Competing catalytic reactions

It is rare that a catalyst can be chosen for a reaction such that it is entirely specific or unique in its behaviour. More often than not products additional to the main desired product are generated concomitantly. The ratio of the specific chemical rate constant of a desired reaction to that for an undesired reaction is termed the kinetic selectivity factor (which we shall designate by 5) and is of central importance in catalysis. Its magnitude is determined by the relative rates at which adsorption, surface reaction and desorption occur in the overall process and, for consecutive reactions, whether or not the intermediate product forms a localised or mobile adsorbed complex with the surface. In the case of two parallel competing catalytic reactions a second factor, the thermodynamic factor, is also of importance. This latter factor depends exponentially on the difference in free energy changes associated with the adsorption-desorption equilibria of the two competing reactants. The thermodynamic factor also influences the course of a consecutive reaction where it is enhanced by the ability of the intermediate product to desorb rapidly and also the reluctance of the catalyst to re-adsorb the intermediate product after it has vacated the surface. 

The use of model compounds eliminates many of the complicated and competing catalytic reactions encountered with petroleum residuum, enabling a clearer picture of the inherent reactions to be ascertained. 

The excellent electron-transfer mediator properties of nanoparticles find special use in the different oxidation [126] and reduction [143,144] reactions catalyzed by noble metal colloids. Recently, Ung et al. [145] showed how Ag particles coated with a thin layer of silica act as redox catalysts, and how the control of the rate of the catalyzed hydrogen evolution reaction was possible by tuning the silica shell thickness. It was concluded that the shell acts as a size-selective membrane, which can be used to alter the chemical yields for competing catalytic reactions. This kind of tailoring of the catalyst properties opens up very interesting prospects in future catalyst planning. 

The hydrosi(ly)lations of alkenes and alkynes are very important catalytic processes for the synthesis of alkyl- and alkenyl-silanes, respectively, which can be further transformed into aldehydes, ketones or alcohols by estabhshed stoichiometric organic transformations, or used as nucleophiles in cross-coupling reactions. Hydrosilylation is also used for the derivatisation of Si containing polymers. The drawbacks of the most widespread hydrosilylation catalysts [the Speier s system, H PtCl/PrOH, and Karstedt s complex [Pt2(divinyl-disiloxane)3] include the formation of side-products, in addition to the desired anh-Markovnikov Si-H addition product. In the hydrosilylation of alkynes, formation of di-silanes (by competing further reaction of the product alkenyl-silane) and of geometrical isomers (a-isomer from the Markovnikov addition and Z-p and -P from the anh-Markovnikov addition. Scheme 2.6) are also possible. 

A further complication is evident in the spectroscopic studies of the reacting iridium solutions, namely, a competing catalytic water gas shift reaction involving hydrido-iridium(III) species. Choice of reaction conditions determines the proportion of the iridium occupied in this catalytic cycle. 

The low ee-values obtained with simple unsaturated acids as compared to the enamides of dehydroamino acid derivatives show that the oxygen atoms of the amide is a key to complex formation with the metal center. Knowles also proposed a quadrant model that has been adapted for many reactions [5, 22]. The mechanism of the reaction has been investigated, and it is known that the addition of the substrate to the metal is regioselective and that competing catalytic cycles can occur [5, 10, 22, 25, 27, 30-46]. 

The catalytic reaction conditions required some optimization. This was due to competing reaction pathways. The interception of trans-11 results in the formation of the organotitanium intermediate 44, as shown in Scheme 17. Thus, 2 equiv. of Cp2TiCl are consumed and a complete conversion in the presence of 10 mol% Cp2TiCl2 cannot be achieved because catalyst regeneration is prevented. Similar considerations apply for czs-11. 

A catalytic reaction often consists of more than one step and therefore the expression for the rate for a reaction between two substrates A and B rarely takes the simple form of v=k[A][B], At least one would assume that also the catalyst concentration [M] forms part of the equation. Thus more than one step is involved, each of which may be an equilibrium reaction. During the catalytic process the individual steps may not reach equilibrium and the competing rates determine the concentrations of each intermediate. While each individual reaction may obey a simple rate equation, the observed overall rate equation can be very complicated. What does the rate equation look like and how can it be expressed in measurable quantities is the question to be asked. 

Markovic and Hartwig isolated and characterized the first intermediate in iridium-catalyzed allylic substitution [100]. They isolated the metalacyclic iridium-phosphor-amidite fragment containing COD and the olefinic portion ofN- l -phenylallyl)aniline, the product of the allylic substitution reaction between cinnamyl carbonate and aniline (5 in Scheme 22). This complex containing the product of allylic substitution was first detected by NMR spectroscopy during catalytic reactions. It was then isolated, prepared independently, and shown to be chemically and kinetically competent to be an intermediate in allylic substitutions. 

