively unsaturated Ni active sites. Unlike conventional air-unstable non-noble metal catalysts, nano-Ni₂P retained its metallic nature in air, and exhibited a high activity for the hydrogenation of various substrates with polar functional groups, such as aldehydes, ketones, nitriles, and nitroarenes to the desired products in excellent yields in water. Furthermore, the used nano-Ni₂P catalyst was easy to handle in air and could be reused without pretreatment, providing a simple and clean catalyst system for general hydrogenation reactions.     

Rhodium-terpyridine Catalyzed Transfer Hydrogenation of Aromatic Nitro Compounds in Water

A rhodium terpyridine complex catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes to anilines with i-PrOH as hydrogen source and water as solvent has been developed. The catalytic system can work at a substrate/catalyst (S/C) ratio of 2000, with a turnover frequency (TOF) up to 3360 h⁻¹, which represents one of the most active catalytic transfer hydrogenation systems for nitroarene reduction. The catalytic system is operationally simple and the protocol could be scaled up to 20 gram scale. The water-soluble catalyst bearing a carboxyl group could be recycled 15 times without significant loss of activity.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of Alcohols and Amines by Iridium‐Catalyzed Hydrogenation,Transfer Hydrogenation,and Related Processes

The preparation of chiral alcohols and amines by using iridium catalysis is reviewed. The methods presented include the reduction of ketones or imines by using hydrogen (hydrogenations), isopropanol, formic acid, or formate (transfer hydrogenations). Also dynamic and oxidative kinetic resolutions leading to chiral alcohols and amines are included. Selected literature reports from early contributions to December 2012 are discussed.     

Iridium(I) N‐Heterocyclic Carbene (NHC)/Phosphine Catalysts for Mild and Chemoselective Hydrogenation Processes

The directed chemoselective hydrogenation of olefins has been established by using iridium(I) catalysts, which feature a tuned NHC/phosphine ligand combination. This selective reduction process has been demonstrated in a wide array of solvents, including more environmentally acceptable media, also allowing further refinement of hydrogenation selectivity.     

Cationic NHC-Phosphine Iridium Complexes: Highly Active Catalysts for Base-Free Hydrogenation of Ketones

Novel bidentate N-heterocyclic carbene-phosphine iridium complexes have been synthesized and evaluated in the hydrogenation of ketones. Reported catalytic systems require base additives and, if excluded, need elevated temperature or high pressure of hydrogen gas to achieve satisfactory reactivity. The developed catalysts showed extremely high reactivity and good enantioselectivity under base-free and mild conditions. In the presence of 1 mol % catalyst under 1 bar hydrogen pressure at room temperature, hydrogenation was complete in 30 minutes giving up to 96 % ee. Again, this high reactivity was achieved in additive-free conditions. Mechanistic experiments demonstrated that balloon pressure of hydrogen was sufficient to form the activate species by reducing and eliminating the 1,5-cyclooctadiene ligand. The pre-activated catalyst was able to hydrogenate acetophenone with 89 % conversion in 5 min.     

Chemoselective Acetalization of Carbonyl Compounds1

Chemoselective protection of carbonyl compounds as acetals has been carried out by using Envirocat EPZG as a novel heterogeneous catalyst.     

