Nickel complexes alkylation

The process involves reacting butenes and mixtures of propenes and butenes with either a phosphoric acid type catalyst (UOP Process) or a nickel complex-alkyl aluminum type catalyst (IFP Dimersol Process) to produce primarily hexene, heptene, and octene olefins. The reaction first proceeds through the formation of a carbocation which then combines with an olefin to form a new carbocation species. The acid proton donated to the olefin initially is then released and the new olefin forms. Hydrotreatment of the newly formed olefin species results in stable, high-octane blending components. 

Flowever, information concerning the characteristics of these systems under the conditions of a continuous process is still very limited. From a practical point of view, the concept of ionic liquid multiphasic catalysis can be applicable only if the resultant catalytic lifetimes and the elution losses of catalytic components into the organic or extractant layer containing products are within commercially acceptable ranges. To illustrate these points, two examples of applications mn on continuous pilot operation are described (i) biphasic dimerization of olefins catalyzed by nickel complexes in chloroaluminates, and (ii) biphasic alkylation of aromatic hydrocarbons with olefins and light olefin alkylation with isobutane, catalyzed by acidic chloroaluminates. 

Stable enolates such as diethyl malonate anions react with allyl sulfones (or acetates) in the presence of nickel complexes to give a mixture of the a- and /-product83. The regioselectivity is generally poor in the nickel-catalyzed reaction, but the molybdenum-catalyzed reaction is selective for alkylation at the more substituted allylic site, thereby creating a quaternary carbon center84. 

Vinylic copper reagents react with CICN to give vinyl cyanides, though BrCN and ICN give the vinylic halide instead." Vinylic cyanides have also been prepared by the reaction between vinylic lithium compounds and phenyl cyanate PhOCN." Alkyl cyanides (RCN) have been prepared, in varying yields, by treatment of sodium trialkylcyanoborates with NaCN and lead tetraacetate." Vinyl bromides reacted with KCN, in the presence of a nickel complex and zinc metal to give the vinyl nitrile. Vinyl triflates react with LiCN, in the presence of a palladium catalyst, to give the vinyl nitrile." ... 

Mention was made earlier about insertion reactions into nickel alkyl bonds 108, 164), and about polymerizations of oleiins by isocyanide nickel complexes 31,174). 

Nickel complexes of this group are of interest in biomimetic work. By means of ligand (320) the complete reaction cycle of acteyl CoA synthase could be executed (Scheme 2). Ligand (320) can also be synthesized by a template reaction. Upon reduction of the Ni11 complex (321) with Na/Hg, the ligand backbone is cleaved, resulting in a thermally stable trinuclear Ni11 alkyl thiolato complex (322). 

Alkylnickel amido complexes ligated by bipyridine have been prepared that undergo reductive elimination of V-alkyl amines (Equation (54)).207,208 Unlike the phosphine-ligated palladium arylamides, these complexes underwent reductive elimination only after oxidation to nickel(III). Thermally induced reductive elimination of alkylamines from phosphine-ligated nickel complexes appears to occur after consumption of phosphine by arylazides 209... 

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. 

A cyclization reaction involving a half-formed bridge in which alkyl halide functions interact with (initially) coordinated oxygen atoms is illustrated by [2.9] (Kluiber Sasso, 1970). The X-ray structure of the red paramagnetic nickel complex (65) indicates that the macrocycle coordi-... 

Reactions of alcohols, ethers, and aliphatic halides with carbon monoxide were described as far back as 1948-1953 (173, 195). High pressure and temperature were required, however, for these processes. The use of alkaline media allowed carbonylation of alkyl iodides under mild conditions (example 22, Table VII). More recently, carbonylation of alkyl-nickel complexes was reported (example 26, Table VII). 

