Hydrogenation Crabtree catalyst

The stereochemistry of reduction by homogeneous catalysts is often controlled by functional groups in the reactant. Delivery of hydrogen occurs cis to a polar functional group. This behavior has been found to be particularly characteristic of an iridium-based catalyst that contains cyclooctadiene, pyridine, and tricyclohexylphosphine as ligands, known as the Crabtree catalyst 6 Homogeneous iridium catalysts have been found to be influenced not only by hydroxy groups, but also by amide, ester, and ether substituents.17... 

Another series of achiral iridium catalysts containing phosphine and heterocyclic carbenes have also been tested in the hydrogenation of unfunctionalized alkenes [38]. These showed similar activity to the Crabtree catalyst, with one analogue giving improved conversion in the hydrogenation of 11. 

The development of facial selective addition reactions of cyclohexa-1,4-dienes 7 and 14 has greatly extended the value of the asymmetric Birch reduction-alkylation. For example, amide directed hydrogenation of 15 with the Crabtree catalyst system occurs with outstanding facial selectivity iyw to the amide carbonyl group to give 16 (Scheme 5)."... 

Virtually every iridium catalyst of the formula [Ir(L )(COD)] [X] for asymmetric olefin hydrogenation that has appeared after the initial counterion effect studies was based on BArp as the preferred anion [14]. The anion effect is broadly applicable in iridium-catalyzed reductions as experiments with a direct analog of the Crabtree catalyst of the formula [Ir(pyridine)(Cy3P)(COD)]BArp indicates (Fig. 2). 

Complexation of [Cp IrCl2]2 with iV-heterocyclic carbenes has led to complexes such as 25, developed by Peris and coworkers [107, 108], and 133, developed by Crabtree and coworkers [12]. Complex 24 is activated by the addition of silver triflate and is effective for the iV-alkylation of amines with alcohols and for the iV-alkylation of anilines with primary amines. Complex 25 has also been shown to couple benzyl alcohol 15 with a range of alcohols, including ethanol 134, to give ether products such as ether 135 (Scheme 31). Complex 133 was an active hydrogen transfer catalyst for the reduction of ketones and imines, using 2-propanol as the hydrogen source. It was also an effective catalyst for the iV-alkylation of amines... 

A large number of reports have concerned transfer hydrogenation using isopropanol as donor, with imines, carbonyls-and occasionally alkenes-as substrate (Scheme 3.17). In some early studies conducted by Nolan and coworkers [36], NHC analogues of Crabtree catalysts, [Ir(cod)(py)(L)]PF,5 (L= Imes, Ipr, Icy) all proved to be active. The series of chelating iridium(III) carbene complexes shown in Scheme 3.5 (upper structure) proved to be accessible via a simple synthesis and catalytically active for hydrogen transfer from alcohols to ketones and imines. Unexpectedly, iridium was more active than the corresponding Rh complexes, but... 

The black solution containing IL and lr(0) nanoparticles (-2.0nm in diameter, as determined by TEM) can also be recycled in catalytic hydrogenation reactions. The catalytic activity of these soluble iridium nanoparticles was also compared to that of the Crabtree catalyst ([lr(COD)(PCy3)py]PF( ) in BMI-PFg. These nanoparticles maintain an efficient activity for at least seven recycles, whereas the Crabtree catalyst suffers a significant reduction in activity during recycling reactions. 

In Section 9-4-3, we mentioned that cationic Ir catalysts (sometimes called Crabtree catalysts) are quite active for hydrogenation of highly substituted C=C bonds. Moreover, asymmetric Ir-catalyzed hydrogenation of an imine is a key step in the industrial-scale synthesis of the herbicide (S)-metolachlor (Section 9-7-2). In addition to these applications, relatively recent work has shown that cationic Ir(I) complexes bonded to chiral ligands can catalyze asymmetric hydrogenation of unfunctionalized C=C bonds (i.e., C=C bonds to which no polar functional groups, such as C=0, are attached). 

TABLE 23.1 Directed Hydrogenation Using the Crabtree Catalyst... 

FIGURE 23.30 Applications of directed hydrogenation using the Crabtree catalyst. 

Complex 5 was more active than the well-known precious-metal catalysts (palladium on activated carbon Pd/C, the Wilkinson catalyst RhCl(PPh3)3, and Crabtree s catalyst [lr(cod)(PCy3)py]PFg) and the analogous Ai-coordinated Fe complexes 6-8 [29] for the hydrogenation of 1-hexene (Table 2). In mechanistic studies, the NMR data revealed that 5 was converted into the dihydrogen complex 9 via the monodinitrogen complex under hydrogen atmosphere (Scheme 4). 

The efficiency of Crabtree s catalyst as a catalyst for small molecule hydrogenation has been known for many years. Unlike many homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts, Crabtree s catalyst is able to reduce hindered olefins at favourable rates.7 It has never been reported as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of rubber except for its use in the hydrogenation of bulk PBD.8 This paper describes the first use of Crabtree s catalyst in the hydrogenation NBR. Kinetic data are presented and analyzed to understand the underlying chemistry. 

Figure 6 A catalytic pathway of NBR hydrogenation with Crabtree s catalyst.

Crabtree s catalyst is an efficient catalyst precursor for the selective hydrogenation of olefin resident within nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR). Its activity is favorably comparable to those of other catalyst systems used for this process. Under the conditions studied the process is essentially first order with respect to [Ir] and hydrogen pressure, implying that the active complex is mononuclear. Nitrile reduces the catalyst activity, by coordination to the metal center. At higher reaction pressures a tendency towards zero order behavior with respect to catalyst concentration was noted. This indicated the likelihood of further complexity in the system which can lead to possible formation of a multinuclear complex that causes loss of catalyst activity. 

Scheme 22.17 Exhaustive hydrogenation of diene- and enyne-containing reductive coupling products using Crabtree s catalyst.

Tetrasubstituted alkenes are challenging substrates for enantioselective hydrogenation because of their inherently low reactivity. Crabtree showed that it was possible to hydrogenate unfunctionalized tetrasubstituted alkenes with iridium catalysts [46]. Among the iridium catalysts described in the previous section, several were found to be sufficiently reactive to achieve full conversion with al-kene 77 (Table 30.14). However, the enantioselectivities were significantly lower than with trisubstituted olefins, and higher catalyst loadings were necessary. 

The classical notion has been that iridium complexes can be effective hydrogenation catalysts, with defined limitations. In this respect, Crabtree and Morris made the key breakthroughs [9], and their catalyst (Fig. 31.16) has been widely employed for the reduction of simple alkenes. It was widely successful in the di-... 

Crabtree described the use of dibenzo[a,e]cyclooctatetraene, a potent selective poison of homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts, as a tool to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in the hydrogenation of hexene with a range of catalysts [24]. 

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