Article
Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 48, No. 16, 2009 7951
Scheme 4. Formation of Carboxylic Acids by Hydrocarbonylation
temperature to be bonded only to the vanadium(IV) atom
supported on the polyoxometalate leads to the possibility,
but does not prove, that this species is preferably involved
in the activation and reaction of CO. At higher tempera-
tures, where oxygen transfer and oxidation occur, the
dynamic behavior of various catalyst species may involve
fast interchange of many possible intermediates. Still, in
such a scenario and since species II is associated with the
1,6 and 1,11 isomers of the oxidized H5PV2Mo10O40, one
may further speculate that the formation of species I
occurs upon reaction of CO activated by Pd(0) with the
1,2; 1,4 and 1,5 isomers of oxidized H5PV2Mo10O40. The
higher reactivity of the vicinal isomers of H5PV2Mo10O40
was already previously suggested in a different reaction,
the oxidation of aldehydes.23 One should, however, note
that calculations showed that one electron reduced forms
of all the isomers of H5PV2Mo10O40 have the same energy
although these calculations did not consider supported
species as observed in the study.16
By combining the EPR and catalytic results and based
on literature precedence where it has been shown that
aldehydes react with acidic polyoxometalates to yield
acetals or hemiacetals,24 we suggest a similar reductive
activation of CO. Therefore, in Scheme 5 we show the
reaction of Pd activated CO23 concomitant with electron
transfer at an equatorial oxygen atom of H5PV2Mo10O40
where the reactive species is a vicinal isomer.25 The mea-
sured vanadium-carbon distances and coupling constants
for species I support such a formulation. The formulation
of the EPR observed intermediate in Scheme 5 is shown as a
carbonyl complex (V-CO) rather than a carboxylate
complex V-C(O)OH because the conditions used to pre-
pare samples for the EPR spectra are mild (35 ꢀC, 10 min)
and do not yield CO2 which occurs at 90 ꢀC over 5 h.
Under anaerobic conditions and higher temperature
the carbonyl complex (V-CO) yields CO2 by oxygen
transfer from the polyoxometalate. Under O2 it may be
assumed that oxygen could either react at the vanadium-
(IV) atom to yield a vanadium(V)-superoxo species or at
the carbon atom to yield a peroxocarbonate species.
Under acidic conditions the vanadium(V)-superoxo spe-
cies would likely quickly disproportionate via second
order kinetics or abstract an allylic hydrogen of 1-
octene.26 Since allylic oxidation products were formed
only in small amounts we tend to discount this possi-
bility. On the other hand, peroxocarbonate species pre-
viously prepared in situ from bicarbonate and H2O2 have
been reported to epoxidize alkenes and oxidize sulfides
albeit atnearly neutral pH values.27 Itis possible or perhaps
likely that Pd also plays a role in the activation of alkenes
Pd(0) catalyzed hydrocarbonylation reaction rather than a
Pd(II) oxidative carbonylation reaction is operative,20
Scheme 4. Oxidative addition of the acidic H5PV2Mo10O40
and insertion of the alkene and CO in the presence of H2O
yielded the carboxylic acids. The second reaction pathway,
about 55% of products, was the result of epoxidation and
subsequent transformations, Chart 1. Thus, although the
original epoxidation product, 1-octene oxide, 4, was not
directly observed because of its apparent short lifetime
under reaction conditions, its use as a substrate under the
same reaction conditions gave exactly the same product
ratios for 5-9 as observed in the reaction of 1-octene. The
known transformations of 4 (ring-opening and esterifica-
tion, and C-C bond cleavage) are primarily due to the
acidic conditions dictated by the polyoxometalate.21
The formation of furanones deserved specific verifica-
tion and comment. Therefore, the reaction of heptanoic
acid as substrate (1 mmol heptanoic acid, 7 bar CO, 3 bar
O2, 10 μmol H5PV2Mo10O40, 1 μmol Pd (5% Pd/Al2O3) in
1.5 mL 9:1 AcOH/H2O, 0.1 mmol AcONa, 90 ꢀC, 15 h)
showed a 11% conversion with formation of 2-methyl-, 2-
ethyl-, and 2-propylfuranone in an approximately ∼3:1:1
ratio. Such activation of remote C-H bonds in aliphatic
carboxylic acids has been reported in the past to be
catalyzed by Pt(II) using Pt(IV) as oxidant.22 Assumingly,
H5PV2Mo10O40 serves here as oxidant in this reaction
catalyzed by Pd(II).4,5
Mechanistic Discussion. From the combined EPR spec-
troscopy and catalysis studies several hypotheses may be
suggested concerning (i) the reduced H5PV2Mo10O40
species, (ii) the reaction of H5PV2Mo10O40 with CO
activated by Pd(0), and (iii) the reactivity of
H5PV2Mo10O40/Pd(0) activated CO under anaerobic
and aerobic conditions. The EPR measurements show
that two different types of species were formed upon
reduction of H5PV2Mo10O40 with CO. Major species I
showed CO bonded to a vanadium(IV) atom that is
remote or supported on the polyoxometalate cluster as
indicated by the absence of coupling to phosphorus and
molybdenum atoms. Minor species II does not appear to
bind CO, and the vanadium(IV) atom appears to be
incorporated within the polyoxometalate cluster as in-
dicated by the presence of an axial phosphorus atom and
equatorial molybdenum atoms but slightly distanced
(23) Khenkin, A. M.; Rosenberger, A.; Neumann, R. J. Catal. 1999, 182, 82–91.
(24) (a) Konishi, Y.; Sakata, K.; Misono, M.; Yoneda, Y. J. Catal. 1982,
77, 169–179. (b) Popova, G. A.; Budneva, A. A.; Andrushkevich, T. V. React.
Kinet. Catal. Lett. 1997, 61, 353–362.
(25) It is possible that CO is activated on a Pd(0) atom on the Al2O3
surface or via formation of soluble Pd(0) carbonyl species.
(26) Sawyer, D. T. In Oxygen Complexes and Oxygen Activation by
Transition Metals; Martell, A. E., Sawyer, D. T., Eds.; Plenum: New York,
1988; pp 131-148.
(27) (a) Richardson, D. E.; Yao, H.; Frank, K. M.; Bennett, D. A. J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 1729–1739. (b) Yao, H.; Richardson, D. E. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2000, 122, 3220–3221. (c) Bennett, D. A.; Yao, H.; Richardson, D. E. Inorg.
Chem. 2001, 40, 2996–3001.
3-
from the PO4 core. Species II can be associated with
H5PV2Mo10O40 isomers with distal vanadium sites in the
oxidized state. The fact that CO was observed at low
(20) (a) Tsuji, J. New J. Chem. 2000, 24, 127–135. (b) Tsuji, J. Acc. Chem.
Res. 1969, 2, 144–152. (c) Tsuji, J.; Morikawa, M.; Kiji, J. Tetrahedron Lett.
1963, 1437–1440. (d) Bittler, K.; Kutepow, N. V.; Neubauer, K.; Reis, H. Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. 1968, 7, 329–335.
(21) Sheldon, R. A. J. Mol. Catal. 1983, 20, 1–26.
(22) Kao, L.-C.; Sen, A. Chem. Commun. 1991, 1242–1243.