Bipyridines using transition metal catalysts

More synthetic interest is generated by the potentially very useful hydration of dienes. As shown on Scheme 9.6, methylethylketone (MEK) can be produced from the relatively cheap and easily available 1,3-butadiene with combined catalysis by an acid and a transition metal catalyst. Ruthenium complexes of several N-N chelating Hgands (mostly of the phenanthroline and bipyridine type) were found active for this transformation in the presence of Bronsted acids with weakly coordinating anions, typically p-toluenesulfonic acid, TsOH [18,19]. In favourable cases 90 % yield of MEK, based on butadiene, could be obtained. 

Enhanced electrochemical signals for DNA can be obtained by catalytic electrochemical oxidation using transition metal complexes/341 Studies by Thorp et al/35 01 showed that Ru(bpy)f+ (bpy=2,2 -bipyridine) is an efficient electrochemical catalyst that oxidizes only guanine bases in DNA and oligonucleotides. The reaction follows the catalytic pathway below ... 

Several dyes or transition-metal complexes can be used as redox mediators in indirect electrolyses. Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl-rhodium(bipyridine) complexes [Cp Rhnl(bpy)(H20)]2+ 9 [33], which were pioneered and intensively studied by Steckhan et al. [34—36], are very versatile catalysts for the reduction of cofactors. 

A parallel development was initiated by the first publications from Sawamoto and Matyjaszweski. They reported independently on the transition-metal-catalyzed polymerization of various vinyl monomers (14,15). The technique, which was termed atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), uses an activated alkyl halide as initiator, and a transition-metal complex in its lower oxidation state as the catalyst. Similar to the nitroxide-mediated polymerization, ATRP is based on the reversible termination of growing radicals. ATRP was developed as an extension of atom transfer radical addition (ATRA), the so-called Kharasch reaction (16). ATRP turned out to be a versatile technique for the controlled polymerization of styrene derivatives, acrylates, methacrylates, etc. Because of the use of activated alkyl halides as initiators, the introduction of functional endgroups in the polymer chain turned out to be easy (17-22). Although many different transition metals have been used in ATRP, by far the most frequently used metal is copper. Nitrogen-based ligands, eg substituted bipyridines (14), alkyl pyridinimine (Schiff s base) (23), and multidentate tertiary alkyl amines (24), are used to solubilize the metal salt and to adjust its redox potential in order to match the requirements for an ATRP catalyst. In conjunction with copper, the most powerful ligand at present is probably tris[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)]amine (Mee-TREN) (25). 

A catalytic reaction involves several molecular interactions between the catalyst and the reactant. In order to study these complex interactions, we first need precise knowledge of the dynamics in the ligand sphere of transition metals. We used model compound 2a that translates the complexation dynamics of a Cu(II)-bipyridine complex into changes of the fluorescence emitted by... 

Photochemical reduction systems (Figure 5.11) require efficient light harvesting, usually by a so-called dye or sensitizer, and efficient charge separation and energy utilization. Transition metal complexes, particularly tris(2,2 -bipyridine)ruthenium(ll), serve as sensitizers. The overall reaction carried out must be a useful one. That is, in addition to carbon dioxide reduction, the complementary oxidation process (which provides the electrons) should be a desirable one. Both reduction and oxidation processes generally require catalysis. For carbon dioxide reduction, a number of the catalysts used in electrochemical systems are also effective in photochemical systems, as outlined below. 

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