Cyril Godard

Heterogenization of Pd–NHC complexes onto a silica support and their application in Suzuki–Miyaura coupling under batch and continuous flow conditions

The heterogenisation of a new family of Pd–NHC complexes is reported via a straightforward and efficient synthetic procedure. These silica-immobilised materials were successfully applied as catalysts in the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of aryl chlorides and bromides under mild conditions. The materials exhibited improved stability when the catalytic reaction was run under anhydrous conditions and could be recycled up to five times without significant loss of activity. When the reaction was run within a continuous flow microreactor, these catalysts showed good activity after at least two hours on stream.

The reaction of M(CO)3(Ph2PCH2CH2PPh2) (M = Fe, Ru) with parahydrogen: probing the electronic structure of reaction intermediates and the internal rearrangement mechanism for the dihydride products

The photochemical reaction of Ru(CO)(3)(dppe) and Fe(CO)(3)(dppe)(dppe = Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PPh(2)) with parahydrogen has been studied by in situ-photochemistry resulting in NMR spectra of Ru(CO)(2)(dppe)(H)(2) that show significant enhancement of the hydride resonances while normal signals are seen in Fe(CO)(2)(dppe)(H)(2). This effect is associated with a singlet electronic state for the key intermediate Ru(CO)(2)(dppe) while Fe(CO)(2)(dppe) is a triplet. DFT calculations reveal electronic ground states consistent with this picture. The fluxionality of Ru(CO)(2)(dppe)(H)(2) and Fe(CO)(2)(dppe)(H)(2) has been examined by NMR spectroscopy and rationalised by theoretical methods which show that two pathways for ligand exchange exist. In the first, the phosphorus and carbonyl centres interchange positions while the two hydride ligands are unaffected. A second pathway involving interchange of all three ligand sets was found at slightly higher energy. The H-H distances in the transition states are consistent with metal-bonded dihydrogen ligands. However, no local minimum (intermediate) was found along the rearrangement pathways.

Interplay between Cationic and Neutral Species in the Rhodium‐Catalyzed Hydroaminomethylation Reaction

The reactivity of [Rh(CO)(2){(R,R)-Ph-BPE}]BF(4) (2) toward amine, CO and/or H(2) was examined by high-pressure NMR and IR spectroscopy. The two cationic pentacoordinated species [Rh(CO)(3) {(R,R)-Ph-BPE}]BF(4) (4) and [Rh(CO)(2)(NHC(5)H(10)){(R,R)-Ph-BPE}]BF(4) (8) were identified. The transformation of 2 into the neutral complex [RhH(CO)(2){(R,R)-Ph-BPE}] (3) under hydroaminomethylation conditions (CO/H(2), amine) was investigated. The full mechanisms related to the formation of 3, 4 and 8 starting from 2 are supported by DFT calculations. In particular, the pathway from 2 to 3 revealed the deprotonation by the amine of the dihydride species [Rh(H)(2)(CO)(2){(R,R)-Ph-BPE}]BF(4) (6), resulting from the oxidative addition of H(2) on 2.

Applications of the parahydrogen phenomenon in inorganic chemistry

The study of reaction mechanisms by NMR spectroscopy normally suffers from limitations in sensitivity that arise from the physical constraints of the detection method. An overview is presented of how chemical reactions can be studied using parahydrogen assisted NMR spectroscopy where detected signal strengths can exceed those normally seen by factors of over 28,000.

Tuning the Selectivity in the Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones Catalyzed by Similar Ruthenium and Rhodium Nanoparticles

Ru and Rh nanoparticles (NPs) RuI, RuII, RhI and RhII, stabilised by triphenylphosphine (PPh3) and diphenylphosphinobutane (dppb) were synthesised, characterised and applied as catalysts in the hydrogenation of several aromatic ketones. The effects of the nature of the metal and of the stabilising agent on the aryl versus ketone hydrogenation were studied. For Rh NPs, the coordination of arene dominates the interaction of the substrate with the NP, whereas the coordination of the ketone group was not evidenced. For Ru NPs, however, the results show that both arene and ketone coordinate to the NPs surface in a competitive manner. The properties of the stabilising ligands have a clear influence on the outcome of the reaction, and for the Rh‐catalysed reactions, products of hydrogenolysis were only formed if PPh3 was used as the stabiliser. The structure of the substrate was also a key factor for the selectivity.

NMR characterisation of unstable solvent and dihydride complexes generated at low temperature by in-situ UV irradiation

Low temperature in-situ UV irradiation of toluene solutions containing bis(alkene)rhodium complexes and parahydrogen in conjunction with NMR monitoring enables the characterisation of unstable eta 2-solvent complexes and dihydrogen activation products.

Robust Zinc Complexes that Contain Pyrrolidine‐Based Ligands as Recyclable Catalysts for the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Carbon Dioxide and Epoxides

New zinc catalysts bearing ligands that contain a pyrrolidine scaffold were synthesized and tested successfully in the coupling of CO2 with terminal and internal epoxides. These catalysts provide excellent activity and total selectivity to the corresponding cyclic carbonates, even for challenging substrates such as cyclohexene oxide, trans‐1,2‐epoxybutane, and methyl epoxioleate. The robustness of the most active catalytic system was demonstrated by turnover numbers of up to 1840 for propylene oxide. The recycling of this catalytic system was performed up to five times without relevant loss of activity using this substrate.

Pd‐Catalysed Mono‐ and Dicarbonylation of Aryl Iodides: Insights into the Mechanism and the Selectivity

The mechanism of the experimentally reported phosphine-free palladium-catalysed carbonylation of aryl iodides with amines in the presence of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as base was investigated at the DFT level. Paths were identified for both di- and monocarbonylation, and the calculated selectivity for three different substrates was in agreement with experiment. In dicarbonylation yielding α-ketoamides, formation of the second carbon-carbon bond occurs through reductive elimination in the Pd acyl amide intermediate after DBU-assisted nucleophilic attack of an amine at a terminal CO ligand. This path yields the major product with iodobenzene and the almost exclusive product with p-methoxyiodobenzene. Two different possible pathways yield the monocarbonylated amide product. In one of them, which affords the minor product for iodobenzene, base-assisted nucleophilic attack of the amine takes place on a Pd-bound acyl ligand. For substrates with electron-withdrawing substituents, such as p-cyanoiodobenzene, aryl migration to the CO ligand is disfavoured, and this allows base-assisted amine attack at a terminal CO ligand early in the catalytic cycle. From the resulting Pd amide aryl complex, the subsequent reductive elimination occurs easily, and monocarbonylation becomes favoured.

Parahydrogen studies of H2 addition to Ir(I) complexes containing chiral phosphine-thioether ligands: implications for catalysis.

Ir(CO)[CpFe{eta5-C5H3(PPh2)CH2SR}]Cl [R = Ph and (t)Bu], containing a kappa2:P,S ligand, undergoes H2 addition across the S-Ir-CO axis under kinetic control to form two distinct diastereoisomeric products, which then rearrange via S dissociation in a process that can be hijacked for useful catalysis, but ultimately form a single diastereoisomer of the thermodynamic product where the hydride ligands are trans to chloride and phosphine.

New perspectives in hydroformylation: a para-hydrogen study.

NMR studies on the reaction of Ir(CO)(PPh(3))(2)(eta(3)-C(3)H(5)) with para-H(2) and CO enable the complete mapping of the hydroformylation mechanism for an iridium monohydride catalyst via the detection of species which include iridium acyl and alkyl dihydride intermediates.