10.1002/anie.201916359
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
COMMUNICATION
Lastly, with the catalytic reaction in mind, we undertook a final
ns-TA measurement (see Fig. S19, Supp. Info) using catalytically
relevant concentrations of [Ru(bpy)3]2+, pyrene and DIPEA in the
presence of 2-bromobenzonitrile and N-methylpyrrole (see Table
1, entry 11). The resulting fit of kinetic parameters for *Pyr (T1)
and the [Ru(bpy)3]+ complex are within experimental error of those
in the absence of organic substrates, indicating a lack of
interaction between these components. Interestingly, the
*[Ru(bpy)3]2+ (3MLCT) excited state lifetime is reduced by ca. 30
ns in the presence of 2-bromobenzonitrile and N-methylpyrrole,
proposed mechanism also agrees with recently published
results[12] wherein an analogous photoredox reaction was
proposed to mediate the Birch reduction of several different
arenes. This work demonstrates that not only the primary
photoredox reaction, but also the possibility of secondary
reactions between components can be involved in catalytic
processes, and should be considered when organic photoredox
mechanisms are proposed.
Experimental Section
suggesting it may play an additional role as
a potential
General. [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2·6H2O (bpy = 2,2’-bipyridine), pyrene, N,N-
diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA), N-methylpyrrole, 2-bromobenzonitrile and
d6-DMSO were obtained from Sigma Aldrich and were used as received.
HPLC grade DMSO was obtained from Fisher Scientific and was dried
over 3 Å molecular sieves prior to use.
photooxidant of the C-H arylated product. The possibility of
*[Ru(bpy)3]2+ (3MLCT) being involved in formation of the final
product was also by suggested10 by König, although further
experiments using different concentrations of organic substrate
would be required to confirm this step. It is unfortunate we were
not able to directly observe formation of the pyrene radical anion
(Pyr•–) using ns-TA spectroscopy, despite its well-known[7c] and
intense ESA signal at 495 nm. However, this may be rationalized
if the rate of Pyr•– formation from the two precursors as shown in
eqn. 7 is slow, compared to its consumption. In this context, we
note the reverse electron transfer reaction to form the pyrene
ground state;
Physical Methods. 1H NMR spectra in d6-DMSO were recorded using a
Bruker Avance 500 MHz spectrometer, and were referenced to the
residual solvent peak at 2.50 ppm. GC-MS was performed on a Shimadzu
QP-2010 equipped with a capillary column (length: 30 m; diam.: 0.25 mm;
film: 0.1 μM), using He as the carrier gas. For Transient Absorption (ns-TA)
measurements, a broadband pump-probe spectrometer (EOS, Ultrafast
Systems, LLC) was used, while for time-resolved emission measurements,
a time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer (Halcyone, Ultrafast Systems,
LLC) was utilised, operating in Time Correlated Single Photon Counting
(TCSPC) mode. In both cases, an amplified laser system (Spitfire ACE,
Spectra Physics) was the excitation source, delivering ca. 100 fs laser
pulses at 800 nm with a 1 kHz repetition rate, which were then coupled to
an OPA system (Topas Prime, Light Conversion), to deliver excitation
pulses tuned to 450 nm. Samples for spectroscopic measurements were
degassed by three consecutive freeze-pump-thaw cycles, had an
absorbance of ca. 0.4 over the 2 mm path length used, and were stirred
mechanically during each measurement. Resulting spectrophotometric
data was processed using Igor Pro (Wavemetrics, Version 6.1.1.2).
Pyr•– + [Ru(bpy)3]2+ Pyr + [Ru(bpy)3]+
(8)
is also exergonic (ca. +0.77 V vs SCE), and we would expect this
reaction to also be accelerated by Coulombic effects.[11]
Considering all of the available spectroscopic evidence, we
propose the catalytic reaction mechanism shown in Fig. 2.
Synthesis of 2-(1-methyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)benzonitrile. In a 5 mL, 1 cm
quartz degassing cuvette equipped with
a magnetic stirrer bar,
2-bromobenzonitrile (0.1 mmol, 1.0 eqv), [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2·6H2O (0.001 mmol,
0.01 eqv, 1 mol %), pyrene (0.005 mmol, 0.05 eqv, 5 mol %), DIPEA (0.14
mmol, 1.4 eqv) and N-methylpyrrole (1 mmol, 10 eqv) were dissolved in 5
mL of dry d6-DMSO. This solution was subjected to three freeze pump
thaw cycles and was then backfilled with argon. The reaction mixture was
irradiated at 450 nm using a monochromated Xenon arc lamp with an
average power of ca. 50 mW for 18 hours. The crude reaction mixture was
first analysed by 1H NMR and GC-MS, and was then transferred to a
separating funnel, where water (20 mL) and brine (5 mL) were added. The
mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (3 x 15 mL), and the combined
organic layers were dried over anhydrous MgSO4, filtered and then
concentrated under vacuum. The crude product was purified using flash
chromatography on silica with 3:1 (v/v) hexanes/ethyl acetate as the eluent
(ca. 55% yield by NMR). 1H NMR (500 MHz, d6-DMSO) δ 7.91 (ddd, J =
7.8, 1.4, 0.6 Hz, 1H), 7.74 (ddd, J = 7.9, 7.5, 1.4 Hz, 1H), 7.58 (ddd, J =
7.9, 1.2, 0.6 Hz, 1H), 7.53 (td, J = 7.7, 1.2 Hz, 1H), 6.97 (ddd, J = 2.7, 1.8,
0.4 Hz, 1H), 6.31 (dd, J = 3.7, 1.8 Hz, 1H), 6.14 (dd, J = 3.6, 2.7 Hz, 1H),
3.57 (d, J = 0.3 Hz, 3H). GC-MS (EI) m/z calc’d for C12H10N2: 182.08;
Found: 182.90 [M+H]+.
Figure 2. Proposed SenI-ET mechanism showing formation of both *Pyr (T1)
and [Ru(bpy)3]+ by visible light absorption, and subsequent formation of Pyr•–
which initiates the observed C-H arylation reaction.
In this mechanism, competing energy and electron transfer
reactions using [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a common light harvesting unit
results in the formation of both *Pyr (T1) and the one-electron
reduced [Ru(bpy)3]+ complex, with DIPEA acting as the electron
source. These excited state and one-electron reduced species
are sufficiently long-lived (ca. 10-40 sec) in solution, facilitating
their bimolecular reaction to form the Pyr•– radical anion, which is
able to reduce aryl halides leading to the observed C-H arylation
products. Interestingly, the process we describe is indeed a two-
photon process, as proposed by Ceroni,[3] since one photon each
is required to generate the *Pyr (T1) and photoreduced [Ru(bpy)3]+
complex, but operates via a very different pathway to TTA. Our
Acknowledgements
Financial support by the Australian Research Council (ARC-
DP160100870) is gratefully acknowledged.
Keywords: SenI-ET • photoredox • catalysis • mechanism
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