In practice, of course, it is rare that the catalytic reactor employed for a particular process operates isothermally. More often than not, heat is generated by exothermic reactions (or absorbed by endothermic reactions) within the reactor. Consequently, it is necessary to consider what effect non-isothermal conditions have on catalytic selectivity. The influence which the simultaneous transfer of heat and mass has on the selectivity of catalytic reactions can be assessed from a mathematical model in which diffusion and chemical reactions of each component within the porous catalyst are represented by differential equations and in which heat released or absorbed by reaction is described by a heat balance equation. The boundary conditions ascribed to the problem depend on whether interparticle heat and mass transfer are considered important. To illustrate how the model is constructed, the case of two concurrent first-order reactions is considered. As pointed out in the last section, if conditions were isothermal, selectivity would not be affected by any change in diffusivity within the catalyst pellet. However, non-isothermal conditions do affect selectivity even when both competing reactions are of the same kinetic order. The conservation equations for each component are described by... 

Similar considerations apply to processes occurring on the surface of the catalyst i.e., the rate of dissociation of ethyl radicals to ethylene molecules will be equal to the rate of the reverse reaction. An alternative method of describing the kinetic behavior of an exchange reaction is to treat it as an example of a catalytic reaction where the products inhibit the reaction as they compete on equal terms with the reactants for the available surface. 

Selectivity is an intrinsic properly of enzymatic catalysis. [3] Following the nomenclature proposed by Cleland [24, 25], the pseudo second-order rate constant for the reaction of a substrate with an enzyme, kml/KM, is known as the specificity constant, ksp. [26] To express the relative rates of competing enzymatic reactions, involving any type of substrates, the ratio of the specificity constants appears to be the parameter of choice [3]. Since the authoritative proposition by Sih and coworkers [27], the ratio of specificity constants for the catalytic conversion of enantiomeric substrates, R and S, is commonly known as the enantiomeric ratio or E -value (Equation 1) ... 

These assembly ligands will be tested in suitable catalytic reactions that leave the assemblies intact. Salt-forming reactions are not attractive as the salts might interact with the assembly, nor is the use of catalytic metals that compete with the assembly metal for the salen type positions in the ditopic ligand ideally, all potential problems can be avoided if the same metal could be used. Rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of 1-octene is a suitable reaction, with the only disadvantage that high pressures are needed, but hydrogen or CO do not interfere with our assemblies. Metal salts do not interfere with the rhodium hydrides involved in the hydroformylation catalysis, as for instance the most effective industrial process today for propene hydroformylation... 

The main difficulty in accomplishing reactions (25) and (26) is that it is difficult for the complex and hence relatively slow multielectron catalytic reactions (25) and (26) to compete with the simple exothermic bimolecular reaction of the reverse recombination of light-separated charges... 

The concentration of substrate used in the asymmetric epoxidation must be given consideration because competing side reactions may increase with increased reagent concentration. The use of catalytic quantities of the Ti-tartrate complex has greatiy reduced this problem. The epoxidation of most substrates under catalytic conditions may be performed at a substrate concentration up to 1 M. By contrast, epoxidations using stoichiometric amounts of complex are best run at substrate concentrations of 0.1 M or lower. Even with catalytic amounts of the complex, a concentration of 0.1 M may be maximal for substrates such as cinnamyl alcohol, which produce sensitive epoxy alcohol products [4]. 

The second possible catalytic cycle, which is in competition with the first one, involves the reaction of 29 with another olefin. Because the resulting intermediate has no chiral ligand, the formation of the bisazaglycolate complex must occur with little or even no asymmetric induction. Fortunately, this competing catalytic cycle can be suppressed by simply carrying out... 

Carreira and co-workers reported novel Ti(lV) complexes 69 derived from Ti(0 Pr)4, tridentate ligands 67, and salicylic acids such as 68. The complexes serve as competent catalysts for the addition of the methyl acetate-derived silyl ketene acetal to a large range of aldehydes (Eqs. 8B2.16 and 8B2.17) [22]. The salient features of this system include the wide range of functionalized aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes that may be used the ability to carry out the reaction with 0.2-5 mol % catalyst-loading and experimental ease with which the process is executed (Table 8B2.8). Thus the reaction can be carried out at -10 to 0°C, in a variety of solvents, without recourse to slow addition of reagents. The adducts from the catalytic reaction were isolated with excellent enantiopurities up to 99% ee. The original catalyst-preparation... 

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