Ketones catalysis, rhodium complexes

Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to present a survey of the organometallic chemistry and catalysis of rhodium and iridium related to the oxidation of organic substrates that has been developed over the last 5 years, placing special emphasis on reactions or processes involving environmentally friendly oxidants. Iridium-based catalysts appear to be promising candidates for the oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes/ketones as products or as intermediates for heterocyclic compounds or domino reactions. Rhodium complexes seem to be more appropriate for the oxygenation of alkenes. In addition to catalytic allylic and benzylic oxidation of alkenes, recent advances in vinylic oxygenations have been focused on stoichiometric reactions. This review offers an overview of these reactions... 

Labande et al. tested the rhodium(I) complexes of diphenylphosphinoferrocenyl functionalised NHC ligands (Cp,Cp and Cp,Cp substitution) in the hydrosilylation of ketones finding these complexes of only moderate activity [186]. As no attempt was made for the chiral resolution of the catalysts prior to use in catalysis, the prochiral acetophenone could not be tested in asymmetric catalysis. 

The addition of a diazocarbonyl compound to an alkene with metal catalysis is an effective method for the formation of cyclopropanes, as discussed above. However, direct addition to aldehydes, ketones or imines is normally poor. Epoxide or aziridine formation can be promoted by trapping the carbene with a sulfide to give an intermediate sulfur ylide, which then adds to the aldehyde or imine. For example, addition of tetrahydrothiophene to the rhodium carbenoid generated from phenyldiazomethane gave the ylide 131, which adds to benzaldehyde to give the trans epoxide 132 in high yield (4.104). On formation of the epoxide, the sulfide is released and hence the sulfide (and the rhodium complex) can be used in substoichiometric amounts. 

Tin.—Allyltin compounds, especially under rhodium-complex catalysis, react with acyl chlorides to give allyl ketones or with aryl halides to give allylarenes. Bridgehead alkyl bromides are reduced on photolysis with Bu"3SnH, whilst the system (Bu"3Sn)20-Br2 oxidizes sulphides to sulphoxides. )V-(Alkoxycar-bonyl)amino-acids are obtained upon treatment of cyclic anhydrides with Bu3SnN3 and heating in an alcohol. ... 

Electron spin resonance (ESR) signals, detected from phosphinated polystyrene-supported cationic rhodium catalysts both before and after use (for olefinic and ketonic substrates), have been attributed to the presence of rhodium(II) species (348). The extent of catalysis by such species generally is uncertain, although the activity of one system involving RhCls /phosphinated polystyrene has been attributed to rho-dium(II) (349). Rhodium(II) phosphine complexes have been stabilized by steric effects (350), which could pertain to the polymer alternatively (351), disproportionation of rhodium(I) could lead to rhodium(II) [Eq. (61)]. The accompanying isolated metal atoms in this case offer a potential source of ESR signals as well as the catalysis. 

Among the most significant developments in the field of catalysis in recent years have been the discovery and elucidation of various new, and often novel, catalytic reactions of transition metal ions and coordination compounds 13, 34). Examples of such reactions are the hydrogenation of olefins catalyzed by complexes of ruthenium (36), rhodium (61), cobalt (52), platinum (3, 26, 81), and other metals the hydroformylation of olefins catalyzed by complexes of cobalt or rhodium (Oxo process) (6, 46, 62) the dimerization of ethylene (i, 23) and polymerization of dienes (15, 64, 65) catalyzed by complexes of rhodium double-bond migration in olefins catalyzed by complexes of rhodium (24,42), palladium (42), cobalt (67), platinum (3, 5, 26, 81), and other metals (27) the oxidation of olefins to aldehydes, ketones, and vinyl esters, catalyzed by palladium chloride (Wacker process) (47, 48, 49,... 

