Transfer hydrogenation hydrogen donors

Keywords Hydrogen transfer Hydrogen donors functionalization Heterocycles... 

In hydrogen-transfer hydrogenations, various olefinic hydrogen donors are not necessarily equivalent, neither in selectivity nor in rate. The point is illustrated by selected data of Tabor et al. 97) on the transfer hydrogenation of dimethyl bicyclo[2.2,l]heptane-2.5-diene-2,3-dicarboxylate. 

The rate of transfer hydrogenation also varies markedly with donor structure. For cyclohexene, 1 -methylcyclohexene, l-methyl-4-isopropyl-cyclohexene,and l-methyl-4-f-butyIcycIohexene as donor in the above hydrogenations, after 1 min the reduction was 11, 78, 99, and 99% complete, respectively (97). 

Two hydrogen-transfer systems have been developed that also give good yields of hydroxylamines. One uses 5% palladium-on-carbon in aqueous tetrahydrofuran with phosphinic acid or its sodium salt as hydrogen donor the other uses 5% rhodium-on-carbon in aqueous tetrahydrofuran and hydrazine as donor. These systems are complementary and which is the better may depend on the substrate (36). The reductions cannot be followed by pressure drop, and both require analysis of the product to determine when the reduction should be terminated. 

The reaction between the photoexcited carbonyl compound and an amine occurs with substantially greater facility than that with most other hydrogen donors. The rate constants for triplet quenching by amines show little dependence on the amine a-C-H bond strength. However, the ability of the amine to release an electron is important.- - This is in keeping with a mechanism of radical generation which involves initial electron (or charge) transfer from the amine to the photoexcited carbonyl compound. Loss of a proton from the resultant complex (exciplex) results in an a-aminoalkyl radical which initiates polymerization. The... 

Finally, concurrently with addition, reduction of tri- or dihalomethyl groups in the adduct can occur under conditions of initiating by metal-complex systems in the presence of hydrogen donor chain transfer at C-H bond, at C-Br one, is also possible to form compounds containing one bromine atom less than adducts. 

The hydrogen transfer reaction (HTR), a chemical redox process in which a substrate is reduced by an hydrogen donor, is generally catalysed by an organometallic complex [72]. Isopropanol is often used for this purpose since it can also act as the reaction solvent. Moreover the oxidation product, acetone, is easily removed from the reaction media (Scheme 14). The use of chiral ligands in the catalyst complex affords enantioselective ketone reductions [73, 74]. 

The catalytic alcohol racemization with diruthenium catalyst 1 is based on the reversible transfer hydrogenation mechanism. Meanwhile, the problem of ketone formation in the DKR of secondary alcohols with 1 was identified due to the liberation of molecular hydrogen. Then, we envisioned a novel asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones to circumvent the problem of ketone formation (Scheme 6). A key factor of this process was the selection of hydrogen donors compatible with the DKR conditions. 2,6-Dimethyl-4-heptanol, which cannot be acylated by lipases, was chosen as a proper hydrogen donor. Asymmetric reductive acetylation of ketones was also possible under 1 atm hydrogen in ethyl acetate, which acted as acyl donor and solvent. Ethanol formation from ethyl acetate did not cause critical problem, and various ketones were successfully transformed into the corresponding chiral acetates (Table 17). However, reaction time (96 h) was unsatisfactory. 

In the same study, several ligands variously functional on both the nitrogen and the sulfur atoms have been developed, providing a new class of cyclo-hexylamino sulfide ligands derived from cyclohexene oxide. All the ligands depicted in Scheme 9.7 were evaluated for the Ir-catalysed hydride-transfer reduction of acetophenone in the presence of i-PrOH as the hydrogen donor, providing enantioselectivities of up to 70% ee. 

On the other hand, one of the first chiral sulfur-containing ligands employed in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones was introduced by Noyori el al Thus, the use of A-tosyl-l,2-diphenylethylenediamine (TsDPEN) in combination with ruthenium for the reduction of various aromatic ketones in the presence of i-PrOH as the hydrogen donor, allowed the corresponding alcohols to be obtained in both excellent yields and enantioselectivities, as... 

As another successful application of Noyori s TsDPEN ligand, Yan et al. reported the synthesis of antidepressant duloxetine, in 2008. Thus, the key step of this synthesis was the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of 3-(dime-thylamino)-l-(thiophen-2-yl)propan-l-one performed in the presence of (5,5)-TsDPEN Ru(II) complex and a HCO2H TEA mixture as the hydrogen donor. The reaction afforded the corresponding chiral alcohol in both high yield and enantioselectivity, which was further converted in two steps into expected (5)-duloxetine, as shown in Scheme 9.17. 

Finally, the use of S/P ligands derived from (i )-binaphthol has been considered by Gladiali et al. in the asymmetric rhodium-catalysed hydrogen-transfer reduction of acetophenone performed in the presence of i-PrOH as the hydrogen donor.It was noted that racemisation occurred when the reaction time increased and consequently the corresponding alcohol was obtained in only low enantioselectivities (< 5% ee) as shown in Scheme 9.21. Similar results were more recently reported by these authors by using iridium combined with the same ligands. ... 

In addition to standard catalytic hydrogenolysis, methods for transfer hydrogenolysis using hydrogen donors such as ammonium formate or formic acid with Pd-C catalyst are available.216 The Cbz group also can be removed by a combination of a Lewis acid and a nucleophile for example, boron trifluoride in conjunction with dimethyl sulfide or ethyl sulfide.217... 

Catalytic hydrogenation transfers the elements of molecular hydrogen through a series of complexes and intermediates. Diimide, HN=NH, an unstable hydrogen donor that can be generated in situ, finds specialized application in the reduction of carbon-carbon double bonds. Simple alkenes are reduced efficiently by diimide, but other easily reduced functional groups, such as nitro and cyano are unaffected. The mechanism of the reaction is pictured as a concerted transfer of hydrogen via a nonpolar cyclic TS. 

These cyclizations can also be carried out without a hydrogen donor, in which case the chain is propagated by iodine atom transfer.331 If necessary, ethyl iodide can be added to facilitate iodine atom transfer. 

Aromatic diazo compounds can be reduced in water via a radical process (Scheme 11.5).108 The reduction mechanism of arenediazo-nium salts by hydroquinone was studied in detail.109 Arenediazonium tetrafluoroborate salts undergo facile electron-transfer reactions with hydroquinone in aqueous phosphate-buffered solution containing the hydrogen donor solvent acetonitrile. Reaction rates are first order in a... 

Catalyzed hydrogen transfer from a hydrogen donor other than H2 is attractive industrially because of safety, engineering and economic concerns (1). This reaction has been extensively studied in the homogeneous phase (2) and under Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley conditions (3). 

Therefore, the high activity of Cu/Si02 in transferring hydrogen from a donor alcohol may be due not only, as already mentioned, to its ability to activate molecular H2, but also to its dehydrogenation activity. 

The last reaction we consider here, hydrogenolysis, is the most simple and straightforward but at the same time it is the most difficult to control, because the high hydrogen transfer rate adversely affects every step of the sequence. Although many hydrogen donors are available the one that led to the most satisfactory results was benzyl alcohol (29). 

FIGURE 2.42 Hydrogen transfer hydrogenations using chiral hydrogen donors. 

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