Catalytic processes insertion reactions

C.ii.b. Acylpalladium Complexes. Among the reaction paths that C—Pd bonds can undergo, CO insertion (Scheme 32) is of great importance in many catalytic processes. This reaction has been used to generate a number of acyl-Pd complexes (Table 10). 

Much of the recent interest in insertion reactions undeniably stems from the emphasis placed on development of homogeneous catalysis as a rational discipline. One or more insertion is involved in such catalytic processes as the hydroformylation (31) or the polymerization of olefins 26, 75) and isocyanides 244). In addition, many insertion reactions have been successfully employed in organic and organometallic synthesis. The research in this general area has helped systematize a large body of previously unrelated facts and opened new areas of chemistry for investigation. Heck 114) and Lappert and Prokai 161) provide a comprehensive compilation and a systematic discussion of a wide variety of insertion reactions in two relatively recent (1965 and 1967) reviews. 

The catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation with cationic Rh(I)-complexes is one of the best-understood selection processes, the reaction sequence having been elucidated by Halpern, Landis and colleagues [21a, b], as well as by Brown et al. [55]. Diastereomeric substrate complexes are formed in pre-equilibria from the solvent complex, as the active species, and the prochiral olefin. They react in a series of elementary steps - oxidative addition of hydrogen, insertion, and reductive elimination - to yield the enantiomeric products (cf. Scheme 10.2) [56]. 

To date, the most frequently used ligand for combinatorial approaches to catalyst development have been imine-type ligands. From a synthetic point of view this is logical, since imines are readily accessible from the reaction of aldehydes with primary or secondary amines. Since there are large numbers of aldehydes and amines that are commercially available the synthesis of a variety of imine ligands with different electronic and steric properties is easily achieved. Additionally, catalysts based on imine ligands are useful in a number of different catalytic processes. Libraries of imine ligands have been used in catalysts of the Strecker reaction, the aza-Diels-Alder reaction, diethylzinc addition, epoxidation, carbene insertions, and alkene polymerizations. 

Pirrang, Liu, and Morehead [22] have elegandy demonstrated the application of saturation kinetics (Michaehs-Menten) to the rhodium(II)-mediated insertion reactions of a-diazo /9-keto esters and a-diazo /9-diketones. Their method used the Eadie-Hofstee plot of reaction velocity (v) versus v/[S] to give and K, the equilibrium constants for the catalytic process. However, they were unable to measure the Michaelis constant (fC ) for the insertion reactions of a-diazo esters because they proved to be too rapid. 

The main steps in the catalytic MeOH carbonylation cyde which were proposed for the Co catalysed process [2] have served, with some modification perhaps in the carbonylation of MeOAc to AC2O, to the present day and are familiar as a classic example of a metal catalysed reaction. These steps are shown in Eigure 5.1. They are of course, (i) the oxidative addition of Mel to a metal center to form a metal methyl species, (ii) the migratory insertion reaction which generates a metal acyl from the metal methyl and coordinated CO and (iii) reductive elimination or other evolution of the metal acyl spedes to products. Broadly, as will be discussed in more detail later, the other ligands in the metal environment are CO and iodide. To balance the overall chemistry a molecule of CO must also enter the cycle. 

A key aspect of metal oxides is that they possess multiple functional properties acid-base, electron transfer and transport, chemisorption by a and 7i-bonding of hydrocarbons, O-insertion and H-abstraction, etc. This multi-functionality allows them to catalyze complex selective multistep transformations of hydrocarbons, as well as other catalytic reactions (NO,c conversion, for example). The control of the catalyst multi-functionality requires the ability to control not only the nanostructure, e.g. the nano-scale environment around the active site, " but also the nano-architecture, e.g. the 3D spatial organization of nano-entities. The active site is not the only relevant aspect for catalysis. The local area around the active site orients or assists the coordination of the reactants, and may induce sterical constrains on the transition state, and influences short-range transport (nano-scale level). Therefore, it plays a critical role in determining the reactivity and selectivity in multiple pathways of transformation. In addition, there are indications pointing out that the dynamics of adsorbed species, e.g. their mobility during the catalytic processes which is also an important factor determining the catalytic performances in complex surface reaction, " is influenced by the nanoarchitecture. 

The glycolaldehyde shown in (51) results from a CO insertion reaction followed by reductive elimination, and is presumed to be a precursor of ethylene glycol. Since ethylene glycol is, however, at most a trace product of this catalytic system, step (51) appears to be essentially inoperative. Methyl formate, a major primary product of this system under some conditions, is also presumed to be formed by a CO insertion process, (53). Methanol may be formed by a reductive elimination (hydrogenolysis) of either a hydroxymethyl ligand, (52), or of a methoxy ligand, (54). 

Late transition metals have a marked affinity towards coordinating carbon monoxide and carbon-carbon multiple bonds. If there is another suitable ligand on the metal centre, this coordination might be followed by the insertion of a carbonyl group or the carbon-carbon moiety into the metal-ligand bond. Both types of attachment reactions are commonly exploited in catalytic processes and their characteristics will be discussed separately. 

