Molybdenum complexes with olefins

The tert-huty hydroperoxide is then mixed with a catalyst solution to react with propylene. Some TBHP decomposes to TBA during this process step. The catalyst is typically an organometaHic that is soluble in the reaction mixture. The metal can be tungsten, vanadium, or molybdenum. Molybdenum complexes with naphthenates or carboxylates provide the best combination of selectivity and reactivity. Catalyst concentrations of 200—500 ppm in a solution of 55% TBHP and 45% TBA are typically used when water content is less than 0.5 wt %. The homogeneous metal catalyst must be removed from solution for disposal or recycle (137,157). Although heterogeneous catalysts can be employed, elution of some of the metal, particularly molybdenum, from the support surface occurs (158). References 159 and 160 discuss possible mechanisms for the catalytic epoxidation of olefins by hydroperoxides. 

The formation of molybdenum complexes with diols (formed by olefin oxidation) was proved for the use of the molybdenum catalysts. Therefore, the participation of these complexes in the developed epoxidation reaction was assumed [242]. 

Epoxidation of olefins (2, 287). The procedure for epoxidation of olefins with t-butyl hydroperoxide catalyzed by molybdenum hexacarbonyl has been published. Kinetic data have been obtained from the reaction. The mechanism is believed to involve I) reversible complex formation between the catalyst and the hydroperoxide, 2) reversible inhibition by the coproduct alcohol, and 3) reaction of the hydroperoxide-molybdenum complex with the olefin to form the epoxide and by-product alcohol. 

Molybdenum -peroxo complexes give oxiranes in high yields. " For anhydrous hydrogen peroxide, a three-step mechanism is assumed, with an a-hydroxyhydroperoxide intermediate. Detailed studies have been made on the mechanism of the reaction of the MoO(02)2-HMPT complex with olefins (Eq. 27). 2 ... 

Molybdenum hexacarbonyl [Mo(CO)6] has been vised in combination with TBHP for the epoxidation of terminal olefins [44]. Good yields and selectivity for the epoxide products were obtained when reactions were performed under anhydrous conditions in hydrocarbon solvents such as benzene. The inexpensive and considerably less toxic Mo02(acac)2 is a robust alternative to Mo(CO)6 [2]. A number of different substrates ranging from simple ot-olefms to more complex terpenes have been oxidized with very low catalytic loadings of this particular molybdenum complex (Scheme 6.2). The epoxidations were carried out with use of dry TBHP (-70%) in toluene. 

We will focus on the development of ruthenium-based metathesis precatalysts with enhanced activity and applications to the metathesis of alkenes with nonstandard electronic properties. In the class of molybdenum complexes [7a,g,h] recent research was mainly directed to the development of homochi-ral precatalysts for enantioselective olefin metathesis. This aspect has recently been covered by Schrock and Hoveyda in a short review and will not be discussed here [8h]. In addition, several important special topics have recently been addressed by excellent reviews, e.g., the synthesis of medium-sized rings by RCM [8a], applications of olefin metathesis to carbohydrate chemistry [8b], cross metathesis [8c,d],enyne metathesis [8e,f], ring-rearrangement metathesis [8g], enantioselective metathesis [8h], and applications of metathesis in polymer chemistry (ADMET,ROMP) [8i,j]. Application of olefin metathesis to the total synthesis of complex natural products is covered in the contribution by Mulzer et al. in this volume. 

The catalyst is preliminarily oxidized to the state of the highest valence (vanadium to V5+ molybdenum to Mo6+). Only the complex of hydroperoxide with the metal in its highest valence state is catalytically active. Alcohol formed upon epoxidation is complexed with the catalyst. As a result, competitive inhibition appears, and the effective reaction rate constant, i.e., v/[olefin][ROOH], decreases in the course of the process due to the accumulation of alcohol. Water, which acts by the same mechanism, is still more efficient inhibitor. Several hypothetical variants were proposed for the detailed mechanism of epoxidation. 

From the energetics point of view, the epoxidation act should occur more easily (with a lower activation energy) in the coordination sphere of the metal when the cleavage of one bond is simultaneously compensated by the formation of another bond. For example, Gould proposed the following (schematic) mechanism for olefin epoxidation on molybdenum complexes [240] ... 

Sajus et al. [243,244] synthesized the peroxo complex of molybdenum(VI) and studied its reaction with a series of olefins. This peroxo complex M0O5 was proved to react with olefins with epoxide formation. The selectivity of the reaction increases with a decrease in the complex concentration. It was found to be as much as 95% at epoxidation of cyclohexene by M0O3 in a concentration 0.06 mol L-1 at 288 K in dichloroethylene [244], The rate of the reaction was found to be... 

Although the molybdenum and ruthenium complexes 1-3 have gained widespread popularity as initiators of RCM, the cydopentadienyl titanium derivative 93 (Tebbe reagent) [28,29] can also be used to promote olefin metathesis processes (Scheme 13) [28]. In a stoichiometric sense, 93 can be also used to promote the conversion of carbonyls into olefins [28b, 29]. Both transformations are thought to proceed via the reactive titanocene methylidene 94, which is released from the Tebbe reagent 93 on treatment with base. Subsequent reaction of 94 with olefins produces metallacyclobutanes 95 and 97. Isolation of these adducts, and extensive kinetic and labeling studies, have aided in the eluddation of the mechanism of metathesis processes [28]. 

When alkenes are allowed to react with certain catalysts (mostly tungsten and molybdenum complexes), they are converted to other alkenes in a reaction in which the substituents on the alkenes formally interchange. This interconversion is called metathesis 126>. For some time its mechanism was believed to involve a cyclobutane intermediate (Eq. (16)). Although this has since been proven wrong and found that the catalytic metathesis rather proceeds via metal carbene complexes and metallo-cyclobutanes as discrete intermediates, reactions of olefins forming cyclobutanes,... 

Olefin metathesis proceeds via reversible formation of metallacyclobutanes by [2 + 2] cycloaddition (Figure 1.7). The precise pathway for such a cycloaddition has been calculated for molybdenum complexes such as 1 (Figure 1.6) [9]. These calculations suggest that although Mo-C and C-C bond formation is concerted the Mo-C bond is formed more quickly than the C-C bond. It was also found, beautifully consistent with experimental results, that the activation barrier for [2 + 2] cycloaddition is lowered by increasingly electron-withdrawing alkoxy ligands. 

Although solutions of molybdenum complexes A in methylcyclohexane or benzene are stable for several weeks at room temperature [416], these complexes are sensitive towards oxygen and protic solvents [813,814]. Aldehydes are quickly olefinated by complexes A, whereas variable reactivity is observed towards ketones [416,736]. With carboxylic esters usually no reaction occurs. 

We studied the oxidation of cyclohexene at 70°C in the presence of cyclopentadienylcarbonyl complexes of several transition metals. As with the acetylacetonates, the metal center was the determining factor in the product distribution. The decomposition of cyclohexenyl hydroperoxide by the metal complexes in cyclohexene gave insight into the nature of the reaction. With iron and molybdenum complexes the product profile from hydroperoxide decomposition paralleled that observed in olefin oxidation. When vanadium complexes were used, this was not the case. Variance in product distribution between the cyclopentadienylcarbonyl metal-promoted oxidations as a function of the metal center were more pronounced than with the acetylacetonates. Results are summarized in Table V. 

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