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A.V. Polukeev et al. / Polyhedron xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
into a pre-heated oil bath with the specified temperature for
24 h. After that, the flask was cooled by a stream of air and the
sample was analysed by NMR spectroscopy. Two runs were per-
formed to determine average TONs. No compounds other than
COA, cyclooctene (COE), TBE and tert-butylethane (TBA) could be
detected by 1H NMR spectroscopy.
2.6. Acceptorless dehydrogenation of cyclooctane by complex 4
Fig. 1. Arene-based pincer complexes, used in alkane dehydrogenation (14e
fragments are shown).
Complex 4 (0.0073 g, 0.0116 mmol) and tBuONa (0.0017 g,
0.0177 mmol, 1.5 eq) were placed into a Schlenk flask and COA
(1.56 ml, 11.6 mmol, 1000 eq) was added. The flask was connected
to a reflux condenser, immersed into an oil bath pre-heated to
170 °C and the mixture was refluxed for 18 h while passing a slow
flow of argon above the reflux condenser. After cooling with a
stream of air, the sample was analysed by NMR spectroscopy.
(200 mL) the mixture was filtered through a pad of silica and con-
centrated in vacuum. The residue was re-dissolved in pentane
(60 mL), filtered through another pad of silica and washed out with
additional pentane. Concentration in vacuum afforded cis-1,3-
bis(iodomethyl)-cyclohexane as a colourless oil which readily
solidified slightly below RT. Yield: 6.32 g (89%). (Rf = 0.49 in hex-
ane). Anal. Calc. for C8H14I2: C, 26.40; H, 3.88. Found C, 26.41, H,
3.89. 1H NMR (CDCl3): d 3.12 (d, J = 6.2 Hz, 4H, –CH2I), 2.03 (d of
m, J = 12.6 Hz, 1H, 1-CHAHB), 1.86–1.78 (m, 3H, 3-CHAHB +
4-CHAHB), 1.52–1.44 (m, 2 H, –CH–), 1.34 (m, 1H, 4-CHAHB), 0.89
(m 2H, 3-CHAHB), 0.70 (apparent q, J = 11.9 Hz, 1H, 1-CHAHB). 13C
NMR (CDCl3): d 40.16 (1-CH2), 39.73 (–CH–), 33.08 (3-CH2), 25.48
(4-CH2), 15.18 (–CH2I).
2.7. Dehydrogenation of triethylamine in the presence of
tert-butylethylene
In a typical experiment, complex 4 (0.0054 g, 0.0086 mmol) and
tBuONa (0.0012 g, 0.0125 mmol, 1.5 eq) were placed into a Straus
flask, and the specified amounts of NEt3 (10 or 100 eq), TBE (20
or 200 eq) as well as 1.5 ml of toluene were added. The flask was
sealed and fully immersed into a pre-heated oil bath at 120 °C
for 18 h. Subsequently, the flask was cooled by a stream of air
and the sample was analysed by NMR spectroscopy. An average
of two runs were performed to determine TONs. No compounds
other than NEt3, N,N-diethylvinylamine, N,N-divinylethylamine,
TBE and TBA could be detected by 1H NMR spectroscopy.
2.3. Synthesis of cis-1,3-bis-[(di-tert-
butylphosphino)methyl]cyclohexane, (PCyP)H (3)
To a À78 °C solution of cis-1,3-bis(iodomethyl)-cyclohexane
(5.37 g, 14.8 mmol) in Et2O (100 mL) a solution of tBuLi in pentane
(1.6 M, 46.2 mL, 74.0 mmol) was slowly added. The reaction mix-
ture was stirred for 1 h at 0 °C and 2 h at RT. tBu2PCl (8.43 mL,
44.4 mmol) was added dropwise at À78 °C and the reaction was
stirred at RT overnight. The solvent was removed under vacuum
before hexane (400 mL) and degassed water (100 mL) were added,
and the resulting mixture was stirred for 10 min. The organic phase
was separated, dried over MgSO4 and concentrated in vacuum. The
residue was dried for ca. 5 h at 50 °C under 10À3 mbar vacuum to
give a pale yellow oil, which solidifies upon standing. This material
was crystallized from CH2Cl2/MeOH and dried under vacuum to
give a white powder. Yield: 4.0 g (68%). NMR spectra are consistent
with the literature [18].
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Improved synthesis of 4
While the previously reported procedure [18] can give good
yields of the cyclohexane-based pincer ligand 3, difficulties in the
handling of the highly unstable cis-1,3-bis[(trifluoromethylsulfo-
nyloxy)methyl]cyclohexane intermediate [19] makes the synthesis
inconsistent in the reproducability of the yields. For the same rea-
son it is also impractical for large-scale synthesis. Metallation of 3
according to the literature procedure gives 4 in a moderate yield
(62%) [16]. In addition, 1H and 31P{1H} NMR spectra indicate that
this protocol always gives trace impurities in the resulting samples
of 4, and thus we wanted to develop an over-all more robust and
convenient route to 4.
2.4. Synthesis of (PCyP)IrHCl (4)
The (PCyP)H ligand 3 (1.500 g, 3.74 mmol) and [Ir(COD)Cl]2
(1.258 g, 1.87 mmol) were placed into a Straus flask inside a
nitrogen glovebox and 35 ml of toluene was added. The flask
was sealed, fully immersed into an oil bath and heated for 6 h
at 170 °C. After reaching RT, the solution was degassed, cooled
to À196 °C and the flask was refilled with H2. The reaction mix-
ture was heated for 5 h at 160 °C under H2 atmosphere. The vol-
atiles were evaporated and the resulting red powder was
washed with cold hexane and dried in vacuum to give 2.261 g
(96%) of 4. NMR spectra are consistent with the literature data
[16].
2.5. Dehydrogenation of cyclooctane in the presence of
tert-butylethylene
In a typical experiment, the catalyst (0.0116 mmol) and tBuONa
(0.0017 g, 0.0177 mmol, 1.5 eq) were placed into a Straus flask and
specified amounts of cyclooctane (COA) as well as tert-butylethyl-
ene (TBE) were added. The flask was sealed and fully immersed
Scheme 1. New synthetic route to (PCyP)IrHCl (4).