Iridium complexes with olefins

Reactions with propene and allyl alcohol occur in a similar way. Analogous complexes containing cycloheptene, cyclooctene, 1,5-COD, norbornene, and norbornadiene are also formed from rhodium trichloride in aqueous ethyl alcohol however, the reaction stoichiometry for these olefins was not established. It is possible that the oxidation of alcohol occurs. For the preparation of rhodium and iridium complexes with cycloolefins of the formula [M2Cl2(olefin)4], the best results are obtained if aqueous ethyl or isopropyl alcohol is used as the solvent ... 

Scheme 8.18 Hydrogenations of olefins with iridium complexes containing dithio-ether ligands with a pyrrolidine backbone.

Incorporation of rhodium triphenylphosphine moieties into carboranes has led to HRh(C2B9Hn)(PPh3)2 complexes, which are formally hydri-dorhodium(III) dicarbollides and which catalyze olefin hydrogenation under mild conditions (527). Iridium and ruthenium analogs are also known, including complexes with carboranylphosphine ligands, e.g., HRuCl(PPh3)(l-P(CH3)2-l,2-C2B, Hn]2 (,527-530). 

Another area of high research intensity is the catalytic dehydrogenation of alkanes to yield industrially important olefin derivatives by a formally endothermic (ca. 35 kcal mol-1) loss of H2. Recent results have concentrated on pincer iridium complexes, which catalytically dehydrogenate cycloalkanes, in the presence of a hydrogen accepting (sacrificial) olefin, with turnover numbers (TONs) of >1000 (Equation (23)) (see, e.g., Ref 33,... 

The most fundamental reaction is the alkylation of benzene with ethene.38,38a-38c Arylation of inactivated alkenes with inactivated arenes proceeds with the aid of a binuclear Ir(m) catalyst, [Ir(/x-acac-0,0,C3)(acac-0,0)(acac-C3)]2, to afford anti-Markovnikov hydroarylation products (Equation (33)). The iridium-catalyzed reaction of benzene with ethene at 180 °G for 3 h gives ethylbenzene (TN = 455, TOF = 0.0421 s 1). The reaction of benzene with propene leads to the formation of /z-propylbenzene and isopropylbenzene in 61% and 39% selectivities (TN = 13, TOF = 0.0110s-1). The catalytic reaction of the dinuclear Ir complex is shown to proceed via the formation of a mononuclear bis-acac-0,0 phenyl-Ir(m) species.388 The interesting aspect is the lack of /3-hydride elimination from the aryliridium intermediates giving the olefinic products. The reaction of substituted arenes with olefins provides a mixture of regioisomers. For example, the reaction of toluene with ethene affords m- and />-isomers in 63% and 37% selectivity, respectively. 

During recent years, substantial progress has been made in the hydrogenation of unfunctionalized alkenes. With iridium complexes derived from chiral phos-phino-oxazolines and related ligands, excellent enantioselectivities and high TON/TOF values can now be obtained for a wide range of unfunctionalized olefins. Most substrates studied to date have at least one aryl substituent at the... 

Several arylations involving reactive alkenes such as norbomene or allenes have been reported. Togni and coworkers have shown that norbomene is selectively added to the ortho positions of phenols to produce a mixture of 30 and 31 in 69% and 13% yield, respectively, after 72 hours at 100°C (22) [108, 109]. 1,1-dimethylallene also reacts with aromatic carboxamides (33) to produce prenylation products (34) in the presence of cationic iridium complexes (23) [110]. In both cases, initial ortho C-H bond activation in arenes directed by coordinating groups followed by olefin insertion has been proposed. 

Aqueous organometalHc catalysis allows the use of NH3-solutions in water for the direct synthesis of amines from olefins in a combined hydroformylation/reductive amination procedure (Scheme 4.19). The hydroformylation step was catalyzed by the proven Rh/TPPTS or Rh/BINAS (44) catalysts, while the iridium complexes formed from the same phosphine ligands and [ IrCl(COD) 2] were found suitable for the hydrogenation of the intermediate imines. With sufficiently high NH3/olefin ratios (8/1) high selectivity towards the formation of primary amines (up to 90 %) could be achieved, while in an excess of olefin the corresponding... 

Cycloisomerization represents another approach for the construction of cyclic compounds from acyclic substrates, with iridium complexes functioning as efficient catalysts. The reaction of enynes has been widely studied for example, Chatani et al. reported the transformation of 1,6-enynes into 1-vinylcyclopentenes using [lrCl(CO)3]n (Scheme 11.26) [39]. In contrast, when 1,6-enynes were submitted in the presence of [lrCl(cod)]2 and AcOH, cyclopentanes with two exo-olefin moieties were obtained (Scheme 11.27) [39]. Interestingly, however, when the Ir-DPPF complex was used, the geometry of olefinic moiety in the product was opposite (Scheme 11.28) [17]. The Ir-catalyzed cycloisomerization was efficiently utilized in a tandem reaction along with a Cu(l)-catalyzed three-component coupling, Diels-Alder reaction, and dehydrogenation for the synthesis of polycyclic pyrroles [40]. 

Platinum complexes have been mainly used in the hydrosilylation of carbon-carbon bonds, and ruthenium complexes in the metathesis and silylative coupling of olefins with vinylsilanes. Most of these processes (except for olefin metathesis) may also proceed efficiently in the presence of rhodium and iridium complexes. 

In contrast to the Pt(0) and Pt(II) complexes and the corresponding Rh(I) and Rh(III) complexes, the iridium complexes have rarely been employed as hydrosilylation catalysts [1-4]. Iridium-phosphine complexes with d metal configura-tion-forexample, [Ir(CO)Cl(PPh3)2] (Vaska s complex) and [Ir(CO)H(PPh3)3]-were first tested some 40 years ago in the hydrosilylation of olefins. Although they underwent oxidative addition with hydrosilanes (simultaneously to Rh(I) com-... 

The iridium complexes used as precatalysts are air-stable and easy to handle. A further attractive feature is the modular nature of the chiral ligands, which makes it possible to tailor the catalyst structure for a specific substrate. So far several unfunctionalized and functionalized olefins have been hydrogenated with good to... 

Pincer-ligated iridium complexes have been used as homogeneous catalysts for the dehydrogenation of aliphatic polyalkenes to give partially unsaturated polymers. The catalyst appears to be selective for dehydrogenation in branches as compared with the backbone of the polymer.56 The mechanism shown in Scheme 1 has been suggested for an [IrCl(cod)]2-catalysed oxidative esterification reaction of aliphatic aldehydes and olefinic alcohols.57... 

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