Ruthenium complexes transfer hydrogenation

Having demonstrated the potential of artificial metalloenzymes for the reduction of V-protected dehydroaminoacids, we turned our attention towards organometallic-catalyzed reactions where the enantiodiscrimination step occurs without coordination of one of the reactants to the metal centre. We anticipated that incorporation of the metal complex within a protein enviromnent may steer the enantioselection without requiring transient coordination to the metal. In this context, we selected the palladium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation, the ruthenium-catalyzed transfer hydrogenation as well as the vanadyl-catalyzed sulfoxidation reaction. Indeed, these reactions are believed to proceed without prior coordination of the soft nucleophile, the prochiral ketone or the prochiral sulfide respectively. Figure 13.5. 

Joo, F. Benyei, A. (1989) Biphasic reduction of unsaturated aldehydes to unsaturated alcohols by ruthenium complex-catalysed hydrogen transfer, J. Organomet. Chem., 363, C19-21. 

D KR of allylic alcohols can be also performed using ruthenium complexes for the racemization that occurs through hydrogen transfer reactions (vide infra) [16]. 

Reduction of acetophenone by PrOH/H has been studied with the ruthenium complexes [Ru(H)(ri2-BH )(CO)L(NHC)], (L = NHC, PPh3, NHC = IMes, IPr, SIPr). The activity of the system is dependent on the nature of the NHC and requires the presence of both PrOH and H, implying that transfer and direct hydrogenation mechanisms may be operating in parallel [15]. 

The first example of an asymmetric reduction of C=N bonds proceeding via DKR was reported in 2005 by Lassaletta et al. In this process, the transfer hydrogenation of 2-substituted bicyclic and monocyclic ketimines could be accomplished via DKR by using a HCO2H/TEA mixture as the hydrogen source and a chiral ruthenium complex including TsDPEN ligand,... 

The use of chiral ruthenium catalysts can hydrogenate ketones asymmetrically in water. The introduction of surfactants into a water-soluble Ru(II)-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones led to an increase of the catalytic activity and reusability compared to the catalytic systems without surfactants.8 Water-soluble chiral ruthenium complexes with a (i-cyclodextrin unit can catalyze the reduction of aliphatic ketones with high enantiomeric excess and in good-to-excellent yields in the presence of sodium formate (Eq. 8.3).9 The high level of enantioselectivity observed was attributed to the preorganization of the substrates in the hydrophobic cavity of (t-cyclodextrin. 

Asymmetric transfer hydrogenation can be employed in the asymmetric hydrogenation of prochiral ketones with a ruthenium complex of bis(oxazolinylmethyl) amine ligand 110. Enantioselectivities are greater than 95%.643... 

Noyori and coworkers reported well-defined ruthenium(II) catalyst systems of the type RuH( 76-arene)(NH2CHPhCHPhNTs) for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones and imines [94]. These also act via an outer-sphere hydride transfer mechanism shown in Scheme 3.12. The hydride transfer from ruthenium and proton transfer from the amino group to the C=0 bond of a ketone or C=N bond of an imine produces the alcohol or amine product, respectively. The amido complex that is produced is unreactive to H2 (except at high pressures), but readily reacts with iPrOH or formate to regenerate the hydride catalyst. 

Carpentier and coworkers studied the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of /f-keloeslers using chiral ruthenium complexes prepared from [(// -p-cyrriene)-RuC12]2 and chiral aminoalcohols based on norephedrine. During this study, these authors became aware of substrate inhibition when ketoesters carrying 4-halo-substituents were used. It transpired that this was caused by formation of a complex between the substrate and the catalyst [28]. 

Other amino alcohols have also been used as chiral ligands in asymmetric catalytic hydrogen transfer. Scheme 6-54 depicts another example. Ruthenium complex bearing 2-azanorbornyl methanol was used as the chiral ligand, and the corresponding secondary alcohols were obtained in excellent ee.116... 

The transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones, which is typically catalyzed by ruthenium half-sandwich complexes using, e.g., formic acid as hydrogen source, was chosen as another model system. After applying an appropriate TSA molecule as template, i. e., a ruthenium phosphinato complex, the resulting MIP catalyzed the hydrogenation of benzophenone approximately twice as effectively as the CP [116]. 

Aromatics occur as ligands in ruthenium complexes that are used for hydrogen transfer reaction, i.e. two hydrogen atoms are transferred from a donor molecule, e.g. an alcohol, to a ketone, producing another alcohol. Especially the enantiospecific variant has become important, see Chapter 4.4. The substitution pattern of the aromatic compound influences the enantioselectivity of the reaction. 

BINAP has been extensively used for the asymmetric hydrogenation, transfer hydrogenation and isomerisation of double bonds using both ruthenium and rhodium complexes. 

Hydrogen Transfer Reactions Catalyzed by Ruthenium Complexes Linked to P-Cyclodextrin 43... 

Fig. 21. General synthesis of p-CD-linked ruthenium complexes asymmetric transfer hydrogenation is described as a metal-ligand bifunctional mechanism according to 31).

Ursini, C.V., Dias, G.H.M. and Rodrigues, J.A.R., Ruthenium-catalyzed reduction of racemic tricarbonyl( 7 -aryl ketonejchromium complexes using transfer hydrogenation a simple alternative to the resolution of planar chiral organometallics. J. Organomet. Chem., 2005,690, 3176. 

The control of enantioselectivity in the reduction of carbonyl compounds provides an opportunity for obtaining the product alcohols in an enantiomerically enriched form. For transfer hydrogenation, such reactions have been dominated by the use of enantiomerically pure ruthenium complexes [33, 34], although Pfaltz and coworkers had shown by 1991 that high levels of enantioselectivity could be obtained using iridium(I) bis-oxazoline complexes [35]. 

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