Metal insertion hydrogenolysis

The following discussion deals not only with this reaction, but related reactions in which a transition metal complex achieves the addition of carbon monoxide to an alkene or alkyne to yield carboxylic acids and their derivatives. These reactions take place either by the insertion of an alkene (or alkyne) into a metal-hydride bond (equation 1) or into a metal-carboxylate bond (equation 2) as the initial key step. Subsequent steps include carbonyl insertion reactions, metal-acyl hydrogenolysis or solvolysis and metal-carbon bond protonolysis. 

Utilizing the processes involving the allylic C-0 bond cleavage promoted by transition metal complexes and combining them with subsequent other processes, such as nucleophilic attack, CO insertion, hydrogenolysis, etc., one can de-... 

From these data, some key information can be drawn in both cases, the couple methane/pentane as well as the couple ethane/butane have similar selectivities. This implies that each couple of products (ethane/butane and methane/pentane) is probably formed via a common intermediate, which is probably related to the hexyl surface intermediate D, which is formed as follows cyclohexane reacts first with the surface via C - H activation to produce a cyclohexyl intermediate A, which then undergoes a second C - H bond activation at the /-position to give the key 1,3-dimetallacyclopentane intermediate B. Concerted electron transfer (a 2+2 retrocychzation) leads to a non-cychc -alkenylidene metal surface complex, C, which under H2 can evolve towards a surface hexyl intermediate D. Then, the surface hexyl species D can lead to all the observed products via the following elementary steps (1) hydrogenolysis into hexane (2) /1-hydride elimination to form 1-hexene, followed by re-insertion to form various hexyl complexes (E and F) or (3) a second carbon-carbon bond cleavage, through a y-C - H bond activation to the metallacyclic intermediate G or H (Scheme 40). Under H2, intermediate G can lead either to pentane/methane or ethane/butane mixtures, while intermediate H would form ethane/butane or propane. 

It was found in the case of O-benzyl systems that palladium oxide is much more effective than palladium metal. No such effect was observed with the N-benzyl system.8 It is possible that the N-compounds can poison the electrophile metal ions, and the hydrogenolysis of the N-benzyl bond can take place only by the hydrogenolytic cleavage instead of the insertion mechanism. This is supported by the experimental finding that the product amine can inhibit the catalyst, and this can be minimized by buffering at a pH less than 4. 

Many of these catalysts are derived from metal complexes which, initially, do not contain metal hydride bonds, but can give rise to intermediate MH2 (al-kene) species. These species, after migratory insertion of the hydride to the coordinated alkene and subsequent hydrogenolysis of the metal alkyl species, yield the saturated alkane. At first glance there are two possibilities to reach MH2 (alkene) intermediates which are related to the order of entry of the two reaction partners in the coordination sphere of the metal (Scheme 1.2). 

Dehydrocyclization, 30 35-43, 31 23 see also Cyclization acyclic alkanes, 30 3 7C-adsorbed olefins, 30 35-36, 38-39 of alkylaromatics, see specific compounds alkyl-substituted benzenes, 30 65 carbene-alkyl insertion mechanism, 30 37 carbon complexes, 32 179-182 catalytic, 26 384 C—C bond formation, 30 210 Q mechanism, 29 279-283 comparison of rates, 28 300-306 dehydrogenation, 30 35-36 of hexanes over platintim films, 23 43-46 hydrogenolysis and, 23 103 -hydrogenolysis mechanism, 25 150-158 iridium supported catalyst, 30 42 mechanisms, 30 38-39, 42-43 metal-catalyzed, 28 293-319 n-hexane, 29 284, 286 palladium, 30 36 pathways, 30 40 platinum, 30 40 rate, 30 36-37, 39... 

The side reaction of hydrogenolysis of the methyl-ruthenium intermediate to methane also may become predominant when the carbonyl insertion-methyl migration step of the process (Scheme 1) proceeds at a low rate. To reduce this drawback some Lewis acid promoters (i.e. metal alkali cations, classical Lewis acids such as AII3, SbCl etc.)... 

Alkynes show the same reaction, and again the product obtained is the trans isomer. After a suitable elimination from the metal the alkene obtained is the product of the trans-addition. Earlier we have seen that insertion into a metal-hydride bond and subsequent hydrogenolysis of the M-C bond will afford the c/s-alkene product. Thus, with the borohydride methodology and the hydrogenation route, both isomers can be prepared selectively. 

RING OPENING, HYDROGENOLYSIS AND DESULFURIZATION OF THIOPHENES BY METAL COMPLEXES Ring-opening reactions leading to t1 C,S thiophene-inserted metal complexes. 

Kinetic data have been reported for cyclohexene reduction with a 1 6 Cr(acac)3- Bu3Al catalyst in heptane at 30 C, which showed a first-order dependence on catalyst and H2. Hydrogenation rates generally decrease with increasing substitution of the alkene substrate. Similar kinetic results were independently obtained for the Cr(acac)3- Bu3Al catalyst. A proposed mechanism involves alkylation of the metal-halide [equation (a)], hydride formation [equation (b)], followed by reversible insertion of the olefin substrate into the metal-hydride bond [equation (c)], and hydrogenolysis of the resulting metal-alkyl bond [equation (d)]. ... 

In coordination polymerization, monomer forms an adduct with a transition-metal complex, and further monomer is then successively inserted between metal and carbon. Termination occurs when the metal complex splits off from the polymer or the chain is broken intentionally by hydrogenolysis. Since the initiator is restored to its original form, the process is catalytic. The most important industrial processes are Ziegler-Natta polymerizations of a-olefins and employ solid catalysts. Most catalysts for coordination polymerization are hydride complexes of transition metals. An important example is the Shell Higher Olefin Process (SHOP) for homogeneous oligomerization of ethene with a complex nickel catalyst. The molecular-weight distribution is a Schulz-Flory distribution. The rate is first order in the catalyst metal. 

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