Symmetrical ligands, iron catalysts

First generation iron catalysts with symmetrical [6.5.6]-P-N-N-P ligands... 

These reports sparked off an extensive study of metalloporphyrin-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation, and various optically active porphyrin ligands have been synthesized. Although porphyrin ligands can make complexes with many metal ions, mainly iron, manganese, and ruthenium complexes have been examined as the epoxidation catalysts. These chiral metallopor-phyrins are classified into four groups, on the basis of the shape and the location of the chiral auxiliary. Class 1 are C2-symmetric metalloporphyrins bearing the chiral auxiliary at the... 

The cationic aqua complexes of the C2-symmetric trans-chelating tridentate ligand 447 proved also highly effective chiral catalysts. The complexes involving the metal(II) perchlorates of iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc produced the main endo adduct of cyclopentadiene and N - aery loy 1-1,3 -oxazo I i din -2 -one with very high ee values281. 

Abu-Surrah et al. [37] reported the synthesis of Cs-symmetric iron (II) and cobalt (II) complexes bearing new tetradentate ligands based on 2-bromomethylquinoline. The isolated complexes were the first C2-symmetric octahedral complexes that resemble the structure of the tetrahedral, C2-symmetric metallocene-based catalysts (Scheme 3.17) [36]. 

Ricci and coworkers [64] studied oxazoline moiety fused with a cyclopenta[P]thio-phene as ligands on the copper-catalyzed enantioselective addition of Et2Zn to chalcone. The structure of the active Cu species was determined by ESI-MS. Evans and coworkers [65] studied C2-symmetric copper(II) complexes as chiral Lewis acids. The catalyst-substrate species were probed using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Comelles and coworkers studied Cu(II)-catalyzed Michael additions of P-dicarbonyl compounds to 2-butenone in neutral media [66]. ESI-MS studies suggested that copper enolates of the a-dicarbonyl formed in situ are the active nucleophilic species. Schwarz and coworkers investigated by ESI-MS iron enolates formed in solutions of iron(III) salts and [3-ketoesters [67]. Studying the mechanism of palladium complex-catalyzed enantioselective Mannich-type reactions, Fujii and coworkers characterized a novel binuclear palladium enolate complex as intermediate by ESI-MS [68]. 

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