有水条件下路易斯酸B(C6F5)3对醛酮的选择性催化还原

近年路易斯酸B（C₆F₅）₃催化的醛酮还原反应研究表明，路易斯酸B（C₆F₅）₃也可以作为一种"耐水"的催化剂在"有水"条件下进行催化反应.这些研究成果对进一步扩展受限路易斯酸碱对（FLPs）化学在水相中的应用及其发展至关重要.以硅烷作为还原剂，在路易斯酸B（C₆F₅）₃催化下成功对14种不同取代的醛酮在温和条件下实现了高效地还原成醇反应，产率可高达100%.通过核磁共振分析对反应机理进行的研究表明，在有水条件下，底物羰基氧与催化剂硼烷之间存在以水介导的相互作用，即可能存在"R¹R²C=O--H-O（-H）--B（C₆F₅）₃"的三组分络合形式.对不同路易斯碱与水及硼烷所组成的"LB--H-O（-H）--B（C₆F₅）₃"三组分复合物之间对应原子间距进行了比较研究，发现这种以水介导的相互作用对醛酮的羰基不仅具有质子化的活化作用，而且与硼烷的络合作用也更有利于硅烷作为还原剂在有水条件下使用.所报道的以硅烷作为还原剂，B（C₆F₅）₃催化的醛酮直接还原成醇反应，首次实现了FLPs在真正有水条件下的催化反应，并更进一步证明了在以硅烷作为还原剂时，体系中存在的水不仅会参与催化反应并会促使反应的进行.对有水条件下FLPs催化的醛酮还原的选择性及其催化反应机理，以及对其他反应的影响还需要更深入的研究.     

Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Iridium Catalyzed Carbonyl (α‐Cyclopropyl)allylation via Transfer Hydrogenation

The first examples of diastereo‐ and enantioselective carbonyl α‐(cyclopropyl)allylation are reported. Under the conditions of iridium catalyzed transfer hydrogenation using the chiral precatalyst (R)‐Ir‐ I modified by SEGPHOS, carbonyl α‐(cyclopropyl)allylation may be achieved with equal facility from alcohol or aldehyde oxidation levels. This methodology provides a conduit to hitherto inaccessible inaccessible enantiomerically enriched cyclopropane‐containing architectures.     

Highly Efficient Transfer Hydrogenation Catalysis with Tailored Pyridylidene Amide Pincer Ruthenium Complexes

The rational optimization of homogeneous catalysts requires ligand platforms that are easily tailored to improve catalytic performance. Here, it is demonstrated that pyridylidene amides (PYAs) provide such a platform to custom-shape transfer hydrogenation catalysts with exceptional activity. Specifically, a series of meta-PYA pincer ligands with differently substituted PYA units has been synthezised and coordinated to ruthenium(II) centres to form bench-stable tris-acetonitrile complexes [Ru(R-PYA-pincer)(MeCN)₃](PF₆)₂ (R=OMe, Me, H, Cl, CF₃). Analytic studies including ¹H NMR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and X-ray crystallography reveal a direct influence of the substituents on the electronic properties of the ruthenium center. The complexes are active in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of ketones, with activities directly encoded by the PYA substitution pattern. Their perfomance improves further upon exchange of an ancillary MeCN ligand with PPh₃. While complexes [Ru(R-PYA-pincer)(PPh₃)(MeCN)₂](PF₆)₂ were only isolated for R=H, Me, an in situ protocol was developed to generate these complexes in situ for R=OMe, Cl, CF₃ by using a 1:2 ratio of the complexes and PPh₃. This in situ protocol together with a short catalyst pre-activation provided highly active catalytic systems. The most active pre-catalyst featured the methoxy-substituted PYA ligand and reached turnover frenquencies of 210 000 h⁻¹ under an exceptionally low catalyst loading of 25 ppm for the benchmark substrate benzophenone, representing one of the most active transfer hydrogenation systems known to date.     

A High-Valent Ru-PCP Pincer Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Carbonyl and Carboxyl Compounds under Molecular Hydrogen

Low-valent metals traditionally dominate the domain of catalytic hydrogenation. However, metal-ligand cooperating (MLC) catalytic systems, operating through heterolytic H−H bond splitting by a Lewis acidic metal and a basic ligand site, do not require an electron-rich metal. On the contrary, high-valent metals that induce weaker back donation facilitate heterolytic bond activation. Here we report, for the first time, the efficient hydrogenation of carbonyl and carboxyl compounds under molecular hydrogen catalyzed by a structurally well-defined Ru^IV catalyst bearing a bifunctional PCP pincer ligand. The catalyst exhibits reactivity toward molecular hydrogen superior to that of the low-valent analog and allows hydrogen activation even at room temperature.     

