Edge Article
Chemical Science
(under an inert atmosphere) makes this system one of the most
promising developed to date for metal-mediated continuous
ow processes. Studies aimed at its integration into synthetic
sequences for the synthesis of complex molecules in ow are
currently underway in our laboratories.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by MINECO (grants CTQ2011-28942-C02-01
and CTQ2012-38594-C02-01), DEC-Generalitat de Catalunya
´
(Grant 2014SGR827), Junta de Andalucıa (P10-FQM-06292) and
ICIQ Foundation. The ICIQ team also thanks MINECO for
support through Severo Ochoa Excellence Accreditation
2014–2018 (SEV-2013-0319). L. M. thanks MECD for a FPU
fellowship. E. O. thanks ICIQ for a postdoctoral fellowship. C. A.
thanks MINECO for a Juan de la Cierva posdoctoral fellowship.
Fig. 3 Sequential production in flow of a family of compounds
resulting from different carbene transfer reactions. Productivities in
mmolproduct mmolCu
Notes and references
h
ꢀ1 are shown in parentheses.
ꢀ1
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types of carbene transfer reactions from EDA considered in this
study. Hence, ve different substrates involving four different
types of carbene transfer (O–H insertion, N–H insertion, C–H
insertion and cyclopropenation) were reacted with EDA in ow
in the presence of the immobilized cationic Cu catalyst in a
sequential manner. Each substrate/EDA combination was
circulated through the packed-bed reactor for 2 h (ow rate ¼
500 mL minꢀ1), with the column being rinsed by circulation of
dichloromethane between two consecutive substrates (Fig. 3;
´
´
2 (a) M. M. Dıaz-Requejo and P. J. Perez, Chem. Rev., 2008, 108,
´
´
3379; (b) M. M. Dıaz-Requejo, T. R. Belderraın, M. C. Nicasio
see ESI† for details). Productivities ranging from 2.3
´
and P. J. Perez, Dalton Trans., 2006, 5559.
ꢀ1
(cyclopropenation) to 17.5 mmolproduct mmolCu
hꢀ1
3 For heterogeneous olen cyclopropanation, see: (a)
M. P. Doyle, D. J. Timmons, S. J. Tumonis, H. Gau and
C. E. Blossey, Organometallics, 2002, 21, 1747; (b)
(O–H insertion) were recorded. Except for the cyclopropenation
case, productivities in ow are signicantly higher (up to four
times) than those recorded for the same reactions in batch (see
ESI†). From a practical perspective, the robustness of the resin
is further veried by the fact that the same 300 mg sample of
[(PS–TTM)Cu(NCMe)][PF6] could be used without any deterio-
ration of activity for the optimization of ow conditions for each
substrate and for the synthesis in ow of the whole family of
compounds resulting from carbene transfer. This remarkable
stability would allow the use of a cartridge packed with
´
´
A. Cornejo, J. M. Fraile, J. I. Garcıa, E. Garcıa-Verdugo,
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´
J. M. Fraile, J. I. Garcıa, E. Garcıa-Verdugo, S. V. Luis and
[(PS–TTM)Cu(NCMe)][PF6] as
a reusable, general carbene
J. A. Mayoral, J. Org. Chem., 2001, 66, 8893; (g)
transfer catalyst that can be mounted/dismounted in a ow
device whenever required.
´
´
M. I. Burguete, J. M. Fraile, J. I. Garcıa, E. Garcıa-Verdugo,
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´
M. M. Dıaz-Requejo, T. R. Belderrain, M. C. Nicasio and
´
P. J. Perez, Organometallics, 2000, 19, 285; (i) M. Glos and
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In summary, we have developed the rst recyclable and highly
efficient heterogenized copper complex for carbene transfer
reactions to various types of substrates both in batch and, for
the rst time, in continuous ow. Remarkably, due to the high
activity of the catalyst, residence times of 1 min can achieve
complete conversion (0.117 mmol catalyst; single pass opera-
tion). The combined prole of the [(PS–TTM)Cu(NCMe)][PF6]
catalyst with respect to activity, scope and chemical stability
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