Phosphines, alkylation metal catalyzed addition

Modified cobalt complexes of the type frans-Co2(CO)6(phosphine)2 are promising candidates for certain transition metal-catalyzed reactions, in particular for the hydroformylation of long-chained olefins [117]. A series of complexes Co2(CO)6[P(alkyl) (aryl)m]2 (n 0,1,2,3 m S - n) was synthesized and used for solubility measurements. Since the basicity of phosphines affects the catalytic activity, use of fluorous substituents might induce unexpected changes in the activity. Therefore, also derivatives with an additional ethyl spacer between the fluorous group and the phosphine moiety were examined (Sect. 3.1). 

In 1970 the transition metal catalyzed formation of alkyl formates from CO2, H2, and alcohols was first described. Phosphine complexes of Group 8 to Group 10 transition metals and carbonyl metallates of Groups 6 and 8 show catalytic activity (TON 6-60) and in most cases a positive effect by addition of amines or other basic additives [26 a, 54-58]. A more effective catalytic system has been found when carrying out the reaction in the supercritical phase (TON 3500) [54 a]. Similarly to the synthesis of formic acid, the synthesis of methyl formate in SCCO2 is successful in the presence of methanol and ruthenium(II) catalyst systems [54 b]. 

It has been found in the meantime that reaction (1) is generalizable (752), and that oxidative additions of this type occur for such widely differing substrates H2Y as ethylene, benzene 130), cyclic olefins, alkyl and aryl phosphines, aniline 337, 406), and H2S 130), ail of which give the same product structure with a triply-bridging Y ligand. The stability of these third-row transition metal clusters has stiU prevented catalytic reactions of these species, but it is likely that similar ones are involved in olefin and acetylene reactions catalyzed by other metal complexes. 

One of the first mechanistic proposals for the hydrocarboxylation of alkenes catalyzed by nickel-carbonyl complexes came from Heck in 1963 and is shown in Scheme 24. An alternate possibility suggested by Heck was that HX could add to the alkene, producing an alkyl halide that would then undergo an oxidative addition to the metal center, analogous to the acetic acid mechanism (Scheme 19). Studies of Rh- and Ir-catalyzed hydrocarboxylation reactions have demonstrated that for these metals, the HX addition mechanism, shown in Scheme 24, dominates with ethylene or other short-chain alkene substrates. Once again, HI is the best promoter for this catalytic reaction as long as there are not any other ligands present that are susceptible to acid attack (e g. phosphines). 

The first indication that metal phosphine complexes were active for catalytic reactions of alkanes came from Shilov s group finding that CoH3(PPh3)3 catalyzes H/D exchange between and CH4. These systems probably involve oxidative addition (equation 1), but they were not followed up at the time because of the greater interest in the Pt system discussed above. Since 1980, a variety of Rh, Ir, Re and Ru complexes have shown activity for alkane dehydrogenation and carbonylation. The intermediate alkyl... 

A proposed mechanism [9] for the hydrosilylation of olefins catalyzed by platinum(II) complexes (chloroplatinic acid is thought to be reduced to a plati-num(II) species in the early stages of the catalytic reaction) is similar to that for the rhodium(I) complex-catalyzed hydrogenation of olefins, which was advanced mostly by Wilkinson and his co-workers [10]. Besides the Speier s catalyst, it has been shown that tertiary phosphine complexes of nickel [11], palladium [12], platinum [13], and rhodium [14] are also effective as catalysts, and homogeneous catalysis by these Group VIII transition metal complexes is our present concern. In addition, as we will see later, hydrosilanes with chlorine, alkyl or aryl substituents on silicon show their characteristic reactivities in the metal complex-catalyzed hydrosilylation. Therefore, it seems appropriate to summarize here briefly recent advances in elucidation of the catalysis by metal complexes, including activation of silicon-hydrogen bonds. 

These early examples provided the impetus for the development of C-H bond activation in alkanes and arenes. An important advance in this respect was the example reported by Chatt for the [Ru(0)(dmpe)2] 12 catalyzed C-H bond activation of naphthalene 13 (also some amount of C H activated product of the alkyl phosphines could be observed). It is the first reported example of the C-H bond activation of (hetero)arenes by a transition metal complex and Chatt has therefore been credited to have laid the foundation for the rapid development of synthetically viable and environmentally attractive C C bond forming technologies via C-H bond activation (Fig. 5). Later Chatt suggested that the above transformation could be occurring through an oxidative addition mechanism which has been since then commonly accepted. 

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