Iridium reaction with alkanes

In many other cases, oxidative additions of alkanes occur readily to transition-metal-alkyl complexes to generate hydride dialkyl intermediates that subsequently eliminate alkane and form a new metal-alkyl complex. For example, cations related to the alkyl hydrides of iridium formed by oxidative addition undergo reaction with alkanes at or below room temperature to generate new alkyl complexes (Equation 6.34). Cationic platinum complexes undergo similar reactions with substrates containing aromatic and aliphatic C-H bonds (Equation 6.35). " The C-H activation of the platinum complexes has been studied, in part, to understand and to develop systems related to the ones reported by Shilov that lead to H/D exchange, and oxidation and halogenation of alkanes. 

The dihydrido complex [RhH2(ri5-C5Me5)(PMe3)] forms C—H insertion products when irradiated in the presence of alkanes (ethane, propane).227,228 Reaction with CHBr3 leads to bromoalkylrhodium complexes, which on treatment with bromine give ethyl bromide or 1-bromopropane in 70-85% yield. The less stable iridium complex formed with neopentane could not be converted directly to neopentyl bromide.229 It gave, however, a mercury derivative that yielded the bromide after treatment with bromine. 

Neutral formyl complexes which contain ligating CO often decompose by decarbonylation however, several exceptions exist. For instance, the osmium formyl hydride Os(H)(CO)2(PPh3)2(CHO) evolves H2(54). Although the data are preliminary, the cationic iridium formyl hydride 49 [Eq. (14)] may also decompose by H2 evolution (67). These reactions have some precedent in earlier studies by Norton (87), who obtained evidence for rapid alkane elimination from osmium acyl hydride intermediates Os(H)(CO)3(L)(COR) [L = PPh3, P(C2H5)3], Additional neutral formyls which do not give detectable metal hydride decomposition products have been noted (57, 65) however, in certain cases this can be attributed to the instability of the anticipated hydride under the reaction conditions (H2 loss or reaction with halogenated solvents). 

The platinum-catalyzed reaction of alkanes with chlorine leads to alkyl chlorides and alcohols (Table 6, entry 46) with modest rates and conversions [50], Cydooctane can be easily dehydrogenated (Table 6, entry 47) in the presence of a stabilized vinylalkane by use of the neutral rhenium compound ReH7(PR3)2 [51]. By employing an iridium-based catalyst, the photochemical dehydrogenation of methylcydohexane to methylenecyclohexane is performed at room temperature... 

Recently, it was also shown [74] that pentamethylcyclopentadienyl rhodium and iridium complexes with labile dative ligands catalyze the borylation of alkanes at the terminal position under thermal conditions (Scheme 9). It was proposed that Ir(V) and Rh(V) boryl complexes act as intermediates in these reactions. Reaction of Cp IrH4 with HBpin gives Cp Ir(Bpin)(H)3 and Cp Ir(Bpin)2(H)2. Both of the two Ir(V) boryl complexes react with octane to give octylboronate ester [75], though it is still unclear regarding the role... 

The reaction of alkanes with the complex Cp+Rh(H)2PMe3 takes place analogously under irradiation at a temperature below -30 °C [14b], The selectivity (both substrate and positional selectivity) proved to be much higher for the rhodium complex than for the iridium one. 

More specifically, calculations have suggested that the ruthenium-alkyl complex in Equation 6.53 reacts with arene to exchange covalent ligands by a process closely related to a a-bond metathesis mechanism. Computational studies of the reactions of a simple iridium-alkyl and alkoxo complex with alkanes to generate new metal-alkyl complexes have also suggested that a mechanism is followed that involves many of the characteristics of a classic a-bond metathesis transition state. However, calculations of the mechanisms of these two processes imply that the transition state contains some degree of M-H bonding. 

September 1985) have been published. The 300th volume of J. Organomet. Chem. is commemorated by a number of reviews by well-known organometallic chemists many of these reviews are of relevance to this chapter. Carbene and carbyne complexes of ruthenium, osmium, and iridium,and the role of electrophilic metal carbenes as reaction intermediates in catalytic reactions, have been reviewed. The reactivity of the ions Ru", Rh", and Pd with alkanes in the gas phase has been shown to be markedly different to that of their first row congeners. 

The fact that iridium does not react with methane is easy to understand from the calculations. According to Figure 4 the spin-crossing point lies about 18 kcal mol above the reactant asymptote. This barrier is sufficiently high to prevent access to the low-spin C-H insertion well for ground state Ir at 300 K. Comparably high barriers are expected for the Ir reactions with larger alkanes. 

In the case of iridium, complex [IrH2(PPh3)2(acetone)2] BF4 (11) was the first to carry out catalytically the dehydrogenation of cycloalkanes [13, 14]. However, it was later realized that the halocarbons used as solvents reacted with 11 to produce the stable species [HL2lr(p-Cl)2(. i-X)IrL2H]BF4 (X = Cl (14) or H (15)) [16] (Scheme 13.8), and that elimination of the solvent by running the reactions in neat alkane not only improved yields but also permitted the activation of other previously unreactive cycloalkanes, such as methyl- and ethyl-cyclopentane. However, it was also noted that the system in some cases was not catalytic, due mainly to decomposition of the catalyst at the temperatures employed [16]. 

In most cases, the two types of mechanisms, the bond shift and cyclic mechanisms, are not exclusive but parallel pathways. With increasing molecular weight, the contribution of the cyclic mechanism increases and may become dominant. The pure selective mechanism on iridium is a unique exception. Hydrogenolysis, however, is the characteristic transformation on this metal. The nature of possible surface intermediates in metal-catalyzed alkane reactions, the role of electronic and geometric effects in their formation, and the relation of isomerization and hydrogenolysis have been reviewed.163... 

The metal-catalysed hydrogenation of cyclopropane has been extensively studied. Although the reaction was first reported in 1907 [242], it was not until some 50 years later that the first kinetic studies were reported by Bond et al. [26,243—245] who used pumice-supported nickel, rhodium, palladium, iridium and platinum, by Hayes and Taylor [246] who used K20-promoted iron catalysts, and by Benson and Kwan [247] who used nickel on silica—alumina. From these studies, it was concluded that the behaviour of cyclopropane was intermediate between that of alkenes and alkanes. With iron and nickel catalysts, the initial rate law is... 

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