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1. Synthesis of a CCC‐NHC pincer Re complex: An air stable catalyst for coupling ketones with primary alcohols via borrowing hydrogen

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aoc.6789  

   Pham, Hoang H. ; Donnadieu, Bruno ; Hollis, T. Keith ( July 2022 , Applied Organometallic Chemistry)

   To date, no CCC‐NHC pincer complexes of Re have been reported in the literature. The first CCC‐NHC pincer complex of Re is reported. It was fully characterized by¹H and¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X‐ray crystallographic methods to determine the molecular structure. It was synthesized via transmetallation from an isolated Zr precursor and was found to be air stable. The catalytic activity of the CCC‐NHC Re(I) pincer complex was demonstrated for the borrowing hydrogen coupling reaction between benzylic ketones and primary alcohols to generate a new C–C bond in an environmentally friendly catalysis requiring no activating groups for the alcohol functionality. This borrowing hydrogen coupling reaction produced a stoichiometric amount of water as the only by‐product and did not require the conversion of the primary alcohol to a leaving group. A broad range of substrates was examined, and isolated yields from 53% to 92% were obtained. A catalytic cycle for the CCC‐NHC Re(I) pincer complex catalyzed borrowing hydrogen coupling reaction is proposed.

    

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2. Catalytic Behavior of Mono‐ N ‐Protected Amino‐Acid Ligands in Ligand‐Accelerated C−H Activation by Palladium(II)

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202002484  

   Salazar, Chase A. ; Gair, Joseph J. ; Flesch, Kaylin N. ; Guzei, Ilia A. ; Lewis, Jared C. ; Stahl, Shannon S. ( April 2020 , Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Mono‐N‐protected amino acids (MPAAs) are increasingly common ligands in Pd‐catalyzed C−H functionalization reactions. Previous studies have shown how these ligands accelerate catalytic turnover by facilitating the C−H activation step. Here, it is shown that MPAA ligands exhibit a second property commonly associated with ligand‐accelerated catalysis: the ability to support catalytic turnover at substoichiometric ligand‐to‐metal ratios. This catalytic role of the MPAA ligand is characterized in stoichiometric C−H activation and catalytic C−H functionalization reactions. Palladacycle formation with substrates bearing carboxylate and pyridine directing groups exhibit a 50–100‐fold increase in rate when only 0.05 equivalents of MPAA are present relative to Pd^II. These and other mechanistic data indicate that facile exchange between MPAAs and anionic ligands coordinated to Pd^IIenables a single MPAA to support C−H activation at multiple Pd^IIcenters.

    

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3. Catalytic Behavior of Mono‐ N ‐Protected Amino‐Acid Ligands in Ligand‐Accelerated C−H Activation by Palladium(II)

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202002484  

   Salazar, Chase A. ; Gair, Joseph J. ; Flesch, Kaylin N. ; Guzei, Ilia A. ; Lewis, Jared C. ; Stahl, Shannon S. ( April 2020 , Angewandte Chemie)

   Mono‐N‐protected amino acids (MPAAs) are increasingly common ligands in Pd‐catalyzed C−H functionalization reactions. Previous studies have shown how these ligands accelerate catalytic turnover by facilitating the C−H activation step. Here, it is shown that MPAA ligands exhibit a second property commonly associated with ligand‐accelerated catalysis: the ability to support catalytic turnover at substoichiometric ligand‐to‐metal ratios. This catalytic role of the MPAA ligand is characterized in stoichiometric C−H activation and catalytic C−H functionalization reactions. Palladacycle formation with substrates bearing carboxylate and pyridine directing groups exhibit a 50–100‐fold increase in rate when only 0.05 equivalents of MPAA are present relative to Pd^II. These and other mechanistic data indicate that facile exchange between MPAAs and anionic ligands coordinated to Pd^IIenables a single MPAA to support C−H activation at multiple Pd^IIcenters.

    

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4. δ C–H (hetero)arylation via Cu-catalyzed radical relay

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sc04366c  

   Zhang, Zuxiao ; Stateman, Leah M. ; Nagib, David A. ( January 2019 , Chemical Science)

   null (Ed.)

   A Cu-catalyzed strategy has been developed that harnesses a radical relay mechanism to intercept a distal C-centered radical for C–C bond formation. This approach enables selective δ C–H (hetero)arylation of sulfonamides via intramolecular hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) by an N-centered radical. The radical relay is both initiated and terminated by a Cu catalyst, which enables incorporation of arenes and heteroarenes by cross-coupling with boronic acids. The broad scope and utility of this catalytic method for δ C–H arylation is shown, along with mechanistic probes for selectivity of the HAT mechanism. A catalytic, asymmetric variant is also presented, as well as a method for accessing 1,1-diaryl-pyrrolidines via iterative δ C–H functionalizations. 

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5. Insights into the roles of water on the aqueous phase reforming of glycerol

   https://doi.org/10.1039/c8re00267c  

   Xie, Tianjun ; Bodenschatz, Cameron J. ; Getman, Rachel B. ( February 2019 , Reaction Chemistry & Engineering)

   Aqueous phase reforming (APR) of sugar alcohol molecules derived from biomass, e.g. , C x H (2x+2) O x (aq) + x H 2 O → x CO 2 (g) + (2 x + 1)H 2 (g), creates hydrogen gas sustainably, making it an important component of future bio-refineries; however, problems with the cost, activity, and selectivity of present precious metal based catalysts impede its broader adoption. Ideally, new catalysts would be designed to optimize activity and selectivity; however, a comprehensive understanding of the APR mechanism is lacking. This is complicated by the fact that the primary biomass-derived sugar alcohols are large molecules (meaning that their reaction networks are large) and because of the presence of liquid water. Water influences catalytic phenomena in multiple ways, including altering the thermodynamics of catalytic surface species and participating in catalytic reactions. Understanding the mechanism of APR requires understanding these various effects; however, computational strategies based solely on density functional theory (DFT) are computationally prohibitive for such large and complicated reaction networks. In this work, we investigate the mechanism of APR reactions in the context of glycerol reforming. To calculate the reaction network, we combine DFT calculations, force-field molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, linear scaling relations (LSRs), transition state scaling (TSS) relationships, and data from the literature into a microkinetic model. The microkinetic model is run under vacuum and aqueous phases in order to learn about the roles of water molecules on the mechanism of glycerol APR. We identify four such roles: providing surface hydroxyl groups, which promote oxidation of surface CO formed in glycerol decomposition; promoting C–H scissions; promoting O–H scissions; and inhibiting the thermodynamics of decarbonylation of C3 intermediates. 

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