Article
Organometallics, Vol. 29, No. 22, 2010 6055
presence of air, catalyst 4 exhibits increased stability in water
versus methanol, although methanol is a better nucleophile
toward 4. A kynurenic acid ligand bearing a pendant amine
allows for the attachment of the catalyst to a solid PS
support. However, catalyst 5, a heterogeneous version of 4,
was observed to leach from the polystyrene support upon
several catalyst recycling experiments, suggesting that the
stability of supported versions of these homogeneous cata-
lysts depends sensitively on the nature of the support and
reaction conditions.
Experimental Section
Figure 3. Plots of [allyl methyl carbonate] vs hours for the
deallylation of allyl methyl carbonate in D2O catalyzed by 5,
recycled over successive runs.
General Considerations. All materials were purchased from
Aldrich and used as received unless stated otherwise. Tris-
(acetonitrile)cyclopentadienylruthenium(II) hexafluorophos-
phate was purchased from Strem and used as received. All
preparations of ruthenium(IV) compounds were carried out in
an inert atmosphere using standard glovebox or Schlenk tech-
niques but stored in atmosphere in closed vials. Combustion
analyses were conducted on a Perkin-Elmer TGA 7 thermo-
gravimetric analyzer.
Synthesis of Kynurenic Acid Allyl Ester. Allyl bromide (1.4
mL, 16.6 mmol) was added in a single aliquot to a vigorously
stirred mixture of kynurenic acid (2.0 g, 10.6 mmol) and KHCO3
(1.7 g, 17.4 mmol) in 60 mL of DMF. The single-neck, round-
bottom flask was equipped with reflux condenser and heated to
40 °C for 15 h. The reaction was quenched with water (∼60 mL)
and extracted three times with ethyl acetate. Combined organics
were washed with 5% aqueous NaCl, dried with MgSO4,
filtered, and removed of volatiles. Material was taken on with-
repeated, and on the third run the rate was even lower,
yielding an estimate of 0.31 ( 0.03 mmol/g, Figure 3.
The lower rates observed on subsequent runs imply that Ru is
leaching from the polystyrene support.49 As a test for leaching,
the supernatant from the washings was assessed for catalytic
activity;48 these experiments revealed that the supernatant
was catalytically active albeit at a much slower rate than 5
(approximately 20 times slower). We could not detect any free
kynurenic acid ligand in the supernatant by 1H NMR or ESI-
MS, implying that, in water, Ru is extracted off of the bead,
presumably by solvolysis of the kynurenic ligand, leaving PS-3
intact. While similar leaching phenomena have been observed
with other PS-supported Ru catalysts,50,51 this behavior is in
contrast to that reported by Kitamura for a silica-supported
version of 1, which did not exhibit loss of catalytic activity over
nine recycling cycles under an argon atmosphere.27 To test
whether the presence of air might contribute to the higher
leaching, we repeated the catalyst recycling experiments with 5
in water under argon. For these experiments, leaching was
attenuated but still evident with each catalyst cycle, giving
catalyst loadings of 0.84 ( 0.08,52 0.66 ( 0.15, and 0.31 (
0.03 mmol/g over three successive runs.
The higher degree of leaching observed for the polystyrene
catalyst 5 in water, relative to the silica-supported analogue,27
could be due to the nature of the solvent (water versus
methanol), the nature of the modified ligands (kynurenic acid
versus amide-substituted pyridine carboxylic acid), or the sup-
port itself. Arenes are known to displace coordinated ligands on
RuII species.53 The phenyl-rich environment of the PS bead
could labilize the Ru complexes; further studies are ongoing to
test these hypotheses.
1
out further purification. Yield: 1.575 g (65%). H NMR (300
MHz, CDCl3): δ 8.38 (1H, d, 8.37 Hz); 8.05 (1H, bs); 7.70 (1H, t,
7.75); 7.49 (1H, d, 8.40); 7.41 (1H, t, 7.75); 7.05 (1H, s); 6.4
(1H, m); 5.44 (2H, m); 4.93 (2H, d, 4.93). 13C NMR (125 MHz,
CDCl3): δ 162.9; 136.6; 130.6; 133.4; 103.8; 126.7; 126.5; 126.4;
124.8; 120.2; 118.4; 112.0; 67.8.
