Nitrile-water complexes

A solution of 3 g of the nitrile, water (5 moles per mole of nitrile), and 20 g of boron trifluoride-acetic acid complex is heated (mantle or oil bath) at 115-120° for 10 minutes. The solution is cooled in an ice bath with stirring and is carefully made alkaline by the slow addition of 6 A sodium hydroxide (about 100 ml). The mixture is then extracted three times with 100-ml portions of 1 1 ether-ethyl acetate, the extracts are dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, and the solvent is evaporated on a rotary evaporator to yield the desired amide. The product may be recrystallized from water or aqueous methanol. Examples are given in Table 7.1. 

Raman spectroscopy metal in water complexes, 309 Rare earth complexes acetylacetone synthesis, 377 guanidinium, 282 hydroxamic acids, 506 Redox properties bipyridyl metal complexes, 90 Reductive coupling nitrile metal complexes, 265 Resorcinol, 2,4-dinitro-metal complexes, 273 Rhenium complexes acetylacetone, 376 synthesis, 375, 378... 

Together with some other metals such as Cu, Hg, and Pb, bismuth may be identified chromatographically as the dithiocarbamate using reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The chelate is formed in a precolumn packed with Cig-bonded silica and loaded with a centrimide-dithiocarbamate ion pair. The metal complexes are preconcentrated on the precolumn and eluted with an aceto-nitrile/water gradient. The dithiocarba-mates are detected with a UV-Visible diode array detector with a detection limit in the subnanogram range (Iffland 1993). 

Hydrolysis of nitriles to amides. Nitriles form complexes with palladium chloride. When heated with water, these complexes are partially hydrolyzed to amides with liberation of PdCl2 The hydrolysis can also be carried out in situ without isolation of the complex. Yields of amides are low in the case of CH3C=N or C6HsC=N (20-30%) yields are in the range of 70-85% in the case of XCHjC N. 

We also found that iridium hydrido(hydroxo) complexes like [ lrH(diphos-phine) 2( x-OH)2( x-Cl)]Cl (43) and the precursor diphosphine complexes 42 can also catalyze the hydration of nitriles. In the presence of catalyhc amounts of these complexes, heating acetonitrile and benzonitrile with excess water at 120°C gave the corresponding amides [47, 50]. 

Alkyne-nitrile cyclotrimerization is a powerful synthetic methodology for the synthesis of complex heterocyclic aromatic molecules.118 Recently, Fatland et al. developed an aqueous alkyne-nitrile cyclotrimerization of one nitrile with two alkynes for the synthesis of highly functionalized pyridines by a water-soluble cobalt catalyst (Eq. 4.62). The reaction was chemospecific and several different functional groups such as unprotected alcohols, ketones, and amines were compatible with the reaction.119 In addition, photocatalyzed [2+2+2] alkyne or alkyne-nitrile cyclotrimerization in water120 and cyclotrimerization in supercritical H2O110121 have been reported in recent years. 

Kostic et al. reported the use of various palladium(II) aqua complexes as catalysts for the hydration and alcoholysis of nitriles,435,456 decomposition of urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia, and alcoholysis of urea to ammonia and various carbamate esters.457 Labile aqua or other solvent ligands can be displaced by a substrate. In many cases, the coordinated substrate thus becomes activated toward nucleophilic addition of water or alcohols. 

Kostic et al. recently reported the use of various palladium(II) aqua complexes as catalysts for the hydration of nitriles.456 crossrefil. 34 Reactivity of coordination These complexes, some of which are shown in Figure 36, also catalyze hydrolytic cleavage of peptides, decomposition of urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia, and alcoholysis of urea to ammonia and various carbamate esters.420-424, 427,429,456,457 Qggj-jy palladium(II) aqua complexes are versatile catalysts for hydrolytic reactions. Their catalytic properties arise from the presence of labile water or other solvent ligands which can be displaced by a substrate. In many cases the coordinated substrate becomes activated toward nucleophilic additions of water/hydroxide or alcohols. New palladium(II) complexes cis-[Pd(dtod)Cl2] and c - Pd(dtod)(sol)2]2+ contain the bidentate ligand 3,6-dithiaoctane-l,8-diol (dtod) and unidentate ligands, chloride anions, or the solvent (sol) molecules. The latter complex is an efficient catalyst for the hydration and methanolysis of nitriles, reactions shown in Equation (3) 435... 

A new water soluble palladium(O) complex was also prepared. This compound and a previously reported related species were examined as catalysts in the hydrogenation of unsaturated nitriles in water. It was found that the pH of the solvent plays a crucial role in determining both yield and reaction course.869... 

Apart from complex formation involving metal ions (as discussed in Chapter 4), crown ethers have been shown to associate with a variety of both charged and uncharged guest molecules. Typical guests include ammonium salts, the guanidinium ion, diazonium salts, water, alcohols, amines, molecular halogens, substituted hydrazines, p-toluene sulfonic acid, phenols, thiols and nitriles. 

Imanaka—heterogenization of Rh complexes. In 1991, Imanaka and coworkers124 reported the heterogenization of Rh complexes by binding them to aminated polymers. As discussed previously, these findings led to fruitful research by Ford, Pardey, and others. The isolated polymer-bound Rh carbonyl anion complex was found to be reusable for reactions such as water-gas shift and reduction of nitro compounds. The polymer-bound Rh complexes were characterized by infrared spectroscopy. Water-gas shift activity (80 mol H2 per mol Rh6(CO)i6 in 24 hours) was recorded using the Rh complexes at 100 °C with 0.92 atm of CO, 2.16 ml H20, 0.05 mmol Rh6(CO)16, aminated polystyrene, 5.0 mmol of N, 5.56 ml ethoxyethanol and reduction of nitro-compounds (e.g., aliphatic nitro compounds to nitriles, oximes to nitriles, hydroxylamines to nitriles, and N-oxides to amines) occurred at 40 °C. 

Unmodified poly(ethyleneimine) and poly(vinylpyrrolidinone) have also been used as polymeric ligands for complex formation with Rh(in), Pd(II), Ni(II), Pt(II) etc. aqueous solutions of these complexes catalyzed the hydrogenation of olefins, carbonyls, nitriles, aromatics etc. [94]. The products were separated by ultrafiltration while the water-soluble macromolecular catalysts were retained in the hydrogenation reactor. However, it is very likely, that during the preactivation with H2, nanosize metal particles were formed and the polymer-stabilized metal colloids [64,96] acted as catalysts in the hydrogenation of unsaturated substrates. 

Hydration of nitriles providing carboxamides is usually carried out m strongly basic or acidic aqueous media - these reactions require rather bars conditions and suffer from incomplete selectivity to the desired amide product. A few papers in the literature deal with the possibihty of transition metal catalysis of this reaction [28-30]. According to a recent report [30], acetonitrile can be hydrated into acetamide with water-soluble rhodium(I) complexes (such as the one obtained from [ RhCl(COD) 2] and TPPTS) under reasonably mild conditions with unprecedently high rate... 

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