水相不对称转移氢化*

手性醇和胺是重要的精细化学品,不对称转移氢化是获得这类手性化合物有效、实用的途径之一。在众多的催化剂中,Noyori等发展的手性二胺与过渡金属钌TsDPEN-Ru（TsDPEN = 1,2-二苯基乙二胺）络合物是最有效的催化剂。近年来,随着化学家对绿色化学的日益重视,水作为绿色溶剂被广泛地用作为不对称催化转移氢化的反应介质,具有很高的反应活性、对映选择性和化学选择性。本文综述近年来应用未经修饰和修饰的手性二胺配体与过渡金属钌[(cymene)RuCl₂]₂、铑[(Cp*)RhCl₂]₂和铱[(Cp*)IrCl_2]2的络合物催化的水相中酮、亚胺和活化烯烃的不对称转移氢化的研究进展。     

Chemoselective Transfer Hydrogenation of Carbonyl Compounds Catalyzed by Macrocyclic Nickel (II)Complex

Macrocyclic Ni(II) complex, 1, catalyzes efficiently the chemoselective transfer reduction of carbonyl compounds in presence of propan-2-ol / KOH or HCO₂H / HCO₂NH₄ as hydrogen donors to produce the corresponding alcohols in high yield.     

Iron(II) Complexes for the Efficient Catalytic Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones

Ferrous efficiency : New achiral and chiral iron complexes containing P‐N‐N‐P diiminodiphosphine ligands display high activity—and in the case of the catalyst shown, high enantioselectivity—in the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of ketones. This is an important step in the journey to replace precious and toxic platinum metal catalysts with cheap and environmentally friendly iron compounds.

     

芳香酮的高效对映选择性转移氢化

手性芳香醇在制药工业上有重要的应用,因而利用芳香酮的对映选择性氢化制备相应的手性醇已引起人们极大关注.近10年来,用手性金属配合物为催化剂,利用种种有机物作氢源,实现芳香酮的不对称氢转移氢化取得了很大进展.但这些反应过程的催化活性仍然较低,底物酮与催化剂.     

CNN Pincer Ruthenium Catalysts for Hydrogenation and Transfer Hydrogenation of Ketones: Experimental and Computational Studies

Reaction of [RuCl(CNN)(dppb)] ( 1‐Cl ) (HCNN=2‐aminomethyl‐6‐(4‐methylphenyl)pyridine; dppb=Ph₂P(CH₂)₄PPh₂) with NaOCH₂CF₃ leads to the amine‐alkoxide [Ru(CNN)(OCH₂CF₃)(dppb)] ( 1‐OCH₂CF₃ ), whose neutron diffraction study reveals a short RuO ??? HN bond length. Treatment of 1‐Cl with NaOEt and EtOH affords the alkoxide [Ru(CNN)(OEt)(dppb)] ? (EtOH)_n ( 1‐OEt?n EtOH ), which equilibrates with the hydride [RuH(CNN)(dppb)] ( 1‐H ) and acetaldehyde. Compound 1‐OEt?n EtOH reacts reversibly with H₂ leading to 1‐H and EtOH through dihydrogen splitting. NMR spectroscopic studies on 1‐OEt?n EtOH and 1‐H reveal hydrogen bond interactions and exchange processes. The chloride 1‐Cl catalyzes the hydrogenation (5 atm of H₂) of ketones to alcohols (turnover frequency (TOF) up to 6.5×10⁴ h^?1, 40 °C). DFT calculations were performed on the reaction of [RuH(CNN′)(dmpb)] ( 2‐H ) (HCNN′=2‐aminomethyl‐6‐(phenyl)pyridine; dmpb=Me₂P(CH₂)₄PMe₂) with acetone and with one molecule of 2‐propanol, in alcohol, with the alkoxide complex being the most stable species. In the first step, the Ru‐hydride transfers one hydrogen atom to the carbon of the ketone, whereas the second hydrogen transfer from NH₂ is mediated by the alcohol and leads to the key “amide” intermediate. Regeneration of the hydride complex may occur by reaction with 2‐propanol or with H₂; both pathways have low barriers and are alcohol assisted.