Transition metal catalyst ligands

Since no special ligand design is usually required to dissolve transition metal complexes in ionic liquids, the application of ionic ligands can be an extremely useful tool with which to immobilize the catalyst in the ionic medium. In applications in which the ionic catalyst layer is intensively extracted with a non-miscible solvent (i.e., under the conditions of biphasic catalysis or during product recovery by extraction) it is important to ensure that the amount of catalyst washed from the ionic liquid is extremely low. Full immobilization of the (often quite expensive) transition metal catalyst, combined with the possibility of recycling it, is usually a crucial criterion for the large-scale use of homogeneous catalysis (for more details see Section 5.3.5). 

Development of more efficient transition metal catalyst systems including using novel and efficient ligands has been one of the focuses in organometallic chemistry.35 The developments in this area will allow not only to synthesize polymers under mild conditions with higher or desired molecular weights but also to use less expensive, more readily available materials for the polymerizations. 

Transition Metal Catalysts with Phosphine Ligands... 

The activity of transition metal catalysts depends on both the metal and the ligands. In addition, solvent effects, etc. can play a role. Table 3.10 shows examples of transition- metal catalysts with the reactions for which they are active (Farkas, 1986). 

In recent years, much attention has been focused on rhodium-mediated carbenoid reactions. One goal has been to understand how the rhodium ligands control reactivity and selectivity, especially in cases in which both addition and insertion reactions are possible. These catalysts contain Rh—Rh bonds but function by mechanisms similar to other transition metal catalysts. 

V,iV, A "-trialkylated 1,3,5-triazacyclohexanes (R3TAC) have been used extensively as ligands for homogeneous transition metal catalysts. The protonolysis of diethylzinc by the addition of protonated A,/V7v/V"-alkylated... 

The possibility of adjusting solubility properties is of particular importance for liquid-liquid biphasic catalysis. Liquid-liquid catalysis can be realised when the ionic liquid is able to dissolve the catalyst, especially if it displays partial solubility of the substrates and poor solubility of the reaction products. Under these conditions, the product phase, which also contains the unconverted reactants, is removed by simple phase decantation. The ionic liquid containing the catalyst can then be recycled. In such a scenario the ionic catalyst solution may be seen as part of the capital investment for a potential technical process (in an ideal case) or at least as a working solution (only a small amount has to be replaced after a certain time of application). A crucial aspect of this concept is the immobilisation of the transition metal catalyst in the ionic liquid. While most transition metal catalysts easily dissolve in an ionic liquid without any special ligand design, ionic ligand systems have been applied with great success to... 

Even if the ionic liquid is not directly involved in creating the active catalytic species, a co-catalytic interaction between the ionic liquid solvent and the dissolved transition metal complex often takes place and can result in significant catalyst activation. When a catalyst complex is, for example, dissolved in a slightly acidic ionic liquid some electron-rich parts of the complex (e.g., lone pairs of electrons in the ligand) may interact with the solvent, providing increased activity to the resulting catalytic centre. Acidic ionic liquids can be considered as liquid acid supports for transition metal catalysts dissolved therein. 

The concept makes use of the complimentary strengths and weaknesses of the two unconventional media. While ionic liquids are known to be excellent solvents for many transition metal catalysts, the solubility of most transition metal complexes in scC02 is poor (if not modified with e. g. phosphine ligands with fluorous "ponytails" [64]). However, product isolation from scC02 is always very simple, while from an ionic catalyst solution it may become more and more complicated depending on the solubility of the product in the ionic liquid and on the product s boiling point. 

The development of chiral phosphorus ligands has made undoubtedly significant impact on the asymmetric hydrogenation. Transition metal catalysts with efficient chiral phosphorus ligands have enabled the synthesis of a variety of chiral products from prochiral olefins, ketones, and imines in a very efficient manner, and many practical hydrogenation processes have been exploited in industry for the synthesis of chiral drugs and fine chemicals. 

In hydrogenation, early transition-metal catalysts are mainly based on metallocene complexes, and particularly the Group IV metallocenes. Nonetheless, Group III, lanthanide and even actinide complexes as well as later metals (Groups V-VII) have also been used. The active species can be stabilized by other bulky ligands such as those derived from 2,6-disubstituted phenols (aryl-oxy) or silica (siloxy) (vide infra). Moreover, the catalytic activity of these systems is not limited to the hydrogenation of alkenes, but can be used for the hydrogenation of aromatics, alkynes and imines. These systems have also been developed very successfully into their enantioselective versions. 

Before 1968, attempts to perform enantioselective hydrogenations had either used a chiral auxiliary attached to the substrate [1] or a heterogeneous catalyst that was on a chiral support, usually derived from Nature [2]. Since the disclosure of chiral phosphine ligands to bring about enantioselective induction in a hydrogenation, many systems have been developed, as evidenced in this book. The evolution of these transition-metal catalysts has been discussed in a number of reviews [3-12]. 

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