Schiff bases, copper, catalyst

Copper-containing molecular sieve materials are very important catalysts in many liquid-phase oxidation reactions. The analysis of metal content is usually obtained using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) but this provides no information on the distribution of the metal within the material. In this paper, we report on the characterisation of a siliceous MCM 41 material postmodified with a Schiff base copper complex by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), AAS and other standard techniques. Quantitative estimations of the copper concentrations and chemical states and its distribution within the material have been made using XPS. The effect of modification by the Schiflf base copper complex on the surface characteristics of the MCM 41 was investigated by nitrogen sorption at 77 K. 

Han et al. reported that the oxidation of alcohols with t-BuOOH in [bmim][BF ] is efficiently catalyzed in the presence of a novel amino acid Schiff base copper ligand (I) (Scheme 14.9) [8], This method is very useful for the selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to their corresponding carboxylic acids and ketones, respectively. They also showed that the selective oxidation of secondary alcohols to ketones with t-BuOOH is promoted in [bmim][PF ] using copper acetyl acetonate as catalyst (Scheme 14.10) [9], These catalytic systems could be recycled and reused for five runs without any significant loss of catalytic activity, and the obtained products were in excellent yields. 

The copper-catalyzed cyclopropanation of alkenes with diazoalkanes is a particularly important synthetic reaction (277). The reaction of styrene and ethyl diazoacetate catalyzed by bis[/V-(7 )- or (5)-a-phenyl-ethylsalicylaldiminato]Cu(II), reported in 1966, gives the cyclopropane adducts in less than 10% ee and was the first example of transition metal-catalyzed enantioselective reaction of prochiral compounds in homogeneous phase (Scheme 90) (272). Later systematic screening of the chiral Schiff base-Cu catalysts resulted in the innovative synthesis of a series of important cyclopropane derivatives such as chrysanthemic acid, which was produced in greater than 90% ee (Scheme 90) (273). The catalyst precursor has a dimeric Cu(II) structure, but the actual catalyst is in the Cu(I) oxidation state (274). (S)-2,2-Dimethylcyclopropanecar-boxylic acid thus formed is now used for commercial synthesis of ci-lastatin, an excellent inhibitor of dehydropeptidase-I that increases the in vivo stability of the caibapenem antibiotic imipenem (Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Merck Sharp Dohme Co.). Attempted enantioselective cyclopropanation using 1,1-diphenylethylene and ethyl diazoacetate has met with limited success (211b). A related Schiff base ligand achieved the best result, 66% optical yield, in the reaction of 1,1-diphenylethylene and ethyl diazoacetate (275). 

The first asymmetric copper-catalyzed cyclopropanation using a homogeneous catalyst was reported by Noyori in 1966 [31], This reaction, which allowed the cycloaddition on styrene, was carried out with a chiral Schiff base copper complex and produced poor enantiomeric excess (Fig. 11). Further refinement of the chiral ligands produced later much better catalysts, such as the bis-oxazoline (Box) derivatives, able to provide enantioselectivities up to 99%. 

The major developments of catalytic enantioselective cycloaddition reactions of carbonyl compounds with conjugated dienes have been presented. A variety of chiral catalysts is available for the different types of carbonyl compound. For unactivated aldehydes chiral catalysts such as BINOL-aluminum(III), BINOL-tita-nium(IV), acyloxylborane(III), and tridentate Schiff base chromium(III) complexes can catalyze highly diastereo- and enantioselective cycloaddition reactions. The mechanism of these reactions can be a stepwise pathway via a Mukaiyama aldol intermediate or a concerted mechanism. For a-dicarbonyl compounds, which can coordinate to the chiral catalyst in a bidentate fashion, the chiral BOX-copper(II)... 

A number of structurally very different copper complexes were employed as catalysts. The copper complex of binaphthol-derived phosphoramidite 32 and the Schiff base complex 53 (derived from salicylaldehyde and phenylglycine) gave promising results in a screening reaction between 52 and MeMgBr, and 53 was chosen as the candidate for optimization. The effect of solvent (THF or Et20),... 

Eichhom and his co-workers have thoroughly studied the kinetics of the formation and hydrolysis of polydentate Schiff bases in the presence of various cations (9, 10, 25). The reactions are complicated by a factor not found in the absence of metal ions, i.e, the formation of metal chelate complexes stabilizes the Schiff bases thermodynamically but this factor is determined by, and varies with, the central metal ion involved. In the case of bis(2-thiophenyl)-ethylenediamine, both copper (II) and nickel(II) catalyze the hydrolytic decomposition via complex formation. The nickel (I I) is the more effective catalyst from the viewpoint of the actual rate constants. However, it requires an activation energy cf 12.5 kcal., while the corresponding reaction in the copper(II) case requires only 11.3 kcal. The values for the entropies of activation were found to be —30.0 e.u. for the nickel(II) system and — 34.7 e.u. for the copper(II) system. Studies of the rate of formation of the Schiff bases and their metal complexes (25) showed that prior coordination of one of the reactants slowed down the rate of formation of the Schiff base when the other reactant was added. Although copper (more than nickel) favored the production of the Schiff bases from the viewpoint of the thermodynamics of the overall reaction, the formation reactions were slower with copper than with nickel. The rate of hydrolysis of Schiff bases with or/Zw-aminophenols is so fast that the corresponding metal complexes cannot be isolated from solutions containing water (4). 

These examples illustrate that biomolecules may act as catalysts in soils to alter the structure of organic contaminants. The exact nature of the reaction may be modified by interaction of the biocatalyst with soil colloids. It is also possible that the catalytic reaction requires a specific mineral-biomolecule combination. Mortland (1984) demonstrated that py ridoxal-5 -phosphate (PLP) catalyzes glutamic acid deamination at 20 °C in the presence of copper-substituted smectite. The proposed pathway for deamination involved formation ofa Schiff base between PLP and glutamic acid, followed by complexation with Cu2+ on the clay surface. Substituted Cu2+ stabilized the Schiff base by chelation of the carboxylate, imine nitrogen, and the phenolic oxygen. In this case, catalysis required combination of the biomolecule with a specific metal-substituted clay. 

The aerobic oxidation of phenols in the presence of cobalt-Schiffs base complexes as catalysts is facilitated by (electron-donating) alkyl substituents in the ring and affords the corresponding p-quinones, e.g. the Vitamin E intermediate drawn in Fig. 4.87. When the para-position is occupied the reaction may be directed to the ortho-position [252, 253]. Copper compounds also mediate this type of oxidation, e.g. the Mitsubishi Gas process for the Vitamin E intermediate... 

With catalysts which were prepared in situ from copper(II) acetate and Schiff base ligands... 

Complexes of metal + ligand + protein or DNA can also catalyze the Diels Alder cycloaddition or oxidations with hydrogen peroxide. Copper complexes bound to DNA catalyzed the Diels-Alder cycloaddition with up to 99% ee [15, 16], Cu(phthalocyanine) complexed to serum albumin also catalyzed the enantioselective (98% ee) Diels-Alder reaction, but only with very high catalyst loading (10 mol%) and only with pyridine-bearing dienophiles (presumably to complex the copper) [17]. Achiral Cr(III) complexes or Mn(Schiff-base) complexes inserted into the active site of apomyoglobin variants catalyzed the sulfoxidation of thio-anisole with up to 13 and 51% ee, respectively [18, 19]. A copper phenanthroline complex attached to the adipocyte lipid-binding protein catalyzed the enantioselective hydrolysis of esters and amides [20]. 

A. Bio-inspired catalysts using dioxygen as oxidant [Copper(II)-Schiff base]... 

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