摘要:
                                An inner-sphere synthetic cycle for the hydrophosphination of alkenes is proposed, based on observed [2 + 2] cydoaddition of a wide range of alkenes at a coordinatively unsaturated Ru=PR2 complex. Key intermediates in the cycle were prepared, and their reactions with various organic acid/base pairs were examined to identify both new ruthenium precursors and base cocatalysts that allow turnover of the proposed cycle. Two new cationic ruthenium indenyl phosphine complexes were isolated and structurally characterized. Although preliminary screening studies show the moderate activity of these and related neutral phosphido complexes for catalytic hydrophosphination of acrylonitrile by both HPPh2 and HPCy2, and comparable activity for the hydrophosphination of tert-butyl acrylate by HPPh2, no activity was observed for the analogous hydrophosphination of 1-hexene. This is attributed to strong binding of the substrate phosphine to the unsaturated, planar Ru=PR2 fragment generated in situ, which inhibits the innersphere, alkene cydoaddition mechanism. An alternative, outer-sphere Michael addition process, involving a saturated complex with a strongly nudeophilic pyramidal Ru-PR2 ligand, is proposed to rationalize the observed selectivity for catalytic hydrophosphination of activated, but not simple, alkenes. Implications for further catalyst development are discussed.