Phosphine-catalyzed systems mechanism

In 2001, Oi et al. [54] reported on the ruthenium(II) phosphine catalyzed re-gioselective arylation of 2-arylpyridines using aryl halides (Eq. 29). C-C bond formation occurs predominantly at the position ortho to the pyridyl group. The same catalyst system is also effective for the arylation of aromatic imines (Eq. 30) [55]. Although the reaction mechanism has not been elucidated, it was proposed that a tetravalent arylruthenium complex,for example,Ru(Ph)(Br)(Cl)2(I) ,reacts electrophilically with the arylimines. Therefore, C-H bond cleavage is believed to proceed via an electrophilic substitution pathway. 

The important discovery by Wilkinson [1] that rhodium afforded active and selective hydroformylation catalysts under mild conditions in the presence of triphenylphosphine as a hgand triggered a lot of research on hydroformylation, especially on hgand effects and mechanistic aspects. It is commonly accepted that the mechanism for the cobalt catalyzed hydroformylation as postulated by Heck and Breslow [2] can be apphed to phosphine modified rhodium carbonyl as well. Kinetic studies of the rhodium triphenylphosphine catalyst have shown that the addition of the aUcene to the hydride rhodium complex and/or the hydride migration step is probably rate-limiting [3] (Chapter 4). In most phosphine modified systems an inverse reaction rate dependency on phosphine ligand concentration or carbon monoxide pressure is observed [4]. 

A digital functional approach has been employed to investigate important steps in the Heck reaction catalyzed by a bis(carbene)Pd complex and one in which the Pd is coordinated by a bidentate carbene-phosphine ligand. The crucial steps of olefin insertion into the palladium-aryl bond and / -hydride elimination were investigated. For the bis(carbene)Pd catalyst, a mechanism was proposed, which proceeds via halide abstraction, to give a cationic species, prior to olefin coordination and insertion. The total insertion/elimination process was found to be exothermic (—8.9 kcal moP ). For the carbene-phosphine ligated system, the vacant site for olefin coordination was provided by phosphine dissociation. The energetics for the total insertion/elimination process was very similar to that of the bis-carbene system. 

Recently, Y. Yamamoto reported a palladium-catalyzed hydroalkoxylation of methylene cyclopropanes (Scheme 6-25) [105]. Curiously, the catalysis proceeds under very specific conditions, i.e. only a 1 2 mixture of [Pd(PPh3)4] and P(o-tolyl)3 leads to an active system. Other combinations using Pd(0 or II) precursors with P(o-tolyl)3 or l,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane, the use of [Pd(PPh3)4] without P(o-tolyl)3 or with other phosphine ligands were all inefficient for the hydroalkoxylation. The authors assumed a mechanism in which oxidative addition of the alcohol to a Pd(0) center yields a hydrido(alkoxo) complex which is subsequently involved in hydropal-ladation of methylenecyclopropane. 

The carboxylation reaction shown in reaction (11) is catalyzed by both nickel and palladium phosphine complexes. For example, Ni(dppe)Cl2 (where dppe is l,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) and Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 both catalyze reaction (11) [84-86]. Mechanistic studies have been carried out on these two systems, and the results indicate that two different mechanisms are involved. In the case of the Ni complex, the first step is the reduction of Ni(dppe)Cl2 to a transient Ni(dppe) species [85]. This process occurs in two one-electron steps (reaction 12). Bromobenzene then oxidatively adds to Ni(dppe) to form Ni(dppe)(Br)(Ph), reaction (13). The resulting Ni(II) aryl species is reduced in a one-electron process to form Ni(dppe)(Ph), which reacts rapidly with CO2 to form a Ni—CO2 intermediate as shown in reaction (14). The rate-determining step for the overall catalytic reaction is the insertion of CO2 into the Ni-aryl bond, reaction (15) step 1. This reaction is followed by a final one-electron reduction to regenerate Ni(dppe), the true catalyst in the cycle (reaction 15, step 2). 

A combined system formed from Co(acac)3, 4 equiv of diethylalu-minum chloride, and chiral diphosphines such as (S,S)-CHIRAPHOS or (/ )-PROPHOS catalyzes homo-Diels-Alder reaction of norbomadiene and terminal acetylenes to give the adducts in reasonable ee (Scheme 109). Use of NORPHOS in the reaction of phenylacetylene affords the cycloadduct in 98.4% ee (268). It has been postulated that the structure of the active metal species involves noibomadiene, acetylene, and the chelating phosphine. The catalyzed cycloaddition may proceed by a metallacycle mechanism (269) rather than via simple [2+2 + 2] pericyclic transition state. 

The first calculation of the complete hydroformylation cycle with Rh-phosphine catalysts (substrate = ethylene, model ligand = PH3) was published in 1997 [3]. The QM methods used are HF and MP2, respectively (cf. Section 3.1.2.1). Hybrid DFT methods such as B3LYP [4], however, are more appropriate in terms of both accuracy and efficiency [5, 6] (cf. Section 3.1.2.1). Therefore, the same model system was recalculated [7] on the level B3LYP functional/DZVP basis set [8]/quasi-relativistic pseudopotentials on rhodium [9]. Since homologous Ir catalysts are interesting alternatives from an economic point of view [10], calculations with the central metal Ir were also made. This comparative treatment is supported by the experimental assumption of a common mechanism [11], which equals the Heck-Breslow mechanism of the cobalt-catalyzed reaction [12],... 

Chiral phosphine derivatives of Ru hydrogenation catalysts have been developed. These represent a significant departure from the Rh systems that previously dominated the field of asymmetric hydrogenation. Most of the useful catalysts are based on Ru(II) (BINAP), where BINAP = 2,3 -bis(diphenylphosphino)-l,r-binaphthl. The mechanism of equations (n)-(q) has been proposed for the asymmetric hydrogenation of a,)8-un-saturated carboxylic acids in methanol solvent catalyzed by Ru(II) complexes derived from the precursor Ru(II) (BINAP)(OAc)2 (1, R = Me) -. ... 

In order to design superior catalyst systems and expand the applications of these first generation catalysts, it was necessary to understand the fundamental mechanism of ruthenium-catalyzed olefin metathesis reactions. Initial investigations focused on the activity of 1 and its derivatives for the catalytic RCM of diethyl diallylmalonate (Eq. 4.14) [86]. These studies revealed that, in all cases, the overall catalytic activity was inhibited by the addition of free phosphine, and that the turnover rate was inversely proportional to the concentration of added phosphine. This indicated that phosphine dissociation was required for catalytic activity, and further suggested that olefin metathesis may be initiated by the substitution of a phosphine ligand with an olefin substrate. 

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