Steric effects catalytic hydrogenation

Reactions such as catalytic hydrogenation that take place at the less hindered side of a reactant are common m organic chemistry and are examples of steric effects on reactivity Previously we saw steric effects on structure and stability m the case of CIS and trans stereoisomers and m the preference for equatorial substituents on cyclo hexane rings... 

The low yields of 6,6 -disubstituted-2,2 -bipyridincs recorded in Table I are probably the result of steric retardation of the adsorption of 2-substituted pyridines. This view is supported by the observation that 2-methylpyridine is a much weaker poison for catalytic hydrogenations than pyridine. On the other hand, the quinolines so far examined (Table II) are more reactive but with these compounds the steric effect of the fused benzene ring could be partly compensated by the additional stabilization of the adsorbed species, since the loss of resonance energy accompanying the localization of one 71-electron would be smaller in a quinoline than in a pyridine derivative. 

The hydrogenations become analogous to those involving HMn(CO)5 (see Section II,D), and to some catalyzed by HCo(CN)53 (see below). Use of bis(dimethylglyoximato)cobalt(II)-base complexes or cobaloximes(II) as catalysts (7, p. 193) has been more thoroughly studied (189, 190). Alkyl intermediates have been isolated with some activated olefinic substrates using the pyridine system, and electronic and steric effects on the catalytic hydrogenation rates have been reported (189). Mechanistic studies have appeared on the use of (pyridine)cobaloxime(II) with H2, and of (pyridine)chlorocobaloxime(III) and vitamin B12 with borohydride, for reduction of a,/3-unsaturated esters (190). Protonation of a carbanion... 

In heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenations suprafacial (as) addition of hydrogen would be expected, as the transfer of hydrogen atoms from the catalyst surface to the reactant is usually assumed. However, in some Pt catalyzed reactions antarafacial (trans) addition of hydrogen is also observed. The ratio of diastereomeric products formed is determined by the chemisorption equilibrium of the surface intermediates and by the relative rates of hydrogen entrance to the different unsaturated carbon sites. Both effects are influenced by steric factors. 

The steric effects may be more pronounced in heterogeneous catalysts than in homogeneous reactions in solution. The rigid, solid surface restricts the approach of the reactants to the active centers and interaction between the reactants. The steric requirements are quite stringent when a two-point adsorption is necessary and when, in consequence, the internal motion of the adsorbed molecules is limited. In this way, the stereoselectivity of some heterogeneous catalytic reactions, for example, the hydrogenation of alkenes on metals (5) or the dehydration of alcohols on alumina and thoria (9), have been explained. 

Even in an excess of ligands capable of stabilizing low oxidation state transition metal ions in aqueous systems, one may often observe the reduction of the central ion of a catalyst complex to the metallic state. In many cases this leads to a loss of catalytic activity, however, in certain systems an active and selective catalyst mixture is formed. Such is the case when a solution of RhCU in water methanol = 1 1 is refluxed in the presence of three equivalents of TPPTS. Evaporation to dryness gives a brown solid which is an active catalyst for the hydrogenation of a wide range of olefins in aqueous solution or in two-phase reaction systems. This solid contains a mixture of Rh(I)-phosphine complexes, TPPTS oxide and colloidal rhodium. Patin and co-workers developed a preparative scale method for biphasic hydrogenation of olefins [61], some of the substrates and products are shown on Scheme 3.3. The reaction is strongly influenced by steric effects. 

Hirai et al.129 studied the hydrogenation of olefins catalyzed by poly(acrylic acid)-Rh(II) complexes in homogeneous solutions. The catalytic activity of the polymer-Rh complex was about 103 times that of the acetato-Rh complex. When olefins having another functional group, such as diallylether, allylaldehyde, and cyclohexene-1 -one, were used as the substrates, the olefinic bond was preferentially hydrogenized by the polymer-Rh complex. The polymer ligand was presumed to exercise a steric effect. 

The importance of the steric effect accounts for the spread of the data for lf-N in the substitution reactions. Nitration and non-catalytic chlorination, reactions of modest steric requirements, define points which fall above the arbitrary reference line. Bromination, a reaction of somewhat greater steric requirements, is not accelerated to the extent anticipated on the basis of the results for nitration or chlorination. The benzoylation reaction with large steric requirements is two orders of magnitude slower than the equally selective chlorination reaction. The unusually small ratio for lf-N/2f-N for the acylation reaction is a further indication of the steric effects. Apparently, the direct substitution reactions of naphthalene respond to the retarding steric influence of the peri hydrogen in much the same way as for other ortho substituents. 

As was indicated in the historical introduction, the most misleading aspect of the chemistry of XXVII is the complete resistance of the V-formyl group to alkaline hydrolysis, and the failure of concentrated hydrochloric acid to effect hydrolysis. The formyl group in XXVII and in CVI, CVIII, and the alcohol derived from XXVII by catalytic hydrogenation is, however, easily and quantitatively hydrolyzed by 2 N sulfuric acid (3). The failure of the hydrolysis under Clemmensen conditions may be ascribed to the low activity of water in the reaction mixture, and the failure of alkaline hydrolysis is most probably because of steric hindrance of approach by OH- ion, a view which is supported by a study of models (3). 

A comparison of the catalytic effects of compounds containing different groups is difficult when accounting only for the basicity. For example, Ph2NH and pyrazine (p/ a = 0.79 and 0.61, respectively) show different eatalytic effects. Besides the basicity of the catalysts other electronic and steric effects also play an important role. The hydrogenation is also catalyzed by DAD (Fig. 3). 

The selectivity of hydride insertion into an unsymmetrical unsaturated species plays a role in determining the selectivity of catalytic reactions the outcome is a complex function of electronic and steric effects and cannot readily be predicted other than by analogy with similar systems. In hydrogenation, the direction of insertion is usually not an important issue because an H is added to each end of the multiple bond, but in hydroformylation and hydrocyanation, where HX (X = CHO or CN) adds to the unsatnrate, the direction of the initial insertion can be inferred. In hydrosilation, an Si-H bond is added, but there is some doubt as to whether the first insertion occurs into the M-H or M-Si bonds. Among non-H ligands, the M-Si bond is the closest analog to M-H in polarity and reactivity. 

In this work, we have compared the potential energy profiles of the model catalytic cycle of olefin hydrogenation by the Wilkinson catalyst between the Halpern and the Brown mechanisms. The former is a well-accepted mechanism in which all the intermediates have trans phosphines, while in the latter, proposed very recently, phosphines are located cis to each other to reduce the steric repulsion between bulky olefin and phosphines. Our ab initio calculations on a sterically unhindered model catalytic cycle have shown that the profile for the Halpern mechanism is smooth without too stable intermediates and too high activation barrier. On the other hand, the key cis dihydride intermediate in the cis mechanism is electronically unstable and normally the sequence of elementary reactions would be broken. Possible sequences of reactions can be proposed from our calculation, if one assumes that steric effects of bulky olefin substituents prohibits some intermediates or reactions to be realized. 

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