Iridium hydrogenation, selective

A similar system based on rhodium has been studied (123) and was found to be less active than the equivalent iridium catalysts. Selective hydrogenation of acetylenes to olefins and dienes to monoolefins can be performed using the rhodium system, and the authors note that although propan-2-ol is an effective source of hydrogen (via oxidation to acetone), mild pressures of hydrogen gas can also be employed. 

Conditions cited for Rh on alumina hydrogenation of MDA are much less severe, 117 °C and 760 kPA (110 psi) (26). With 550 kPa (80 psi) ammonia partial pressure present ia the hydrogenation of twice-distilled MDA employing 2-propanol solvent at 121°C and 1.3 MPa (190 psi) total pressure, the supported Rh catalyst could be extensively reused (27). Medium pressure (3.9 MPa = 566 psi) and temperature (80°C) hydrogenation usiag iridium yields low trans trans isomer MDCHA (28). Improved selectivity to aUcychc diamine from MDA has been claimed (29) for alumina-supported iridium and rhodium by iatroduciag the tertiary amines l,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane [280-57-9] and quiaucHdine [100-76-5]. 

Reduction of unsaturated aldehydes seems more influenced by the catalyst than is that of unsaturated ketones, probably because of the less hindered nature of the aldehydic function. A variety of special catalysts, such as unsupported (96), or supported (SJ) platinum-iron-zinc, plalinum-nickel-iron (47), platinum-cobalt (90), nickel-cobalt-iron (42-44), osmium (<55), rhenium heptoxide (74), or iridium-on-carbon (49), have been developed for selective hydrogenation of the carbonyl group in unsaturated aldehydes. None of these catalysts appears to reduce an a,/3-unsaturated ketonic carbonyl selectively. 

Fe/Ir catalysts In situ Fe and Ir Mossbauer spectroscopy of silica-supported Fe/Ir catalysts with different iron to iridium ratios following pretreatment in hydrogen show that the reduction of the Fe component is enhanced by the presence of Ir metal. The presence of Ir was found to increase the catalytic activity in hydrogenation of carbon monoxide and also to influence selectivity... 

As expected initial examination of the hydrogenation of this substrate revealed its relatively low activity compared to dehydroamino acids that provide 3-aryl-a-amino acids. By carrying out the hydrogenation at an elevated temperature, however, the inherent low activity could be overcome. A screen of the Dowpharma catalyst collection at S/C 100 revealed that several rhodium catalysts provided good conversion and enantioselectivity while low activity and selectivity was observed with several ruthenium and iridium catalysts. Examination of rate data identified [(l )-PhanePhos Rh (COD)]Bp4 as the most active catalyst with a rate approximately... 

In a study by Leitner of the iridium-catalyzed hydrogenation of imines, a nearly 20-fold increase in catalytic efficiency was observed due to a different kinetic profile in scC02 as compared to methylene chloride.358 The change in rate and selectivity found in scC02 with respect to the other solvents can be related to the following major points ... 

The stereoselective isomerization of unsymmetrical diallyl ethers to allyl ( )-vinyl ethers was also carried out in the presence of a cationic iridium(l) catalyst. The catalyst prepared in situ by treating [Ir(cod)(PPh2Me)2]PF6 with hydrogen was found to be an excellent catalyst for the selective isomerization of a less substituted allyl group to an ( )-vinyl ether (Scheme 44).72... 

The iridium complex [Ir(cod)(//2-,PrPCH2CH2OMe)]+BF4 (22) in dichloro-methane at 25 °C at 1 bar H2 is a particularly active catalyst for the hydrogenation of phenyl acetylene to styrene [29]. In a typical experiment, an average TOF of 50 mol mol-1 h-1 was obtained (calculated from a turnover number, TON, of 125) with a selectivity close to 100%. The mechanism of this reaction has been elucidated by a combination of kinetic, chemical and spectroscopic data (Scheme 14.10). 

Cationic iridium and rhodium catalysts are also effective for the hydrogenation of exocyclic olefmic alcohols (see Table 21.5), except for 2-exomethylenecy-clohexanol and 2-methylenecyclohexanemethanol (entries 2 and 3). In entry 4, a cationic rhodium catalyst gave a single product whilst a cationic iridium catalyst induced only modest selectivity (72 28). 

This lowering of the selectivity may be attributed to competitive binding between the hydroxyl and amide groups to iridium [37]. In entries 6, 7 and 8, the directivity of the hydroxyl group at the bishomoallylic position effectively overrides the effect of the carbamate unit [38]. In the hydrogenation of methylenebi-... 

Other functional groups which have a heteroatom rather than a hydroxyl group capable of directing the hydrogenation include alkoxyl, alkoxycarbonyl, carboxylate, amide, carbamate, and sulfoxide. The alkoxy unit efficiently coordinates to cationic iridium or rhodium complexes, and high diastereoselectivity is induced in the reactions of cyclic substrates (Table 21.3, entries 11-13) [25, 28]. An acetal affords much lower selectivity than the corresponding unsaturated ketone (Table 21.3, entries 14 and 15) [25]. 

The amide group shows a prominent directivity in the hydrogenation of cyclic unsaturated amides by a cationic iridium catalyst, and much higher diastereo-selectivity is realized than in the corresponding ester substrates (Table 21.7). In the case of / ,y-unsaturated bicyclic amide (entry 3), the stereoselectivity surpasses 1000 1 [41]. An increase of the distance between the amide carbonyl and olefmic bond causes little decrease in the selectivity (d, -unsaturated amide, entry 6) compared with the case of the less-basic ester functionality (Table 21.6, entry 5). 

Cyclic imines do not have the problem of syn/anti isomerism and therefore, in principle, higher enantioselectivities can be expected (Fig. 34.8). Several cyclic model substrates 6 were hydrogenated using the Ti-ebthi catalyst, with ee-val-ues up to 99% (Table 34.5 entry 5.1), whereas enantioselectivities for acyclic imines were <90% [20, 21]. Unfortunately, these very selective catalysts operate at low SCRs and exhibit TOFs <3 h-1. In this respect, iridium-diphosphine catalysts, in the presence of various additives, seem more promising because they show higher activities. With several different ligands such as josiphos, bicp, bi-... 

---