Reversible hydrides borohydrides

The series of alkali borohydrides from Li through Cs was studied theoretically by Vajeeston et al. using density-functional theory (DFT). They found the stable structures for each of the compounds, laying the ground work for further work in this area. Experimentally, however, little progress has been made from the standpoint of reversible hydrides. " ... 

In an irreversible metal hydride, hydrogen is generated through a chemical reaction, which is not easily reversible onboard a vehicle. Common reactant is water or an alcohol. For example, sodium borohydride can produce hydrogen as... 

Strong reducing agents like sodium borohydride and lithium aluminum hydride are capable of reducing aldehydes to primary alcohols and ketones to secondary alcohols. The general reaction is the reverse of the reactions used to form aldehydes and ketones by the oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols, respectively (to review, see the earlier section Oxidation reactions ). However, the mechanisms for reduction are different. 

Reactions of nucleophiles. A number of nucleophilic reagents add reversibly at the 6 position of pyrimidines. Thus, bisulfite adds to uridine (Eq. 5-10).528 Hydroxylamine (HONH2) adds in a similar fashion to give a compound with -HNOH in the 6 positions.528 Sodium borohydride (NaBH4), which can be viewed as a donor of a hydride ion (H ), reduces uridine to the 5,6-dihydro derivative. This presumably occurs by attack of the hydride ion at position 6 in a manner analogous to the reaction of bisulfite in Eq. 5-10. 

Addition of hydride to the carbonyl carbon to form an alcohol, or the reverse, changes the oxidation state and so is usually classified separately from other carbonyl reactions. Some of these processes are nevertheless fundamentally similar to the ones we have been considering. Reductions by complex metal hydrides, such as lithium aluminum hydride or sodium borohydride, are additions ofH - (Equation 8.27) the metal hydride ion is simply a convenient source of this extremely basic species. The carbonyl oxygen takes the place of the hydride in coordination with the boron (or aluminum in the case of an alumino-... 

The discussion above was limited to alanates, borohydrides, amides, and combinations of these materials. Other hydrides or alternative approaches have also been proposed for storage applications. Zaluska et al. ° studied lightweight lithium-beryllium hydride and showed a reversible hydrogen capacity of over 8 wt%. They also showed that the hydride may be usable down to 150°C. Although these results are rather promising, it is unlikely that any beryllium-containing compound would be considered for vehicular use because of the toxicity of this element, even though the hydride may be quite stable. 

Mechanistic details involved in imine and carbonyP - reductions are undoubtedly similar, although thorough investigations of the former are lacking. Certainly, hydride transfer to the electrophilic carbon, with or without prior activation by protonation or complexation is essential for both types of ir-systems (Scheme 1). Whether or not alcohol solvents participate in imine reductions by borohydride (in the absence of added acid) to furnish the amine proton (as is the case with carbonyls) is not known and must await detailed kinetic study and analysis of the initial intermediates formed before hydrolysis. Direct, in situ, reductive amination with NaBHsCN has been attributed to initial, reversible formation (via an intermediate hydroxyamine, (1) of an iminium ion (2) from carbonyls and amines followed by rapid attack by hydride (Scheme 2). However, the inermess of an imine (partial structure 3) to the usual reductive... 

The reverse regiocontrol, giving 1,2-diols, is observed with DIBAL-H (diisobutylaluminum hydride). The remarkable effect of titanium tetraisopropoxide as an additive to lithium borohydride has also been reported. In this reaction benzene is a better solvent than THF, probably because a Ti complex using both oxygens in epoxy alcohols is formed in benzene before the hydride attack. Other metal hydrides used include sodium hydrogen telluride (NaHTe) and an ate complex derived from DIBAL-H and butyllithium, both of which reduce epoxides to alcohols, although they have been tested with only a small number of examples. In the former case the reaction may proceed via a 2-hydroxyalkyltellurol intermediate. 

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