Angewandte
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Chemie
both reactions, which are triggered by simple acid/base inputs.
Finally, the switch was effectively utilized to construct an
assisted tandem catalysis[8] involving the dehydrogenative
coupling of an amine followed by hydrogenation of the
resulting imine, in one pot, and it was achieved by alter-
natively triggering a change in the catalyst state.
A hybrid pyridylidene-benzimidazole ligand (L), bound
to a catalytic [RuII(para-cymene)] center, was utilized to
exploit the acid/base control switch of the coordination (states
I and II) through the benzimidazole functionality, and to
provide a robust metal-ligand platform. The Ru–C(pyridyli-
dene) bonding seemed to be crucial for the success of the
system as this covalent binding of the ligand to the metal
center assured that the ligand would not dissociate from the
metal center, not even at high reaction temperatures. The
complex switches between an acid-stimulated RuII–benzimid-
azole coordination mode featuring a neutral imino-type s-
donating N!Ru coordination (state I) and a base-stimulated
RuII–benzimidazolate coordination mode consisting of
anionic s- and p-donating amido-type N–Ru covalent bond-
ing (state II). The complexes 1 and 2, that is, states I and II,
respectively, were synthesized according to the reactions as
shown in Figure 2A, and characterized fully by several
spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques
(Figure 2B and the Supporting Information).
After successfully verifying the smooth interconversion
between 1 and 2 in solution with acid-base inputs (Figure 2C),
the two complexes were used for the catalytic hydrogenation
of imines with molecular hydrogen under ambient conditions
(1 atm H2 at 408C) in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE; Figure 3).
TFE is a highly polar and coordinating solvent which
facilitates removal of the iodide ligand from the metal
coordination sphere of the catalysts, as required for subse-
quent activation of H2. It was observed that 2 was highly
active (product yield 69 to 88%), whereas 1 was almost
inactive (product yield 1% to 5%) in this reaction, as it was
tested for a range of substrates.
Next, the catalyst switch was utilized for a complementary
reaction. The activity of 1 and 2 was reversed for the
dehydrogenative coupling of a series of benzylic amines to
the corresponding imines performed in the presence of NaBF4
in acetonitrile/toluene at 1008C under open-flask conditions
(Figure 3). In this reaction, NaBF4 was used for removal of the
iodide ligand to facilitate substrate binding. Herein, 1 was
more efficient (product yield 78 to 94%) than 2 (product yield
2% to 25%).
This type of orthogonal catalytic response of the 1$2-
based switch for the two reactions was further explored for
online temporal control of the switch during the progress of
the reactions. Thus, when a model hydrogenation reaction was
started with the less effective catalyst 1, no product formation
was observed in the first 2 hours of catalysis. Addition of NEt3
(1 equiv with respect to catalyst) generated the active catalyst
2, which afforded fast reaction and 26% yield of the product
in the next 2 hours. The activity of 2 was drastically slowed
down by adding 1 equivalent of CF3COOH, and it was
restored again with addition of NEt3. Three representative
cycles were performed without any loss of activity of the
catalyst, thus showing 0–2% of product yield in the slow state
Figure 2. A) Synthesis (A) and ORTEP[9] representation (B) of solid-
state molecular structures of 1 and 2. The thermal ellipsoids are
shown at 30% probability. C) Acid-base triggered 1$2 interconversion
monitored by UV/Vis spectroscopic method in solution.
and incremental yields of 19–22% in the fast state for every
2 hour period (Figure 4A). Similarly, switchability of the
system was successfully verified for the dehydrogenative
catalysis starting with the less active catalyst 2, which
furnished only 4% of the product within the initial 3 hour
period. After addition of CF3COOH (1 equiv with respect to
catalyst) the more active catalyst 1 was generated and
accelerated the reaction to provide 17% yield of the product
in the next 3 hours. Addition of NEt3 stopped the catalysis and
to restore it acid was added. Three representative cycles were
tested and exhibited 4–8% yield in the slow state and 17–24%
yield in the fast state for alternating 3 hour periods (Fig-
ure 4B).
After successful demonstration of the switchable catalysis,
the power of the method was further tested for an assisted
tandem catalysis[8] (such as A!B!C) by switching on the
correct catalyst state (I or II) for each step by using the
appropriate stimulus. Finding common but compatible reac-
tion conditions (solvent, temperature etc.) for both of the
catalyses in a single pot was challenging. To demonstrate
proof-of-concept, however, we compromised the activity to
some extent and chose a preliminary reaction set-up as
described below. At first, the dehydrogenative coupling of 4-
methylbenzylamine (5 f) was started with the less active
2
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Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 1 – 6
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