Carbon on palladium

LABORATORY CHEMICAL SAFETY SUMMARY PALLADIUM ON CARBON  

Toxicity Data LD50 oral (rat) 200 mg/kg (palladium chloride) LC50 intratracheal (rat) 6 mg/kg (palladium chloride) 

Major Hazards May ignite on exposure to air, particularly when containing adsorbed hydrogen readily causes ignition of flammable solvents in the presence of air. 

Toxicity Very little information is available on the toxicity of palladium and its compounds. There is some evidence that chronic exposure to palladium particles in dust can have toxic effects on the blood and respiratory systems. Finely divided carbon is irritating to mucous membranes and the upper respiratory tract. 

Flammability and Explosibility PaUadium on carhon catalysts containing adsorbed hydrogen are pyrophoric, particularly when dry and at elevated temperatures. Palladium on carbon catalysts prepared by formaldehyde reduction are less pyrophoric than those reduced with hydrogen. Finely divided carbon, like most materials in powder form, is capable of creating a dust explosion. 

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Enones were readily reduced in EtOH solution with catalytic palladium (10% on carbon) under an atmosphere of H2 and the perhydroisoquinolones were isolated by chromatography or crystallization. 

Dehalogenation of chlorinated arenes.3 Palladium (10%) on carbon catalyzes the rapid transfer of hydrogen from ammonium formate to aryl chlorides to provide the parent arene. Dehalogenation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol proceeds through di-chloro- and chlorophenol and is complete within 10 minutes at ambient temperature and pressure. 

Palladium (10%) on carbon (170 mg) was added to the Step 8 product (0.861 mmol) dissolved in 15 ml methyl alcohol and hydrogenated under a hydrogen balloon for 75 minutes. The mixture was filtered through celite and eluted with methyl alcohol. The solution was concentrated and the product isolated in 94% yield as a white solid. 

A. Palladium chloride on carbon. Prepare a solution of 4-2 g. of anhj drous palladium chloride (1) in 10 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 26 ml. of water by heating on a boiling water bath for 2 hours or imtil solution is complete. Add 70 ml. of water and pour all the resulting solution over 46 g. of nitric acid - washed activated carbon (2) contained in an evaporating dish or Pyrex crystallising dish. Mix the palladium chloride solution thoroughly with the carbon, and dry the mixture first on a water bath and then in an oven at 100° stir occasionally. Powder the mass (49 g.) and store in a tightly-stoppered bottle. 

D. 4a(S),8a(R)-2-Benzoyloctahydro-6(2H)-isoquinolinone (4). Palladium (Pd), 10% on carbon, 4.0 g, (Note 21) is placed in a 500-mL Parr bottle under N2 and carefully wetted with 50 mL of cold denatured ethanol (EtOH). A slurry of 34.7 g of enone 3 (0.14 mol) in denatured EtOH (250 mL) is added and the Parr shaker apparatus assembled. After the system is purged with nitrogen-hydrogen (N2/H2), the reaction is shaken at 50 psi H2 and 50°C until H2 uptake is complete (1 hr, Note 22). The catalyst is filtered over a Celite pad (Note 23) and rinsed with warm chloroform (CHCI3) (4 x 75 mL). The filtrate is concentrated under reduced pressure, dissolved in 90 mL of CH2CI2 and crystallized with 200 mL of hexanes. The crystalline solid is filtered, rinsed with hexanes and dried to afford 34.3 g (98%, Note 24) of the ketone 4, representing a 51% yield over four steps. 

C. Palladium chloride on carbon (5% Pd). A solution of 8.2 g. (0.046 mole) of palladium chloride in 20 ml. (0.24 mole) of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 50 ml. of water is prepared (Note 2). The solution is diluted with 140 ml. of water and poured over 92 g. of nitric acid-washed Darco G-60 (Note 10) in an 8-in. evaporating dish (Note 3). After the palladiiun chloride solution has been thoroughly mixed with the carbon, the whole mixture is dried, first on a steam bath and then in an oven at 100°, with occasional mixing imtil completely dry. The mass (98-100 g.) is powdered and stored in a closed bottle. 

