Mechanisms alkane activation

Operando DRIFTS measurements suggest that bridged hydroxyl groups are in extensive interaction with hexane molecules during the reaction even at 553 K. However adsorbed alkene or surface alkoxide could not be detected. These findings questions, whether the Haag-Dessau mechanism [4] gives true description of the alkane activation process over zeolite catalysts. 

Synthetic organic chemistry applications employing alkane C-H functionalizations are now well established. For example, alkanes can be oxidized to alkyl halides and alcohols by the Shilov system employing electrophilic platinum salts. Much of the Pt(ll)/Pt(rv) alkane activation chemistry discussed earlier has been based on Shilov chemistry. The mechanism has been investigated and is thought to involve the formation of a platinum(ll) alkyl complex, possibly via a (T-complex. The Pt(ll) complex is oxidized to Pt(iv) by electron transfer, and nucleophilic attack on the Pt(iv) intermediate yields the alkyl chloride or alcohol as well as regenerates the Pt(n) catalyst. This process is catalytic in Pt(ll), although a stoichiometric Pt(rv) oxidant is often required (Scheme 6).27,27l 2711... 

Until now, for most of the systems described here it has been accepted that alkane activation occurred through oxidative addition to the 14-electron intermediate complexes. Yet, Belli and Jensen [26] showed, for the first time, evidence for an alternative reaction path for the catalytic dehydrogenation of COA with complex [lrClH2(P Pr3)2] (22) which invoked an Ir(V) species. Catalytic and labeling experiments led these authors to propose an active mechanism (Scheme 13.12), on the basis of which they concluded that the dehydrogenation of COA by compound 22 did not involve an intermediate 14-electron complex [17-21], but rather the association of COA to an intermediate alkyl-hydride complex (Scheme 13.12). 

Hydroxylation of alkanes can be performed by TBHP or cumyl hydroperoxide in the presence of iron porphyrin catalysts.S0 502 The characteristics of this reaction are very different from PhIO/Fe(TPP) systems. No epoxidation of alkenes occurs, and the alcohol distribution is completely independent of the nature of the iron porphyrin used (equation 228). A Fenton-type mechanism involving active species not including the metal has been suggested (equation 229). 

On the other hand, above 20mol% SbF5, a small but increasing amount of unionized SbF5 can be observed, which may rationalize the change in the mechanism of alkane activation from the protolytic to the oxidative pathway, when the concentration of SbF5 increases over 20mol% (see Section 5.1.1). 

The field is defined here around the activation of butane, propane and ethane plus the oxidation of propene. The reason for this boundary is the similarity of the chemistry and the great need to understand the mechanism of selectivity of activated oxygen in these multi-step reactions. The processes cannot be conducted at high temperatures such as with methane activation as the target products are not stable under conditions where alkane activation is fast. The selective oxidation of... 

Both normal and inverse KIEs have played a major role in unraveling the mechanisms of alkane activation with transition metal complexes. Alkyl hydride complexes are typical intermediates in such reactions. The loss of alkane in well-defined alkyl hydrides frequently exhibits an inverse KIE and involves a O-alkane complex.86 87 As a result, an inverse isotope effect is now taken as evidence for the intermediacy of o-alkane complexes in reductive eliminations (Scheme 8.14). 

The reaction mechanism is supported by recent results of alkane activation by Pd+ ions in the gas phase. According to Tolbert et al. (171), Pd+ ions exhibit uniquely high Lewis acidity in the activation of neopentane. The reaction proceeds via an insertion of Pd+ between the methyl and tert-butyl fragments of the neopentane molecule, just as shown above. 

Two particular features of a-meihyl complexes are considered lo support 381 the carbene mechanisms in alkane activation (a) the a-elimination of hydrogen... 

The first example of the asymmetric synthesis of P-chiral trialkyl phosphates (12) via trialkyl phosphite, in which the keystone is dynamic kinetic resolution in the condensation of a dialkyl phosphorochloridite (13) and an alcohol by the catalytic assistance of a chiral amine has been reported (Figure 2)." 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) was employed as an activating reagent with ben-zyloxy-bis-(diisopropylamino) phosphite to synthesize the cyclic phosphate derivatives (14) from a series of alkane diols HO-(CH2)n-OH (n=2-6). Included was a cyclic phosphate derivative of carbohydrate (15). The mechanism of activation by 2,4-DNP and cyclization was also described (Figure 3). ... 

One final report of alkane activation has been reported by Moiseev. The mechanism of the reaction was not investigated, but this system might be classified as an electrophilic activation of methane, either of the Shilov type or of the concerted four-center type (Fig. lc) where X=triflate. Reaction of methane with cobalt(III)triflate in triflic acid solution leads to the formation of methyltriflate in nearly stoichiometric quantities (90% based on Co) (Eq. 18). Carbon dioxide was also observed, but not quantified. Addition of 02 led to catalysis (four turnovers) [79]. 

In the literature [25, 26a,c-g], inverse kinetic isotope effects for the reductive elimination of alkanes from metal centers, which is the miaoscopic reverse of alkane activation by oxidative addition, have been explained by the presence of an a alkane intermediate. Recently, thermolysis of the diastereomerically pure complexes (R5),(5R)-[2,2-dimethylcyclopropyl) (Cp )-(PMe3)lrH] and (/ / ),(5 5)-[2,2-dimethylcyclopropyl)(Cp )(PMe3)IrH] (see Scheme VI.5) in CaDs has been shown [26h] to result in its interconversion to the other diastereomer. The analogous reaction of the deuterium-labeled complexes resulted additionally in scrambling of the deuterium from the a-position of the dimethylcyclopropyl ring to the metal hydride position. Diastereomer interconversion and isotopic scrambling occurred at similar rates and have been discussed in terms of a common intermediate mechanism involving a metal alkane complex (Scheme VI.5). 

In a series of recent publications, Bergman, Harris, Frei, Bromberg and their coworkers investigated the mechanism of alkane activation by complexes of rhodium and iridium [37, 38]. The study of ultrafast (femtosecond-picosecond)... 

The intimate mechanism of the reaction deserves special attention not only because it was the first example of alkane activation by a metal complex. Activation of alkanes by platinum(II) complexes remains unique in many aspects. The reaction takes place in neutral water solution with conventional chloride ligands at the metal without special ways to form coordinatively unsaturated species (e.g., by irradiation). A number of works were directed towards the elucidation of the nature of the interaction between an alkane and a platinum(II) complex. The unique feature of platinum(II) complexes is to exhibit both nucleophilic and electrophilic properties. 

VIII.2.C. ON THE MECHANISMS OF ALKANE ACTIVATION IN AQUEOUS AND ACIDIC MEDIA... 

Stahl, S. S. Lippard, S. J. Dioxygen and Alkane Activation by Iron-containing Enzymes. In Iron Metabolism Inorganic Biochemistry and Regulatory Mechanisms Ferreira, G. C. Moura, J. J. G. Franco, R., Eds. Wiley-VCH Weinheim, 1999 pp. 303-321. 

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