Fenhua Wang

Lanthanide amido complexes incorporating amino-coordinate-lithium bridged bis(indolyl) ligands: synthesis, characterization, and catalysis for hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes and aldimines.

Two series of new lanthanide amido complexes supported by bis(indolyl) ligands with amino-coordinate-lithium as a bridge were synthesized and characterized. The interactions of [(Me(3)Si)(2)N](3)Ln(III)(μ-Cl)Li(THF)(3) with 2 equiv of 3-(CyNHCH(2))C(8)H(5)NH in toluene produced the amino-coordinate-lithium bridged bis(indolyl) lanthanide amides [μ-{[η(1):η(1):η(1):η(1)-3-(CyNHCH(2))Ind](2)Li}Ln[N(SiMe(3))(2)](2)] (Cy = cyclohexyl, Ind = Indolyl, Ln = Sm (1), Eu (2), Dy (3), Yb (4)) in good yields. Treatment of [μ-{[η(1):η(1):η(1):η(1)-3-(CyNHCH(2))Ind](2)Li}Ln[N(SiMe(3))(2)](2)] with THF gave new lanthanide amido complexes [μ-{[η(1):η(1)-3-(CyNHCH(2))Ind](2)Li(THF)}Ln[N(SiMe(3))(2)](2)] (Ln = Eu (5), Dy (6), Yb (7)), which can be transferred to amido complexes 2, 3, and 4 by reflux the corresponding complexes in toluene. Thus, two series of rare-earth-metal amides could be reciprocally transformed easily by merely changing the solvent in the reactions. All new complexes 1-7 are fully characterized including X-ray structural determination. The catalytic activities of these new lanthanide amido complexes for hydrophosphonylation of both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes and various substituted aldimines were explored. The results indicated that these complexes displayed a high catalytic activity for the C-P bond formation with employment of low catalyst loadings (0.1 mol % for aldehydes and 1 mol % for aldimines) under mild conditions. Thus, it provides a convenient way to prepare both α-hydroxy and α-amino phosphonates.

Rare-earth metal complexes having an unusual indolyl-1,2-dianion through C-H activation with a novel eta(1):(mu(2)-eta(1):eta(1)) bonding with metals

Studies on the reactions of 3-(tert-butyliminomethine)indole or 3-(tert-butylaminomethylene)indole with rare-earth metal amides [(Me(3)Si)(2)N](3)RE(III)(μ-Cl)Li(THF)(3) (RE = Y, Yb) led to the discovery of different reactivity patterns with isolation of novel rare-earth metal complexes having a unique indolyl-1,2-dianion in a novel η(1):(μ(2)-η(1):η(1)) bonding mode through C-H activation.

Rare-earth metal amido complexes supported by bridged bis(β-diketiminato) ligand as efficient catalysts for hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes and ketones

A series of rare-earth metal amides supported by a cyclohexyl-linked bis(β-diketiminato) ligand were synthesized, and their catalytic activities for hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes and ketones were developed. Reaction of [(Me3Si)2N]3RE(µ-Cl)Li(THF)3 with the cyclohexyl-linked bis(β-diketimine) H2L (1) (L = Cy[NC(Me)CHC(Me)NAr]2, Cy = cyclohexyl, Ar = 2, 6-i-Pr2C6H3) gave the rare-earth metal amides LREN(SiMe3)2 (RE = Nd(2), Sm(3), Dy(4), Er(5), Y(6)). All complexes were fully characterized by elemental, spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray analyses. Investigation of the catalytic properties of the complexes reveals that these complexes exhibited a high catalytic activity towards the hydrophosphonylation of aldehydes and ketones in the presence of a very low loading of rare-earth metal amides (0.1–1 mol%) at room temperature in a short time.

Synthesis, structure, and catalytic activity of rare-earth metal amides with a neutral pyrrolyl-functionalized indolyl ligand

The reactions of neutral pyrrolyl-functionalized indole with rare-earth metal amides [(Me3Si)2N]3RE(µ-Cl)Li(THF)3 produced the rare-earth metal complexes [(Me3Si)2N]2RE([η1:µ-η2-3-(2-(N-CH3)C4H3NCH=N-CH2CH2)C8H5N])(µ-Cl)Li(THF) (RE = Er, Y) having indolyl ligand η1 bonded to rare-earth metal ion and η2 bonded to lithium ion. The catalytic activities of these lanthanide amido complexes for addition of terminal alkynes to aromatic nitriles were explored. Results reveal that these complexes displayed a good catalytic activity for the addition reaction under mild conditions.