Rhodium complex-catalyzed carbonylation diphosphine ligands

Diphosphine ligands of the type Ar2P(CH2)nPAr2 (n = 2 4) were originally found by Moloy and Wegman [85,86] to be effective in the rhodium-complex-catalyzed reductive carbonylation of methanol to acetaldehyde (Equation (10)) when synthesis gas (CO + H2) was used instead of pure CO as the feed gas. With a ruthenium trichloride cocatalyst, in situ hydrogenation of the aldehyde to ethanol resulted in the overall homologation reaction shown in Equation (11). 

Extensive mechanistic studies have been performed on reactions catalyzed by rhodium and platinum complexes containing enantiopure C2-symmetric diphosphine ligands.As discussed above, (1) the formation of the Tr-olefin-Rh(H) complex 19, (2) stereospecific cis addition of the hydridorhodium to the coordinated olefin to form the alkyl-Rh complex 20 (and then 2, and (3) the migratory insertion of a carbonyl ligand giving the acyl-Rh complex 17 with retention of configuration, have been established in the hydroformylation of 1-alkenes or substituted ethenes. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the enantioselectivity of the reaction giving a branched aldehyde is determined at the diastereomeric (1) TT-olefin-Rh complex 19 formation step, (2) alkyl-Rh complex 20 formation step, or (3) acyl-Rh complex 17 formation step. 

The diphosphine (R,S)-BPPFA [(R,pS)-9] reacts analogously with acetic anhydride to give the corresponding acetate which can be derivatized. Replacement of the acetate by hydroxide leads to a useful ligand BPPFOH 1534, which has been used for the rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective reduction of a-oxo acids to a-hydroxy acids (Section D.2.3.1.). Recently, the chemistry of gold(I) complexes of such chiral phosphines has been developed they catalyze aldol-type cycloadditions of isocyanides to carbonyl compounds to give chiral dihydrooxazoles. which can be hydrolyzed to synthetically important chiral amino alcohols and amino acids 30,39,40. 

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