Iron complexes, with acrylonitrile

Olefins readily displace CO groups from the iron carbonyls, Fe(CO)5, Fe2(CO)9, and Fe3(CO)12, to form complexes in which a C C bond of the olefin takes the place of each displaced CO group, and by donating its ir-electrons preserves the formal inert gas electron configuration of the iron atom in the complex. Acrylonitrile is the only reported example of a monoolefin complexing with iron in this way, but many complexes of iron with polyolefins are known. 

Several aUcene complexes of iron(O) have been reported, of general formula Fe(CO)4(alkene), where the aUcene can be ethylene, acrylonitrile, maleic anhydride, or methyl methacrylate. In these complexes, the original trigonal bipyramidal structure of the pentacarbonyl is retained with one of the equatorial positions now being occupied by the alkene ligand. The tetracarbonyliron(O) complex of fumaric acid has idealized C2 symmetry and has been resolved into its two enantiomers. ... 

A correlation of a high thermal stability with a high ionization potential for a olefin has been observed with iron (O)-olefin complexes of the type Fe(CO)4-(olefin) 96> i.e. poor donor but good acceptor properties increase the stability of the complex. The acrylonitrile complex is one of the most stable, the ethylene complex the least stable and the complexes of styrene or vinyl chloride are of intermediate stability. 

MAA and MMA may also be prepared via the ammoxidation of isobutylene to give meth acrylonitrile as the key intermediate. A mixture of isobutjiene, ammonia, and air are passed over a complex mixed metal oxide catalyst at elevated temperatures to give a 70—80% yield of methacrylonitrile. Suitable catalysts often include mixtures of molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and antimony, in addition to a noble metal (131—133). The meth acrylonitrile formed may then be hydrolyzed to methacrjiamide by treatment with one equivalent of sulfuric acid. The methacrjiamide can be esterified to MMA or hydrolyzed to MAA under conditions similar to those employed in the ACH process. The relatively modest yields obtainable in the ammoxidation reaction and the generation of a considerable acid waste stream combine to make this process economically less desirable than the ACH or C-4 oxidation to methacrolein processes. 

The first investigations on iron-catalyzed Michael reactions utilized Fe(acac)3 as catalyst. However, this metal complex is itself catalytically almost inactive. Yields of only up to 63% could be achieved, if BF3OEt2 is used as a co-catalyst [55], Polystyrene-bound Fe(acac)3 catalysts were also reported to give yields up to 63% [56], FeCl3 was used as a co-catalyst for clay-supported Ni(II). Yields achieved with this heterogeneous system ranged from 40 to 98% [57]. The double Michael addition of acrylonitrile to ethyl cyanoacetate is smoothly catalyzed by a complex generated from [Fe(N2) (depe)2] [depe = l,2-bis(diethylphosphano)ethane]. At 23 °C and after 36h, an 88% yield is obtained with 1 mol% of this Fe(0) catalyst [58]. 

Yamazaki s complex (Structure 5) contains two alkyne molecules linked together to form a five-membered metallacycle. Arene-solvated cobalt atoms, obtained by reacting cobalt vapor and arenes, have been used by Italian workers to promote the conversion of a,w-dialkynes and nitriles giving alkynyl-substituted pyridines [20]. -Tolueneiron(0) complexes have also been utilized for the co-cyclotrimerization of acetylene and alkyl cyanides or benzonitrile giving a-substituted pyridine derivatives. However, the catalytic transformation to the industrially important 2-vinylpyridine fails in this case acrylonitrile cannot be co-cyclotrimerized with acetylene at the iron catalyst [17]. 

The influence of ammonia on the partial (amm)oxidation of propene was studied over the iron antimony oxide catalyst (Sb/Fe = 2) at 375 °C (see Figure 5). The yield of the partial (amm)oxidation products acrylonitrile plus acrolein decreased with increasing ammonia partial pressure. The yield of the combustion products CO and CO2 first decreased and then increased with increasing ammonia partial pressure. The opposing trends for the yield of both product groups resulted in a complex behaviour of the conversion of propene as a function of the partial pressure of ammonia. The rate of formation of the partial (amm)oxidation products can be easily modelled as a surface reaction ocupying one or two active sites, and ammonia occupying one of the sites. 

Although TiCl3- based Z.N. catalysts are in this case inactive, A. Yamamoto has shown [/. Am. Chem. Soc., 5989 (1967)] that it is possible to tailor the ligand field around the transition metaJ so that it could tolerate strongly coordinating substrates. More precisely, the reaction of Fe(AcAc)3 with AIR2OR in the presence of bipyridyl has produced a soluble iron alkyl bis(bipyridyl) complex, able to polymerize (meth-)acry-lates, vinyl acetate, vinyl ethers and even (meth-)acrylonitrile. From kinetic data (rates and competitions) and structural determinations, it can be concluded that a typical coordinative cw-insertion mechanism is operative, wherein chelation of the chain (and maybe of the monomer) ensures stereoselection (i.e. production of isotactic PMMA). 

The hydration of C-C multiple bonds is a reaction with prevalent industrial interest due to the usefulness of the products as chemical intermediates. The wool-Pd complex is an economical and highly active catalyst for hydration of olefins. It is very stable and can be reused several times without any remarkable change in the catalytic activity [73, 74]. In particular, to convert alkenes to the corresponding alcohols in excellent enantioselectivity, a new biopolymer-metal complex constituted of wool-supported palladium-iron or palladium-cobalt was prepared and used, such as allylamine to amino-2-propanoI, acrylonitrile to lactonitrile and unsaturated acids to a-hydroxycarboxylic acids [75-77]. The same catalytic system was also used for hydration of substituted styrenes to produce chiral benzyl alcohols. The simple and cleaner procedure, mild reaction conditions, high stability and recovery rate of catalyst made these catalytic systems an attractive and useful alternative to the existing methods (Scheme 37). 

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