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Organometallics 2008, 27, 270–275
Cyclometalation Reactions Involving C-Cl Bond Activation of
ortho-Chlorinated Substrates with Imine as Anchoring Groups by
Cobalt Complexes
Yue Chen,† Hongjian Sun,† Ulrich Flörke,‡ and Xiaoyan Li*,†
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong UniVersity, Shanda Nanlu 27, 250100 Jinan,
People’s Republic of China, and Anorganische and Analytische Chemie der UniVersität Paderborn,
Warburger Strasse, 33098 Paderborn, Germany
ReceiVed September 2, 2007
The aldazines (C6H3Cl2-2,6)CHdN-NH2 (1a) and (C6H3Cl2-2,6)CHdN-NdCH(C6H3Cl2-2,6) (1b)
or the Schiff bases (C6H3Cl2-2,6)CHdN-CH3 (1c), (C6H3Cl2-2,6)CHdN(C6H5) (1d), and (C6H3Cl2-
2,6)CHdN(C10H7) (1e) were obtained by condensation of 2,6-dichlorobenzaldehyde with hydrazine,
methylamine, aniline, or R-naphthylamine, respectively. Treatment of 1a-1e with [CoMe(PMe3)4] resulted
in oxidative addition of the C-Cl bond to afford the ortho-chelated cobalt(III) complexes [CoClMe(PMe3)2-
{(C6H3Clortho)-CHdN-R}] (2a-2e). The reaction of 1b,1c with [CoCl(PMe3)3] delivered the aryl Co(III)
complexes 3b,3c containing a [C-Co-Cl] fragment, while Co(II) complexes [CoCl(PMe3)2((C6H3Cl-
ortho)CHdN-R)] (3d,3e) were formed through the reaction of 1d or 1e with [CoCl(PMe3)3]. Under
similar conditions, the ortho-chelated cobalt(III) complex [CoBrCl(PMe3)2((C6H3Cl2-2,6)CHdN-CH3)]
(4c) could be isolated via the reaction of [CoBr(PMe3)3] with 1c. The crystal and molecular structures of
complexes 2a, 3b, 3e, and 4c were determined by X-ray diffraction.
Cyclometalation reactions of substrates containing an imine
or a pyridyl anchoring group by iron and cobalt complexes
Introduction
As chloroarenes are widely applied in many fields, the
productive activation of the C-Cl bond in chloroarenes is of
significant industrial interest. Simultaneously, the disposal of
organic wastes containing chloro groups has become a major
environmental and social problem, because most of them are
toxic and thermally stable, accumulating in the surroundings
for a long time. Due to the importance of functionalization or
dechlorination of aromatic chlorides, there is currently a great
deal of interest in the activation of the comparatively inert C-Cl
bond.1 Several methods have been found to successfully activate
a C-Cl bond; however, employing transition-metal complexes
apparently seems to be the most promising and efficient
approach. There have been many examples of catalytic activa-
tion of the C-Cl bond in chloroarenes by palladium,2–6 nickel,7
cobalt,8–11 platinum,12 and rhodium13,14 complexes, which are
utilized in cross-coupling reactions such as the Heck reaction,
the Suzuki coupling, and the Stille coupling. The first key step
in all the above-described catalytic reactions is oxidative addition
of the C-Cl bond at the electron-rich low-valent transition-
metal center. The research of cobalt complexes on this topic
was well reviewed by Caubere15 and Grushin.16
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* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +86-531-
88564464. E-mail: xli63@sdu.edu.cn.
† Shandong University.
‡ Universität Paderborn.
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10.1021/om7008793 CCC: $40.75
2008 American Chemical Society
Publication on Web 01/05/2008