Synthesis of 2 (R=CH3). Methyl iodide (0.155 mL, 2.5 mmol)
was added in a single aliquot to a vigorously stirred mixture
of kynurenic acid allyl ester (0.505 g, 2.2 mmol) and Cs2CO3
(0.803 g, 2.5 mmol) in 130 mL of acetone. The single-neck,
round-bottom flask was fitted with a reflux condenser and
heated to reflux for 15 h. The reaction was quenched with brine
(∼70 mL) and extracted three times with ethyl acetate. The
combined organics were dried with MgSO4, filtered, andremoved
of volatiles. Material was taken on without further purification.
Yield: 0.301 g (56%). 1H NMR (300 MHz, acetone-d6): δ 8.22
(1H, d, 8.27 Hz); 8.12 (1H, d, 8.56 Hz); 7.84 (1H, t, 7.66 Hz); 7.68
(1H, t, 7.66 Hz); 7.59 (1H, s); 6.17 (1H, m); 5.44 (2H, m); 4.95
(2H, d, 5.83 Hz); 4.20 (3H, s). 13C NMR (125 MHz, acetone-d6):
δ 163.4; 149.9; 148.7; 132.9; 130.7; 130.2; 127.8; 122.2; 121.9;
118.2; 118.0; 100.3; 66.1; 56.1.
Conclusions
Synthesis of 4. 2 (0.21 g, 0.86 mmol) and [CpRu(NCCH3)3]PF6
(0.316 g, 0.73 mmol) were added to a flame-dried Schlenk flask with
a stir bar and removed from the glovebox to a Schlenk line. Under
N2, 10 mL of extra-dry acetone (Aldrich) was added via syringe.
The red solution produced a yellow precipitate over 25 min. The
stirring was stopped and, under N2 flow, the supernatant was
removed from the precipitate with a pipet and discarded. The
precipitate was washed with approximately 1 mL of extra-dry
acetone, and the precipitate was removed of volatiles under high
Cyclopentadienyl ruthenium complexes of a modified natural
product, kynurenic acid, were found to be an effective catalyst
for the deallylation of carbonates in water. A variety of
substituted kynurenic acid ligands are available using simple
procedures and commercially available materials. In the
(49) Catalyst decomposition could also contribute to the lower rates
upon recycling, but the activity of the supernatant implies that leaching
of Ru occurs.
1
vacuum, yielding pure 4: 0.218 g (54%). H NMR (300 MHz,
acetone-d6):δ 8.43 (1H, d, 8.74 Hz); 8.10 (2H, m); 7.91 (1H, t, 7.12);
7.59 (1H, s); 4.87 (2H, m); 4.70 (1H, d, 10.46 Hz); 4.45 (1H, m); 4.40
(1H, m); 4.35 (1H, s). Anal. Calcd for C19H18F6NO3PRu: 41.16 C,
3.27 H, 2.53 N. Found: 41.26 C, 3.08 H, 2.53 N.
(50) Nguyen, S. T.; Grubbs, R. H. J. Organomet. Chem. 1995, 497,
195–200.
(51) Nieczypor, P.; Buchowicz, W.; Meester, W. J. N.; Rutjes, F. P. J.
T.; Mol, J. C. Tetrahedron Lett. 2001, 42, 7103.
(52) The initial Ru loading estimated from the rates is higher under
argon atmosphere than under air.
Synthesis of 3. 2-Bromoethylamine HBr (0.21 g, 1.02 mmol)
was added in a single aliquot to a vigorously stirred mixture of
kynurenic acid allyl ester (0.22 g, 0.87 mmol) and Cs2CO3 (0.8 g,
3
(53) Fairchild, R. M.; Holman, K. T. Organometallics 2008, 27, 1823–
1833.