Salens nickel complex

Ozaki and co-workers <1998TL8121> applied an electrochemical method for the synthesis of thietanes by the electroreduction of the acetylenic derivative of thioacetic acid 52. The electrochemical reaction was carried out in dimethylformamide (DMF) using tetraethylammonium perchlorate as a supporting electrolyte at a graphite plate electrode in the presence of an N,N -bis(salicylaldehydo)ethylenediamine (salen) nickel complex 54 (Equation 19). The desired 2-benzylidene-4-ethyl-thietane 53 was obtained in fair yield. 

The use of a functionalized silica-supported salen-nickel complex has allowed Kumada cross-couplings to be performed in flow the corresponding polystyrene supported complex was shown to be inferior for a number of reasons. Catalyst 33 (Figure 4.7) with the longer tether was found to be more active than the benzyl ether tether used for catalyst 34. This was postulated to be due to the fact that catalyst 33 resided further away from the silica surface and hence was more available for reaction. Under the conditions used a maximum conversion of 65% was found for the 1 1 reaction of 4-bromoanisole and phenylmagnesium chloride, which was found to be comparable to that obtained in batch mode. However, during the reaction catalyst degradation was observed and the conversion reduced from 60% in the first hour to 30% in the fifth hour of the reaction [155,156]. 

The tetradentate Hgand in the complex Ni [H4]L is asymmetrical, which raises therefore the question of (i) is there C=N bond formation at aU and, if so, (ii) which of the two C-N bonds is being dehydrogenated in aerated acetone The reaction of Ni [H4]L with dioxygen was monitored spectrophotometricahy and the observed spectral changes clearly proved the formation of a half-salen nickel complex. The final spectrum obtained was practically identical with that of authentic Ni [H2]L. This means that, compared to the -HN-CH(Me) bond, the -HN-CH2 hond is the favored one for oxidative dehydrogenation. 

The electrochemistry of cobalt-salen complexes in the presence of alkyl halides has been studied thoroughly.252,263-266 The reaction mechanism is similar to that for the nickel complexes, with the intermediate formation of an alkylcobalt(III) complex. Co -salen reacts with 1,8-diiodo-octane to afford an alkyl-bridged bis[Co" (salen)] complex.267 Electrosynthetic applications of the cobalt-salen catalyst are homo- and heterocoupling reactions with mixtures of alkylchlorides and bromides,268 conversion of benzal chloride to stilbene with the intermediate formation of l,2-dichloro-l,2-diphenylethane,269 reductive coupling of bromoalkanes with an activated alkenes,270 or carboxylation of benzylic and allylic chlorides by C02.271,272 Efficient electroreduc-tive dimerization of benzyl bromide to bibenzyl is catalyzed by the dicobalt complex (15).273 The proposed mechanism involves an intermediate bis[alkylcobalt(III)] complex. 

In order to give the usual overview of nickel complexes at increasing coordination numbers we begin with the usual square planar complexes of the Schiff bases salen and saloph.149,150 As an example, Figure 98 shows the molecular structure of [Nin(salen)]. 

Steric constraints dictate that reactions of organohalides catalysed by square planar nickel complexes cannot involve a cw-dialkyl or diaryl Ni(iii) intermediate. The mechanistic aspects of these reactions have been studied using a macrocyclic tetraaza-ligand [209] while quantitative studies on primary alkyl halides used Ni(n)(salen) as catalyst source [210]. One-electron reduction affords Ni(l)(salen) which is involved in the catalytic cycle. Nickel(l) interacts with alkyl halides by an outer sphere single electron transfer process to give alkyl radicals and Ni(ii). The radicals take part in bimolecular reactions of dimerization and disproportionation, react with added species or react with Ni(t) to form the alkylnickel(n)(salen). Alkanes are also fonned by protolysis of the alkylNi(ii). 

The salen-Ni(II) complex 39a derived from (lR,2R)-[N,N -bis(2 -hydroxybenzyl-idene)]-l,2-diaminocyclohexane was also equally effective (Table 7.3, entry 4). In contrast to earlier reports on salen-metal complexes, where the introduction of a bulky tert- butyl substituent increased enantioselectivity [31], the use of complex 39b exhibited a significant decrease in enantioselectivity (entry 5). The presence of a bulky tert-butyl group obstructed the chelation of alkali metal ions by phenolic oxygen atoms. A dramatic increase in selectivity could be achieved when nickel was replaced with copper, and a salen-Cu(II) complex 39c afforded 85% ee (entry 6). Although screening of other bases or 50% NaOH were not advantageous, the use of 3 equiv. NaOH improved the enantiomeric excess to 92% (entry 9) and after recrystallization of a-methylphenylalanine optical purity was increased to 98% ee. 

