Johan H.L. Jordaan

DFT investigation of the 1-octene metathesis reaction mechanism with the Phobcat precatalyst

AbstractThe productive self-metathesis reaction of 1-octene in the presence of the Phobcat precatalyst [RuCl2(Phoban-Cy)2(=CHPh)] using density functional theory was investigated and compared to the Grubbs 1 precatalyst [RuCl2(PCy3)2(=CHPh)]. At the GGA-PW91/DNP level, the geometry optimization of all the participating species and the PES scans of the various activation and catalytic cycles in the dissociative mechanism were performed. The formation of the catalytically active heptylidene species is kinetically and thermodynamically favored, while the formation of trans-tetradecene is thermodynamically favored. FigurePhobcat active species in 1-octene metathesis

(Ferrocenylpyrazolyl)nickel(II)-catalysed ethylene oligomerisation

Compounds L1–L6 (3-ferrocenylpyrazole (L1), 3-ferrocenyl-5-methylpyrazole (L2), 3-ferrocenylpyrazolyl-methylenepyridine (L3), 3-ferrocenyl-5-pyrazolyl-methylenepyridine (L4), 3-ferrocenylpyrazolyl-ethylamine (L5) and 3-ferrocenyl-5-pyrazolyl-ethylamine (L6)) reacted with [NiBr2(DME)] or [NiCl2·6H2O] to give the mononuclear nickel complexes [NiBr2(κ1-L1)2] (1), [NiBr2(κ1-L2)2] (2), [NiBr2(κ2-L3)] (3), [NiBr2(κ2-L4)] (4), [NiBr2(κ2-L5)] (5), [NiBr2(κ2-L6)] (6), [NiCl2(κ2-L3)] (7) and [NiCl2(κ2-L4)] (8). Because these nickel complexes are paramagnetic, they were characterised by a combination of IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and, in selected cases, single crystal X-ray crystallography. Activation of complexes 1–8 with EtAlCl2 in chlorobenzene produced active species that catalysed ethylene oligomerization to butenes and C16–C64 olefins, showing a non-Schulz–Flory distribution of products. Complexes 2 and 3 were the most active (1989 kg of ethylene oligomer per mol of Ni per h and 1776 kg of ethylene oligomer per mol of Ni per h, respectively) and, in toluene, produced isomers of butene and small amounts of butyltoluenes via Friedel–Crafts alkylation of toluene by the butenes.

A Molecular modeling study of the changes of some steric properties of the precatalysts during the olefin metathesis reaction

The productive self‐metathesis of 1‐octene with a series of new phosphine ligated Grubbs‐type precatalysts was studied. The resulting structures were used to compare some steric properties of the new precatalysts with those of well‐known precatalysts. The possibility of α‐CC agnostic stabilization as well as the ability of the ligands to shield the metal was studied. A comparison of the obtained data, pointed to the unlikelihood that α‐CC agostic stabilization is a major contribution to the stabilization of the various metallacyclobutane rings. The similarity in the ability of the ligands to shield the metal also raised questions about the comparison of experimentally observed trends with those obtained theoretically.

A comparison of low and high activity precatalysts: do the calculated energy barriers during the self-metathesis reaction of 1-octene correlate with the precatalyst metathesis activity?

The self‐metathesis reaction of 1‐octene with several well‐known Grubbs‐type precatalysts and the new Z‐selective Grubbs precatalyst were studied with molecular modeling. The obtained Gibbs‐free energy values for all the steps during the productive metathesis of 1‐octene were compared to the values obtained for some low catalytic activity precatalysts. Determining how the Gibbs‐free energy values of highly active precatalysts compare to that of low catalytic activity precatalysts gave a deeper insight into the mechanism. The questionable correlation of the theoretically observed trends with those obtained experimentally does point to the need to be very cautious when making assumptions from theoretical results without a sufficiently large dataset.