Reactivity of Ruthenium Phosphido Species Generated through the Deprotonation of a Tripodal Phosphine Ligand and Implications for Hydrophosphination
摘要:
The fragmentation of the 1,1,2-tris(diphenylphosphino)ethane ligand in [RuCp*((Ph2P)(2)CHCH2PPh2)][PF6] (1) was explored through treatment with base under aprotic conditions. The neutral phosphido complex RuCp*(PPh2CH=CHPPh2) (PPh2) (2) with a (Z)-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethene (dppen) ligand was generated through a base-facilitated dehydrophosphination reaction. Installation of a bis(p-tolyl)phosphido ligand was attempted by combining bis(p-tolyl)phosphine with RuCp*(dppen)Cl in the presence of KOtBu, but surprisingly, the unsymmetrical diphenylphosphido compound RuCp*(Ph2PCHCHP-(p-tol)(2))(PPh2) (5) was generated instead. The ligand rearrangement reaction was driven by the greater electron density on the bis(p-tolyl)phosphido moiety. Density functional theory calculations showed that fragmentation to the 1,2-disubstituted ligand was thermodynamically favored over the 1,1-disubstituted ligand and that intramolecular phosphido exchange was kinetically accessible at room temperature. The greater basicity of the bis(p-tolyl)phosphido ligand was experimentally verified by the measured pK(a)(THF) of 28 for the acid/base pair [RuCp*(Ph2P(o-C6H2OPPh2)(P(p-tolyl)(2)H)](+)/RuCp*(Ph2P(o-C6H4)PPh2)(P(p-tolyl)(2)) versus 25 for the acid/base pair [RuCp*(Ph2P(o-C6H4)PPh2)(PPh2H)]+/RuCp*(Ph2P(o-C6H4)PPh2)(PPh2) (7). For comparison, the approximate pK(a)(THF) values for free P(p-tolyl)(2)H/[K(crypt)]P(p-tolyl)(2) and free PPh2H/[K(crypt)]PPh2 are 43 and 38, respectively. This is the first quantitative measurement of the large effect that coordination to a metal center, in this case ruthenium(II), has on the acidity of secondary phosphines. This is useful information for designing and understanding hydrophosphination catalysts. Complexes 2 and 7 are catalysts for the addition of PPh2H to acrylonitrile, but they deactivate fairly rapidly. The pK(a)(THF) measurements are consistent with a catalytic cycle involving a Michael addition step. Complex 2 in solution underwent a slow, unprecedented rearrangement of P C, C C, and C H bonds to give crystalline Ru(C-5(CH3)(4)(CH2C6H5))(Ph2PCH2CH2PPh(o-C6H4)PPh) (9) in high yields, demonstrating the unpredictable reactivity of phosphido ligands.