Rhodium catalysis hydroamination

A series of rhodium and platinum compounds have been tested in the hydroamination of norbomene with aniline, as shown in Scheme 9.36.[141] Selectivity and activity were highly dependent on the nature of the ionic liquid, but were always superior to those observed in THF. Solvents with chloride anions led to essentially no catalytic activity, whereas [PF6] or Br afforded some catalysis. Nonetheless, even with the best solvent/catalyst combination, less than 40 turnovers are achieved after 6 days at 140°C. 

As the first transition metal-based homogeneous catalysis of hydroamination, in the early 1970s Coulson from the Du Pont laboratories had described the addition of secondary aliphatic amines to ethylene in the presence of various rhodium compounds [15, 16]. Definite results were reported with RhCl3 3 H2O as pre-catalyst in tetrahydrofuran as solvent under starting ethylene pressures of 5-14 MPa at 180-200 °C for different secondary amines (Table 3). 

Quite stable catalytic reaction solutions were obtained in THF with the starting pressure for ethylene of 6-6.5 MPa at a reaction temperature of 120 °C. Under these conditions and with the ratios piperidine/rhodium of 100 1 and 1000 1 in 36 and 72 h, yields of 70 and 50 % ethylpiperidine were reached, which correspond to TONs of 2 and 7 mol amine/(mol Rh) per h, respectively. Total conversion is also possible if the reaction time is prolonged further. As a side reaction, ethylene dimerization to butene was observed. This indicates the formation of a hydrido rhodium(III) complex in the hydroamination reaction, as formulated in Scheme 3, route (b). Hydrido rhodium(III) complexes are known as catalysts for ethylene dimerization [19], and if the reductive elimination of ethylpiperidine from the hydrido-y9-aminoethyl rhodium(III) complex is the rate-limiting step in the catalytic cycle of hydroamination, a competitive catalysis of the ethylene dimerization seems possible. In the context of these mechanistic considerations, an increase of the catalytic activity for hydroamination requires as much facilitation of the reductive elimination step as possible. 

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