Anionic ligands aqueous catalysis

Fig. 2. Representative examples of anionic, cationic, non-ionic, achiral or chiral, monomeric or polymeric tertiary phosphines used as ligands in aqueous-organic biphasic catalysis...

Transition metal cations solvated by weakly coordinating solvents are useful precursors for a variety of nonaqueous synthetic applications. The dissociation of acetonitrile ligands opens up vacant coordination sites for catalysis, and allows transition metals to be introduced into extended arrays formed by condensation reactions with polydentate ligandsAlthough salts of homoleptic acetonitrile metal cations with tetrafluoroborate anions have been known since the 1960s, there has been no detailed description of the syntheses and characterization of these compounds. Likewise, there have been general descriptions of the syntheses of trifluoromethanesulfonate salts, but no specific outline for individual metals has been published. In this report, the syntheses of [M (CH3CN)x][BF4]2 (M = Cr,Mn,Fe,Co,Ni,Cu) and [M CHaCNlJlSOsCFsla (M = Mn,Fe,Co,Ni) are described. Two different methods are used to prepare tetrafluoroborate salts (1) the oxidation of metals with nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate, first described by Hathaway et al. and (2) the dehydration of aqueous tetrafluoroborate salts in a Soxhlet extractor with molecular sieves. The oxidation reaction is rapid, anhydrous, and recommended for smaller-scale preparations because of the relatively... 

There has been considerable recent interest in the reductions of [Fe(CN)6]. The electron exchange with A -propyl-l,4-dihydronicotinamide is catalyzed by alkali metal ions. The increase in reaction rate is attributed to the polarizability of M and the observed linear free energy relationship is discussed. An outer-sphere mechanism is postulated in the oxidation of phenothiazines. A free radical mechanism involving the alcohol anion is invoked in the reaction of 1-and 2-propanol in aqueous alkaline media, the kinetic order being unity for [Fe(CN)6], OH, and alcohol concentrations. Catalysis by metal ions has also been observed in the presence of copper(II) and ruthenium(III) complexes. In the oxidation of a-hydroxypropionic acid in alkaline media,a Cu(II)-ligand complex is formed which is oxidized slowly to a copper(III) species. Alkaline ferricyanide oxidizes butanol, the process being catalyzed by chlororuthenium complexes.The rate law is consistent with oxidation of the alcohol by the Ru(III) followed by reoxidation of the catalyst by [Fe(CN)6]. The rate law is of the form ... 

Two of the papers presented at the Fifth International Conference on Non-aqueous Solvents are of direct relevance to this Report. They deal with solvent effects on kinetics, in the areas of ligand substitution reactions at labile centres, and of preferential solvation in such systems." Another review on preferential solvation and its consequences deals primarily with chromium(iii) complexes, such as the [Cr(NCS)6] anion, in binary aqueous mixtures, but also mentions other groups of inorganic substrates such as low-spin iron(ii) complexes. A short article on the effectiveness of a solvent in catalysis considers such topics as affinities for nf-electrons and polarization potentials. ... 

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