Synthesis and characterization of new rhodium and iridium complexes with trianisylphosphine, PAn3, and evaluation of their catalytic behavior in the homogeneous hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde
摘要:
A new family of rhodium and iridium compounds with the bulky tris(ortho-methoxyphenyl) phosphine (PAn(3)) was synthesized and characterized by NMR methods. The X-ray crystal structures of RhCl(PAn(3))(COD)(1) and Ir[(PBz(3))(PAn(3))COD)]PF6 (4) have been determined. A stabilizing agostic interaction has been crystallographically observed in both compounds, due to the steric hindrance of the ortho-substituted phosphine ligand and its presence has been associated to the fluxional behavior shown by the complexes on the NMR timescale in solution. Iridium complexes containing PBz(3) and/or PAn(3) have been evaluated as catalyst precursors for the hydrogenation of trans-cinnamaldehyde (CNA), and their activities have also been compared to those of other iridium complexes containing bulky phosphine ligands, such as PTol(3) (tris-ortho-tolyl-phosphine). The catalytic experiments show that irrespectively of the phosphine combination, all of the evaluated catalysts prevalently hydrogenate the C=C moiety. However, the product selectivity can be tuned by changing either the substrate/catalyst ratio or the phosphine ligand at the metal center. The catalyst with PAn(3) proved to be more efficient and also gave higher yields of the enol product, indicating that stereoelectronic effects are responsible for the changes in selectivity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
An unprecedented rhodium-catalyzed selective cleavage of double alkyl-oxygen bonds of bis/tris(o-alkyloxyphenyl)phosphine has been realized, in which P atom functions as a. directing group and simple aryl acids are the methyl group acceptor to provide methyl esters and a quaternary phosphonium salt. The preliminary mechanism was investigated via an O-18 labeling experiment and stoichiometric reaction between a Rh-A crystal and an aromatic acid.