Polymerised preformed [(N,N -dimethyl-l,2-diphenylethane diamine)2Rh] complex allows us to obtain enantioselective material. We have then shown that it is possible to imprint an optically pure template into the rhodium-organic matrix and to use the heterogeneous catalyst in asymmetric catalysis with an obvious template effect. The study of yield versus conversion graphs has shown that the mechanism occurs via two parallel reactions on the same site without any inter-conversion of the final products. Adjusting the cross-linker ratio at 50/50 allows us to find a compromise between activity and selectivity. Phenyl ethyl ketone (propiophenone) was reduced quantitatively in 2 days to (R)-l-phenyl propanol with 7tf% enantiomeric excess We have then shown that the imprinting effect is obvious for molecules related in structure to the template (propiophenone, 4 -trifluoromethyl acetophenone). It is not efficient if the structure of the substrate is too different to that of the template. 

In contrast to the case of the water soluble [RhClP3] complexes (P = PTA, TPPMS or TPPTS) which did not promote the reduction of C=0 function in aldehydes or ketones in biphasic systems, [RhCl(PPh3)3] was found an active catalyst for reduction of ketones with aqueous HCOONa (Scheme 3.32). The reaction was aided by phase transfer catalysis using Aliquat-336 and required a large excess of PPh3 to prevent reduction of rhodium into inactive metal. Substrates like acetophenone, butyrophenone, cyclohexanone and dibenzyl-ketone were reduced to the corresponding secondary carbinols with turnover frequencies of 10-40 h 1 [251]. 

Both, Hayashi and Carreira developed, independently, chiral dienes as novel ligands in asymmetric catalysis (Figure 8.6) [66]. Early investigations by Miyaura revealed that the rhodium-catalyzed conjugate addition of arylboronic acids to a,P-unsaturated ketones could be very efficiently catalyzed by a rhodium(I) complex of cyclooctadiene [67]. As a consequence, the development of chiral cod-analogues... 

Polborn and Severin [23] recently reported ruthenium- and rhodium-based TSAs for the transfer hydrogenation reaction. These complexes were used as catalyst precursors in combination with molecular imprinting techniques. Phosphinato complexes were prepared as analogs for the ketone-associated complex. They demonstrated that the results obtained in catalysis were better in terms of selectivity and activity when these TSAs were imprinted in the polymer. This shows that organometallic complexes can indeed serve as stable TSAs (Figure 4.9). 

That Rh-allyl complexes can also act as nucleophiles in addition to aldehydes has been demonstrated by Oshima et al. in 2006 [198]. Retro-aUylation of the homoallyl alcohol 191 under rhodium catalysis generates a nucleophilic aUylrhodium species that reacts with aldehydes 190 to give the corresponding secondary alcohols 192 in situ (Scheme 12.94). Subsequent isomerization of these alcohols proceeds under the reaction conditions to furnish the corresponding saturated ketones 193 in modest to good yields. 

Extrusion of CO from acyl-2-phenylpyridines is another way to form an Ar-C(sp ) bond. Rh(I) catalysis was found to be effective in the conversion of styryl ketones into the corresponding stil-benes [12]. Aroyl chlorides react with acyclic alkenes in the presence of a rhodium-ethylene complex, [ RhCljCjH lj Ij], in refluxing o-xylene under to give Mizoroki-Heck-type products [27a]. 

Diazo compounds, with or without metal catalysis, are well-known sources of carbenes. For synthetic purposes a metal catalyst is used. The diazo compounds employed are usually a- to an electron-withdrawing group, such as an ester or a ketone, for stability. In the early days, copper powder was the catalyst of choice, but now salts of rhodium are favoured. The chemistry that results looks very like the chemistry of free carbenes, involving cyclopropanation of alkenes, cyclopropenation of alkynes, C-H insertion reactions and nucleophilic trapping. As with other reactions in this chapter, free carbenes are not involved. Rhodium-carbene complexes are responsible for the chemistry. This has enormous consequences for the synthetic applications of the carbenes - not only does the metal tame the ferocity of the carbene, but it also allows control of the chemo-, regio- and stereoselectivity of the reaction by the choice of ligands. 

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