Iridium complexes reaction with carbon monoxide

Isocyanates can be prepared from azides by reaction with carbon monoxide. The reaction has been at first reported to proceed only with catalysis of rhodium or iridium carbonyl complexes . Later work has however shown that aryl azides and carbon monoxide interact without catalysis at temperatures of 160-180° and pressures of 200-300 atm, yielding aryl isocyanates (86) in good yields. Ethyl azidoformate yielded under these conditions ethoxyisocyanate . 

The mechanism of the cobalt- (BASF), rhodium- (Monsanto), and iridium- (Cativa) catalyzed reaction is similar but the rate-determining steps differ and different intermediate catalyst complexes are involved. In all three processes two catalytic cycles occur. One cycle involves the metal carbonyl catalyst (II) and the other the iodide promoter (i). For a better overview only the catalytic cycle of the rhodium-catalyzed Monsanto process is presented in detail (Figure 6.15.4). Initially the rhodium iodide complex is activated with carbon monoxide by forming the catalytic active [Rhi2(CO)2] complex 4. Further the four-coordinated 16-electron complex 4 reacts in the rate-determining step with methyl iodide by oxidative addition to form the six-coordinated 18-electron transition methyl rhodium (I II)... 

Figure 8.2. Volume profiles for reaction of [M(NH3)5(OH)f complex with carbon monoxide in aqueous solution at 298 K for M = cobalt(III), rhodium(III), and iridium(III).

After extensive screening of various aldehydes to optimize the reaction conditions, it was found that aromatic aldehydes were able to serve as a carbon monoxide source, in which the electronic nature of the aldehydes is responsible for their ability to transfer CO efficiently [24]. Consequently, aldehydes bearing electron-withdrawing substituents are more effective than those bearing electron-donating substituents, with pentafluoro-benzaldehyde providing optimal reactivity. Interestingly, for all substrates tested the reaction is void of any complications from hydroacylation of either the alkene or alkyne of the enyne. Iridium and ruthenium complexes, which are known to decarboxylate aldehydes and catalyze the PK reaction, demonstrated inferior efficiency as compared to... 

The major drawback in the development of efficient catalytic PK protocols is the use of carbon monoxide. Many groups probably refuse to use this reaction in their synthetic plans in order to avoid the manipulation of such a highly toxic gas. Carbonylation reactions without the use of carbon monoxide would make them more desirable and would lead to further advances in those areas. Once the use of rhodium complexes was introduced in catalytic PKR, two independent groups realized these species were known for effecting decarbonylation reactions in aldehydes, which is a way to synthesize metal carbonyls. Thus, aldehydes could be used as a source of CO for the PKR. This elegant approach begins with decarbonylation of an aldehyde and transfer of the CO to the enyne catalyzed by rhodium, ruthenium or iridium complexes under argon atmosphere (Scheme 36). 

Chloro- and other halo- containing carbonyl compounds of iridium may also be synthesized under mild conditions. Unlike [Rh(CO)2Cl]2, [Ir(CO)2Cl] is not obtainable by the direct reaction of an iridium chloride solution with CO. Instead, [Ir(CO)2Cl2]n (48) is obtained in low yields by reaction between IrCl3-H20 and carbon monoxide. The predominant mononuclear compound obtained upon carbonylation of iridium chloride salts is the tricarbonyl [Ir(CO)3Cl] (49), which appears in the sohd state to be a polymeric array consisting of stacking square-planar Ir(CO)3Cl units with short fr-Ir bonds. Even though [Ir(CO)3Cl] is polymeric, it is sublimable and is stiU a convenient source of iridium(I) containing carbon monoxide. (49) will react with a number of nucleophiles to form mononuclear iridium carbonyl complexes. 

Similar addition reactions of molecular hydrogen have been shown for the iridium hydride complex, IrHCO(PPh3)2 (210a), and a detailed study of the reactions of this complex with acids and carbon monoxide allows a comparison between the halide- and hydride-carbonyl complexes (see Fig. 7b). 

Although most of known homogeneous reductions of carbon monoxide with hydrogen catalyzed by carbonyl complexes produce a mixture of oxygenated products, the iridium carbonyl species Ir4(CO)i2 has proved to catalyze the following homogeneous methanation reaction in toluene solutions. 

Thus, as is the case for the st pincer derivatives with nickel, Moulton and Shaw also reported the first PCP pincer rhodium and iridium derivatives and studied their reactivity toward carbon monoxide [4]. Hence, the (PCP) rhodium derivative (38) affords complex (40), as a product of the decomposition of the unstable hydrido chloro carbonyl intermediate (39) via a hydrodechlorination process, although this compound is obtained impure. To favor the hydrodechlorination process, an alternative route was attempted employing EtONa as base. This approach afforded exclusively compound (40) (Scheme 2.21). It is noteworthy that analogous reactions with the iridium analogous to complex (38) only afford impure samples of the carbonyl species analogous to complex (40). 

---