Relatively little mechanistic work has been reported on the insertion reactions of C02. The mechanism seems to be established only for the insertion of C02 into the dialkylamides of the early transition metals (131). We will speculate on probable mechanisms for the various types of insertion reactions that follow. Future work will undoubtedly shed more light on these processes, leading to a better understanding of the reaction, and enabling a more rational design of catalyst complexes in order to incorporate the insertion process into an efficient catalytic cycle. 

A significant rate enhancement for the C02 insertion process was noted in the presence of alkali metal counterions (Table I), even in the highly coordinating THF solvent. This rate acceleration was not, however, catalytic in alkali metal counterion, since the once formed carboxylate was observed to form a tight ion pair (76, 77) via its uncoordinated oxygen atom with the alkali metal ion, as evinced by infrared spectroscopy in the v(C02) region. That is, the counterion was consumed during the carbon dioxide insertion reaction. 

Although exceptional diastereocontrol and enantiocontrol can now be achieved in C-H insertion reactions of catalytically generated metal carbenes, further improvements are needed. Insertion into tertiary C-H bonds occurs with diminished enantiocontrol and regiocontrol [131,132], In addition, chiral dirhodium carboxamidates do not react with a-diazo-p-ketocar-bonyl compounds. Thus, the potential for their impact on a broad range of C-H insertion processes is yet to be tested. 

The synthesis of hydroxycarbamates from secondary aliphatic amines, C02 and epoxides has been found to be catalyzed by (5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphinato) aluminum(III) acetate, AI(TPP)(02CCH3) [80], Scheme 6.14 illustrates the mechanism proposed for the catalytic process, which can be carried out under not severe conditions (293-343 K 0.1-5 MPa C02 pressure). The key step here is the insertion of epoxide into the Al-O bond of the A1-carbamate A (Scheme 6.14), which preliminarily forms by the reaction of A1(TPP)(02CCH3) with the amine and C02. Protolytic cleavage of the Al-alkoxide bond in the insertion product, C, by dialkylcarbamic acid regenerates the catalytkally active carbamato-species A and... 

Another important reaction typically proceeding in transition metal complexes is the insertion reaction. Carbon monoxide readily undergoes this process. Therefore, the insertion reaction is extremely important in organoiron chemistry for carbonylation of alkyl groups to aldehydes, ketones (compare Scheme 1.2) or carboxylic acid derivatives. Industrially important catalytic processes based on insertion reactions are hydroformylation and alkene polymerization. 

Organometallic compounds are used widely as homogeneous catalysts in the chemical industry. For example, if the alkene insertion reaction continues with further alkene inserting into the M C bond, it can form the basis for catalytic alkene polymerisation. Other catalytic cycles may include oxidative addition and reductive elimination steps. Figure above shows the steps involved in the Monsanto acetic acid process, which performs the conversion... 

Mankind has produced acetic acid for many thousand years but the traditional and green fermentation methods cannot provide the large amounts of acetic acid that are required by today s society. As early as 1960 a 100% atom efficient cobalt-catalyzed industrial synthesis of acetic acid was introduced by BASF, shortly afterwards followed by the Monsanto rhodium-catalyzed low-pressure acetic acid process (Scheme 5.36) the name explains one of the advantages of the rhodium-catalyzed process over the cobalt-catalyzed one [61, 67]. These processes are rather similar and consist of two catalytic cycles. An activation of methanol as methyl iodide, which is catalytic, since the HI is recaptured by hydrolysis of acetyl iodide to the final product after its release from the transition metal catalyst, starts the process. The transition metal catalyst reacts with methyl iodide in an oxidative addition, then catalyzes the carbonylation via a migration of the methyl group, the "insertion reaction". Subsequent reductive elimination releases the acetyl iodide. While both processes are, on paper, 100%... 

Fig. 6. Schematic representation of the biosynthetic pathway associated with the assembly of the NiFe-hydrogenase catalytic metal center. The precursor to the large subunit is represented by pre-HycE-Fe, and the CO (and/or CN) ligands are provided by the multi-protein complex formed between HypE, HypC and HypD. The source of the ligands to HypE is carbamoyl phosphate, and the insertion reaction is catalyzed by HypF. The Ni atom is inserted into the pre-HycE-Fe-CO-CN-HypC complex in a reaction catalyzed by HypA and HypB. Finally, the Hycl endopeptidase processes the C-terminus of the pre-HycE-Fe-CO-CN-HypC complex, yielding the mature NiFe-hydrogenase large subunit.

Hydride complexes of palladium and platinum are almost invariably stabilized by phosphine ligands and play an important role in catalytic processes such as hydrogenation. Examples are Pt(H)ClL2 and Pt(H)2L2, as well as hydrido alkyls and aryls, trans,-Pt(H)(R)L2. There are cis and trans isomers. A typical reaction is the insertion of alkenes and alkynes into the Pt—H bond 33... 

In this section, some typical examples of catalytic processes arc discussed, which lead to the incorpmatiem of carbon dioxide into organic molecules. In most cases, the insertion reactions described in Section 2, play a key role in the mechanisms of the foUovdng syntheses. 

Insertion of an M H bond into a multiple bond of an unsaturated ligand is a very important reaction, because it is a key step in catalytic processes such as hydrogenation. Osborn has observed a rare reversible example (equation 24). ... 

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