C. Palladium on carbon catalyst (5 per cent. Pd). Suspend 41-5 g. of nitric acid - washed activated carbon in 600 ml. of water in a 2-litre beaker and heat to 80°. Add a solution of 4 1 g. of anhydrous palladium chloride (1) in 10 ml. of concentrated hydrochloric acid and 25 ml. of water (prepared as in A), followed by 4 ml. of 37 per cent, formaldehyde solution. Stir the suspension mechanically, render it alkaUne to litmus with 30 per cent, sodium hydroxide solution and continue the stirring for a further 5 minutes. Filter off the catalyst on a Buchner funnel, wash it ten times with 125 ml. portions of water, and dry and store as in B. The yield is 46 g. 

Choice of catalyst and solvent allowed considerable flexibility in hydrogenation of 8. With calcium carbonate in ethanol-pyridine, the sole product was the trans isomer 9, but with barium sulfate in pure pyridine the reaction came to a virtual halt after absorption of 2 equiv of hydrogen and traws-2-[6-cyanohex-2(Z)-enyl]-3-(methoxycarbonyl)cyclopentanone (7) was obtained in 90% yield together with 10% of the dihydro compound. When palladium-on-carbon was used in ethyl acetate, a 1 1 mixture of cis and trans 9 was obtained on exhaustive hydrogenation (S6). It is noteworthy that in preparation of 7 debenzylation took precedence over double-bond saturation. 

Hydrogenation of 2,5-diacetoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3-hexyne 10 over 0% palladium-on-carbon is exceptionally complex. Seven different products are formed together with acetic acid. All are hydrogenolysis products arising from the initially formed 2,5-diacetoxy-2,5-dimethyl-3-hexene 11. One of these, 2,5-dimethyl-2-acetoxy-4-hexene 12 forms in as much as 4S yield. 

C and 600 psig. Hydrocarbon by-products increase if the catalyst is reused and with increased temperature but decrease with increased pressure. Rhodium or palladium with rhenium also shows synergistic effects (27). A catalyst made from Re207 and Pd(N03)2-on-carbon gave a 97% yield of 1,6-hexanediol from adipic acid 10). 

Reductive alkylation by alcohol solvents may occur as an unwanted side reaction 22,39), and it is to avoid this reaction that Freifelder (20) recom mends ruthenium instead of nickel in pyridine hydrogenation. Alkylation by alcohols may occur with surprising ease 67). Reduction of 18 in ethanol over 10% palladium-on carbon to an amino acid, followed bycyclization with /V,/V-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide gave a mixture of 19 and 20 wiih the major product being the /V-ethyl derivative 49,50). By carrying out the reduction in acetic acid, 20 was obtained as the sole cyclized product 40). 

In a synthesis of minocycline, interesting use was made of a reductive alkylation of a nitro function, accompanied by loss of a diazonium group. The sequence provides a clever way of utilizing the unwanted 9-nitro isomer that arises from nitration of 6-demethyl-6-deoxytetracycline (//). When di-azotization was complete, urea and 40% aqueous formaldehyde were added, and the entire solution was mixed with 10% palladium-on-carbon and reduced under hydrogen. No further use of this combined reaction seems to have been made. 

Formation of diamines from dinitro compounds, which are unable to interact intramolecularly, presents no problem. Very large volumes of diaminotoluene, a precursor to toluene diisocyanate, are produced by hydrogenation of dinitrotoluene over either nickel or palladium-on-carbon. Selective hydrogenation of one or the other of two nitro groups is much more of a challenge, but a number of outstanding successes have been recorded. A case in point is the hydrogenation of 2,4-dinitroaniline (11) to 4-nitro-l,2-benzenediamine (12) (2) or to 2-nitro-l,4-benzenediamine (10). 

Bj Pivaloyloxymethyl D(—)-Ot-aminobenzylpenicillinate. hydrochloride To a solution of pivaloyloxymethyl D(—)-a-azidobenzylpenicillinate (prepared as described above) in ethyl acetate (75 ml) a 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 2.2) (75 ml) and 10% palladium on carbon catalyst (4 g) were added, and the mixture was shaken in a hydrogen atmosphere for 2 hours at room temperature. The catalyst was filtered off, washed with ethyl acetate (25 ml) and phosphate buffer (25 ml), and the phases of the filtrate were separated. The aqueous phase was washed with ether, neutralized (pH 6.5 to 7.0) with aqueoussodium bicarbonate, and extracted with ethyl acetate (2 X 75 ml). To the combined extracts, water (75 ml) was added, and the pH adjusted to 25 with 1 N hydrochloric acid. The aqueous layer was separated, the organic phase extracted with water (25 ml), and the combined extracts were washed with ether, and freeze-dried. The desired compound was obtained as a colorless, amorphous powder. 

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