Nickel catalysts alkyl halide reactions

Generally, smaller particles are obtained with polar, more highly solvating solvents. However, these solvents do not necessarily yield the most active metal slurries. The reactivities vary, and the metal slurries can be fine tuned somewhat for use in specific types of reactions. For example, nickel particles from pentane are very active as hydrogenation catalysts, whereas nickel particles from THF are not active as hydrogenation catalysts but are very active in alkyl halide reactions. 

Heterocyclic Amines. Heterocyclic amines can be alkylated with alkyl halides or with alcohols in the presence of hydrogen plus a nickel catalyst. The Wallach reaction for the alkylation of amines by the action of aldehydes or ketones and formic acid has been studied for piperidine. Reactions between toluene and cyclohexanone with piperidine and formic acid yielded 1-benzyl- and 1-cyclohexylpiperidine, respectively. An optimum amount of formic acid is desired since large amounts are harmful and wasteful. 

Nickel catalysts have been used in the reaction of aryl halides with N-alkyl... 

The first palladium-catalyzed formation of aryl alkyl ethers in an intermolecular fashion occurred between activated aryl halides and alkoxides (Equation (28)), and the first formation of vinyl ethers occurred between activated vinyl halides and tin alkoxides (Equation (29)). Reactions of activated chloro- and bromoarenes with NaO-Z-Bu to form /-butyl aryl ethers occurred in the presence of palladium and DPPF as catalyst,107 while reactions of activated aryl halides with alcohols that could undergo /3-hydrogen elimination occurred in the presence of palladium and BINAP as catalyst.110 Reactions of NaO-/-Bu with unactivated aryl halides gave only modest yields of ether when catalyzed by aromatic bisphosphines.110 Similar chemistry occurred in the presence of nickel catalysts. In fact, nickel catalysts produced higher yields of silyl aryl ethers than palladium catalysts.108 The formation of diaryl ethers from activated aryl halides in the presence of palladium catalysts bearing DPPF or a CF3-subsituted DPPF was also reported 109... 

The electrochemistry of cobalt-salen complexes in the presence of alkyl halides has been studied thoroughly.252,263-266 The reaction mechanism is similar to that for the nickel complexes, with the intermediate formation of an alkylcobalt(III) complex. Co -salen reacts with 1,8-diiodo-octane to afford an alkyl-bridged bis[Co" (salen)] complex.267 Electrosynthetic applications of the cobalt-salen catalyst are homo- and heterocoupling reactions with mixtures of alkylchlorides and bromides,268 conversion of benzal chloride to stilbene with the intermediate formation of l,2-dichloro-l,2-diphenylethane,269 reductive coupling of bromoalkanes with an activated alkenes,270 or carboxylation of benzylic and allylic chlorides by C02.271,272 Efficient electroreduc-tive dimerization of benzyl bromide to bibenzyl is catalyzed by the dicobalt complex (15).273 The proposed mechanism involves an intermediate bis[alkylcobalt(III)] complex. 

Steric constraints dictate that reactions of organohalides catalysed by square planar nickel complexes cannot involve a cw-dialkyl or diaryl Ni(iii) intermediate. The mechanistic aspects of these reactions have been studied using a macrocyclic tetraaza-ligand [209] while quantitative studies on primary alkyl halides used Ni(n)(salen) as catalyst source [210]. One-electron reduction affords Ni(l)(salen) which is involved in the catalytic cycle. Nickel(l) interacts with alkyl halides by an outer sphere single electron transfer process to give alkyl radicals and Ni(ii). The radicals take part in bimolecular reactions of dimerization and disproportionation, react with added species or react with Ni(t) to form the alkylnickel(n)(salen). Alkanes are also fonned by protolysis of the alkylNi(ii). 

Neither the palladium nor nickel catalyst described will promote the carbonylation of saturated aliphatic halides as noted above. However, this reaction can be catalyzed with cobalt (17) or iron (77) and probably with manganese (18) carbonyl anion salts. These carbonyl anions are strongly nucleophilic species and readily displace halide or other good leaving groups from primary or secondary positions giving alkyl metal carbonyl complexes. 

Apart from their behaviour as ligands in metal catalyst systems, studies of the reactivity of phosphites towards a wide variety of other substrates have attracted attention. New aspects and applications of the classical Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction and its variants continue to appear. Evidence of the thermal disproportionation of methyltriaryloxyphosphonium halides formed in the reactions of triarylphosphites with alkyl halides, together with the formation of P-O-P intermediates, has been reported. The Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction has been used in the synthesis of phosphonate-based styrene-divinylbenzene resins and polyphosphonated chelation therapy ligands.Treatment of electron-rich benzylic alcohols dissolved in triethylphosphite with one equivalent of iodine affords a low-temperature one-pot route to the related benzylic phosphonates, compounds which are otherwise difficult to prepare. Upper-rim chloromethylated thiacalix[4]arenes have also been shown to undergo phosphonation on treatment with a phosphite ester in chloroform at room temperature. The nickel(II)-catalysed reaction of aryl halides with phosphite esters in high boiling solvents, e.g., diphenyl ether, (the Tavs reaction), has also... 

Nickel catalysts have been used in the reaction of aryl halides with A-alkyl aniline derivatives. Nickel catalyst also allow the conversion of aryl halides to A-arylamines via reaction with aliphatic amines. An intramolecular reaction of a... 

In contrast to the behavior of the foregoing nickel(I) complexes as catalysts, the catalytic reactions of alkyl halides with cobalt(I) species such as vitamin Bi2s, cobaloximes(I), and cobalt(I) salen exhibit a significant difference. Cobalt(I) species, acting as potent nucleophiles in Sn2 reactions with alkyl halides, give stable alkylcobalt(III) intermediates. Lexa and coworkers [318] have discussed this mechanistic scheme for the catalytic reduction of l-bromobutane by the electrogenerated cobalt(I) tetraphenylpor-phin complex, where TPP denotes the ligand. Reversible one-electron reduction of the parent cobalt(II) species... 

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