As expected for four-coordinate planar d metal centers, the nickel complexes listed in Table II are practically diamagnetic. The magnetic moment at ambient temperature ranges from 0 BM (Ni(salen)) to 0.4 BM (Ni [H4](Me)L ). ... 

Typical reaction conditions involved 4.0 mmol olefin, 1 mmol nickel complex and 0.15 mmol benzyltributylammonium bromide in 10 mL CH2CI2 to which 20 mL 0.77 M NaOCl (pH 13) were added. A fine black precipitate is formed immediately upon mixing which may be nickel peroxide. This material was shown to be inert toward olefin oxidation and disappeared later in the reaction when all the oxidant was consumed. Table II lists the yields of styrene oxide formed from oxidation of styrene as a function of the nickel complex. The best results were obtained using Ni(II) salen as catalyst. 

The Kumada-Corriu reaction is characterized by mild conditions and clean conversions [2]. A disadvantage of previous Kumada-Corriu reactions was due to the use of homogeneous catalysts, with more difficult product separation. Recently, an unsymmetrical salen-type nickel(II) complex was synthesized with a phenol functionality that allows this compound to be linked to Merrifield resin polymer beads (see original citation in [2]). By this means, heterogeneously catalyzed Kumada-Corriu reactions have become possible. 

Electrogenerated nickel(I)251 and cobalt(I)252 complexes of Salen (Salen = bis(salicylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine) have displayed good catalytic properties in the cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds in a variety of organic compounds. Recent research in this field has been reviewed.253... 

It was first suggested that the reaction of an alkyl halide with a nickel(I) Schiff base complex yields an alkylnickel(III) intermediate (Equation (56)). Homolytic cleavage of RBr to give an alkyl radical R and a nickel(II) complex (Equation (57)) or, alternatively, one-electron dissociative reduction leading to R (Equation (58)) are possible pathways.254 A mechanism based on the formation of R via dissociative electron transfer of Ni -salen to RX (Equation (59)) has also been proposed.255... 

Extensive work has been carried out on microsensors built from electropolymerized nickel porphyrin films.328,329 Films of Prussian blue (Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3) 345 metal-salen complexes (M = Co, Fe, Cu, Mn)346 or the ferrocene-containing Nin-tetraaza[14] annulene (24),347 also exhibit interesting activity for NO electrooxidation and sensing. 

Although salen complexes of chromium, nickel, iron, ruthenium, cobalt, and manganese ions are known to serve as catalysts for epoxidation of simple olefins, the cationic Mn-salen complex is the most efficient. 

While this manuscript was under preparation, a considerable number of examples of sohd-phase-attached catalysts appeared in the literature which is a clear indication for the dynamic character of this field. These include catalysts based on palladium [131, 132], nickel [133] and rhodium [134] as well applications in hydrogenations including transfer hydrogenations [135, 136] and oxidations [137]. In addition various articles have appeared that are dedicated to immobilized chiral h-gands for asymmetric synthesis such as chiral binol [138], salen [139], and bisoxa-zoline [140] cinchona alkaloid derived [141] complexes. 

Stretching frequencies used to assign the structures. Ni(N03)2 reacts with [Ni(R-salen)2] (R = Et or Pr ) to give trinuclear complexes (165) which contain two pseudo-tetrahedral and one octahedral nickel atoms. ... 

This is the case for secondary and tertiary alkyl bromides. If the stability is high, however, as, for example, with primary alkyl bromides, the organo nickel(III) complex is further reduced to an alkyl nickel(II) complex which loses the alkyl group in form of the alkyl anion. An electroinactive Ni(II) species remains. The number of regenerative cycles is consequently low. The structure of the ligand also influences the lifetime of the alkyl nickel(ni) complex thus, a less stable complex is formed in the case of [A,A -ethylene-bis(salicylidene-irainato)]nickel(II) ([Ni(salen)]) as compared with (5,5,7,12,12,14-hexamethyl-l,4,8,ll-tetraazacyclo-tetradecane)nickel(II) ([Ni(teta)] ), and hence the former complex favors the radical pathway even with primary alkyl halides. 

With primary halides, dimers (R—R) are formed predominantly, while with tertiary halides, the disproportionation products (RH, R(—H)) prevail. Both alkyl nickel(III) complexes, formed by electrochemical reduction of the nickel(II) complex in presence of alkyl halides, are able to undergo insertion reactions with added activated olefins. Thus, Michael adducts are the final products. The Ni(salen)-complex yields the Michael products via the radical pathway regenerating the original Ni(II)-complex and hence the reaction is catalytic. In contrast to that, the Ni(III)-complex formed after insertion of the activated olefin into the alkyl-nickel bond of the [RNi" X(teta)] -complex is relatively stable. Thus, further reduction leads to the Michael products and an electroinactive Ni"(teta)-species. 

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