Hydrogenation of Olefins Catalyzed by Highly Active Titanocene/NaH or n-BuLi Catalyst Systems

The effects of the substituents on the cyclopentadienyl ring and the reducing agents on the catalytic activity and the stability of titanocene/NaH or n BuLi systems for the hydrogenation of olefins were investigated. For the catalyst systems composed of titanocene/NaH or n BuLi, the nature and the number of the substituents on the cyclopentadienyl ring control the catalytic behavior of those two systems. The effect of the reducing agent on the catalytic activity is relatively small. In addition, the characters of the hydrogenation of various olefins catalyzed respectively by Cp 2TiCl 2/NaH or n BuLi systems were compared.