Hydrogen transfer selective reduction

Ngai M-Y, Skucas E, Krische MI (2008) Ruthenium-catalyzed C-C bond formation via transfer hydrogenation branch-selective reductive coupling of allenes to paraformaldehyde and higher aldehydes. Org Lett 10 2705 2708... 

The catalytic alcohol racemization with diruthenium catalyst 1 is based on the reversible transfer hydrogenation mechanism. Meanwhile, the problem of ketone formation in the DKR of secondary alcohols with 1 was identified due to the liberation of molecular hydrogen. Then, we envisioned a novel asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones to circumvent the problem of ketone formation (Scheme 6). A key factor of this process was the selection of hydrogen donors compatible with the DKR conditions. 2,6-Dimethyl-4-heptanol, which cannot be acylated by lipases, was chosen as a proper hydrogen donor. Asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones was also possible under 1 atm hydrogen in ethyl acetate, which acted as acyl donor and solvent. Ethanol formation from ethyl acetate did not cause critical problem, and various ketones were successfully transformed into the corresponding chiral acetates (Table 17). However, reaction time (96 h) was unsatisfactory. 

We recently reported that Cu/Si02 is an effective catalyst for the hydrogenation of cyclohexanones under very mild experimental conditions. Thus, a series of cyclohexanones with different substituents, including 3-oxo-steroids, could be reduced under 1 atm of H2 at 40-90°C, with excellent selectivity (5). The catalyst is non-toxic and reusable. This prompted us to investigate the reduction of cyclohexanones over a series of supported copper catalysts under hydrogen transfer (h.t.) conditions (2-propanol, N2, 83 °C) and to compare the results with those obtained under catalytic hydrogenation (n-heptane, 1 atm H2, 40-90°C) conditions. Here we report the results obtained in the hydrogenation of 4-tert-butyl-cyclohexanone, a molecule whose reduction,... 

The advantages of hydrogen transfer over other methods of hydrogenation comprise the use of readily available hydrogen donors such as 2-propanol, the very mild reaction conditions, and the high selectivity. High concentrations of the reductant can be applied and the hydrogen donor is often used as the solvent, which means that mass transfer limitations cannot occur in these reactions. The uncatalyzed reduction of ketones requires temperatures of 300 °C [29]. 

Hydrogen transfer reactions are highly selective and usually no side products are formed. However, a major problem is that such reactions are in redox equilibrium and high TOFs can often only be reached when the equilibria involved are shifted towards the product side. As stated above, this can be achieved by adding an excess of the hydrogen donor. (For a comparison, see Table 20.2, entry 8 and Table 20.7, entry 3, in which a 10-fold increase in TOF, from 6 to 60, can be observed for the reaction catalyzed by neodymium isopropoxide upon changing the amount of hydrogen donor from an equimolar amount to a solvent. Removal of the oxidation product by distillation also increases the reaction rate. When formic acid (49) is employed, the reduction is a truly irreversible reaction [82]. This acid is mainly used for the reduction of C-C double bonds. As the proton and the hydride are removed from the acid, carbon dioxide is formed, which leaves the reaction mixture. Typically, the reaction is performed in an azeotropic mixture of formic acid and triethylamine in the molar ratio 5 2 [83],... 

The competition between insertion and hydrogen transfer is also crucial to the selectivity of the reaction of aluminium alkyls with carbonyl compounds. Aluminium alkyls, like organolithium compounds and Grignard reagents, can add to aldehydes and ketones to form secondary or tertiary alcohols, respectively. If the aluminium alkyl has a j -hydrogen, however, reduction of the carbonyl compound is a common side reaction, and can even become the main reaction [16]. Most authors seem to accept that reduction involves direct j5-hydrogen transfer to ketone. 

SELECTIVE REDUCTION OF CARBONYL GROUP IN p,y-UNSATURATED a-KETOESTERS BY TRANSFER HYDROGENATION WITH Ru(P-CYMENE)(TsDPEN)... 

In conclusion, we have found a convenient and practical method for the selective reduction of C=0 bond of a wide spectrum of a-keto-)S, -unsaturated esters with Ru(p-cymene)(TsDPEN) as catalyst. The transition metal catalyzed transfer hydrogenation reaction with good selectivity and high efficiency offers possibilities to provide the optically active a-hydroxy-/l, y-unsaturated esters with chiral catalysts. Table 3.8 gives different substrates that can be reduced with Ru(p-cymene) (TsDPEN) complex in isopropyl alcohol. 

The hydrogen transfer reaction from aqueous formate to unsaturated aldehydes is also catalyzed by [RhCl(PTA)3] (89). The selectivity for the reduction of the C=C bond is high, and the catalyst can be recycled. These results are in contrast to those observed with [RuCl2(PTA)4] catalyst (90), showing high selectivities for the reduction of the C=0 bond. 

The reduction of aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding amines was catalyzed by [Ru3(CO)i2] in combination with aliphatic amine cocatalysts (95). A mixture of diglyme and water was used as a solvent, turnover frequencies were about 5000 h-1, and a CO partial pressure of 20-50 atm was necessary. The reaction is highly selective for aromatic amines. It was speculated that the reaction proceeds via an intramolecular hydrogen transfer in a hydrido-metal-nitrene intermediate without prior formation of H2 in the water gas shift reaction. 

The possibility of using of aliphatic alcohols as hydrogen donors for the catalytic transfer reduction of nitro group over MgO was examined. Catalytic hydrogen transfer was found to be effective and selective method for reduction of nitrobenzene, A-nitrotoluene, A-chloronitrobenzene, 4-nitro-m-xylene, 3-nitro-styrene, 3-nitrobenzaldehyde, 1-nitropropane, and 1-nitrobutane. Conversion of starting nitro compound into desired product depended on the alcohol used as a donor. Adsorption of reactant and catalyst deactivation were studied by esr. New aspects of a role of one-electron donor sites in hydrogen transfer over MgD were demonstrated. 

Magnesium oxide exhibited high activity and high selectivity in the hydrogen transfer from alcohols to studied nitroarenes. Because of the limited space of the paper the complete amine yield - temperature dependence was shown only for nitrobenzene reduction (Table 1). However, also for other reactants the yield of the aminic product increased continously between the values obtained at the lowest (350°C) and the highest (450°C) reaction temperatures. Below 350°C the complete lack of activity of MgO in the studied transformation was noted. The same was observed by us earlier (ref. 2) in the case the catalytic transfer reduction of other functional groups. 

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