Carbonylation of nitro and azo compounds in the presence of iron carbonyl catalysts

The reactions of nitro and azo compounds with carbon monoxide were studied in the presence of iron carbonyl catalysts. It was shown that these catalytic systems differ substantially from Pd- and Rh-containing catalysts. In the case of the iron catalysts, the products of coupling of molecules are formed as intermediates and azo compounds are the final reaction products. The reactions involving the palladium and rhodium catalysts proceed without the intermediate formation of the coupling products and lead to isocyanates or carbamates. When combined using PdCl₂ and Fe(CO)₅/Al₂O₃, the catalysts inhibit each other, especially in the presence of pyridine.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2460–2463, October, 1996.