Abstract Molecular design ultimately furnishes improvements in performance over time, and this has been the case for Rh‐ and Ir‐based molecular catalysts currently used in transfer hydrogenation (TH) reactions for fine chemical synthesis. In this report, we describe a molecular pincer ligand Al catalyst for TH, (I2P2−)Al(THF)Cl (I2P=diiminopyridine; THF=tetrahydrofuran). The mechanism for TH is initiated by two successive Al‐ligand cooperative bond activations of the O−H bonds in two molecules of isopropanol (iPrOH) to afford six‐coordinate (H2I2P)Al(OiPr)2Cl. Stoichiometric chemical reactions and kinetic experiments suggest an ordered transition state, supported by polar solvents, for concerted hydride transfer fromiPrO−to substrate. Metal‐ligand cooperative hydrogen bonding in a cyclic transition state is a likely support for the concerted hydride transfer event. The available data does not support involvement of an intermediate Al‐hydride in the TH. Proof‐of‐principle reactions including the conversion of isopropanol and benzophenone to acetone and diphenylmethanol with 90 % conversion in 1 h are described. The analogous hydride compound, (I2P2−)Al(THF)H, also cleaves the O−H bond iniPrOH to afford (HI2P−)Al(OiPr)H and (HI2P−)Al(OiPr)2, but no activity for catalytic TH was observed.
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Cooperative Bond Activation and Facile Intramolecular Aryl Transfer of Nickel–Aluminum Pincer‐type Complexes
Abstract Pincer‐type nickel–aluminum complexes were synthesized using two equivalents of the phosphinoamide, [PhNCH2PiPr2]−. The Ni0–AlIIIcomplexes, {(MesPAlP)Ni}2(μ‐N2) and {(MesPAlP)Ni}2(μ‐COD), whereMesPAlP is (Mes)Al(NPhCH2PiPr2)2, were structurally characterized. The (PAlP)Ni system exhibited cooperative bond cleavage mediated by the two‐site Ni–Al unit, including oxidative addition of aryl halides, H2activation, and ortho‐directed C−H bond activation of pyridine N‐oxide. One intriguing reaction is the reversible intramolecular transfer of the mesityl ring from the Al to the Ni site, which is evocative of the transmetalation step during cross‐coupling catalysis. The aryl‐transfer product,(THF)Al(NPhCH2PiPr2)2Ni(Mes), is the first example of a first‐row transition metal–aluminyl pincer complex. The addition of a judicious donor enables the Al metalloligand to convert reversibly between the alane and aluminyl forms via aryl group transfer to and from Ni, respectively. Theoretical calculations support a zwitterionic Niδ−–Alδ+electronic structure in the nickel–aluminyl complex.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1954751
- PAR ID:
- 10233491
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Volume:
- 60
- Issue:
- 27
- ISSN:
- 1433-7851
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 15087-15094
- Size(s):
- p. 15087-15094
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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