Biaryl synthesis from aryl halides is a more interesting reaction due to the value of these molecules and their difficult access by chemical methods. The first electrosyntheses were simultaneously done in 1979-80 by three groups [21-23] who used NiCljPPha (1-20%) as catalyst precursor in the presence of excess PPhs. Later, several groups investigated the use of bidentate phosphines like dppe associated with nickel in the synthesis of various biaryls, and notably 2,2 -bipyridine and of 2,2 -biquinoline from respectively 2-chloropyridine and 2-chloroquinoline [24], More recently new nickel complexes with l,2-bis(di-2-alkyl-phosphino)benzene have been studied from both fundamental and synthetic points of view [25]. They have been applied to the coupling of aryl halides. 

A more efficient method combining the use of a sacrificial anode and the catalysis by nickel complexes was reported recently. Optimal reaction conditions were found to minimize the unwanted homo-couplings, by slowly adding the most reactive reagent, i.e., the activated alkyl halide, and by running the electrolyses at 60-80 °C. The method was applied to the cross-coupling between arylhalides and either a-chloroesters (Table 4) [58,59], ot-chloroketones... 

Alternatively, CO2 can be used as source of CO. Indeed, it is well known that low-valent transition metal complexes can catalyze the chemical or electrochemical reduction of CO2 into CO. This approach was used to generate the mixed nickel complex Ni°bpy(CO)2 by the electrochemical reduction of Nibpy in NMP or DMF in the presence of CO2. The reduced complex can react with alkyl, benzyl, and allylhalides to give the symmetrical ketone along with the regeneration of Nibpy ". A two-step method alternating electroreduction and chemical coupling leading to the ketone has thus been set up (Scheme 9) [126,127]. 

As mentioned in Sections 3.1.6 and 4.1.3, cyclopropenes can also be suitable starting materials for the generation of carbene complexes. Cyclopropenone di-methylacetal [678] and 3-alkyl- or 3-aryl-disubstituted cyclopropenes [679] have been shown to react, upon catalysis by Ni(COD)2, with acceptor-substituted olefins to yield the products of formal, non-concerted vinylcarbene [2-1-1] cycloaddition (Table 3.6). It has been proposed that nucleophilic nickel carbene complexes are formed as intermediates. Similarly, bicyclo[1.1.0]butane also reacts with Ni(COD)2 to yield a nucleophilic homoallylcarbene nickel complex [680]. This intermediate is capable of cyclopropanating electron-poor alkenes (Table 3.6). 

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). 

Fhe electrochemical generation of alkyl radicals catalysed by square planar nickel complexes has been used to achieve radical-alkene addition reactions. Complex 64 was the catalyst of choice. Intramolecular cyclizations to give five raem-... 

The effect of tin compounds, especially tetra-alkyl and tetra-aryl tin compounds, is similar to that of phosphine, though lower temperature and pressure are required for the catalyst s optimum activity. Tin can promote the activity of the nickel catalyst to a level that matches that of rhodium under mild conditions of system pressure and temperature e.g. 400 psig at 160 C. The tin-nickel complex is less stable than the phosphine containing catalyst. In the absence of carbon monoxide and at high temperature, as in carbonyl-ation effluent processing, the tin catalyst did not demonstrate the high stability of the phosphine complex. As in the case of phosphine, addition of tin in amounts larger than required to maintain catalyst stability has no effect on reaction activity. 

In the case of phosphine, the active catalyst is presumably either bisphosphine dicarbonyl or the phosphine tricarbonyl complex. Kinet-ically the bis-phosphine nickel complex cannot be the predominant species. However, in the presence of very high phosphine concentration it may have an important role in the catalyst cycle. After ligand loss and methyl iodide oxidative addition, both complexes presumably give the same 5 coordinate alkyl species. 

The four-coordinate alkyl complex, LNiI(C0)CH3, may coordinate with carbon monoxide to regenerate the five coordinate alkyl species, and this leads to insertion to form Ni-acyl complex. This complex, LNil (CO)(COCH3), can be cleaved either by water yielding acetic acid or by methanol to give methyl acetate. However, in the presence of high iodide concentration formation of acetyl iodide may predominate (29). This step is reversible and can lead to decarbonylation under low carbon monoxide partial pressure. Similar decarbonylations of acyl halides by nickel complexes are known (34). 

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