Torres-Nieto et al.
8
the variety of reactions in which they can be used. Several
the above-described case and yield the formation of disub-
stituted biphenyls. Results are significant as they illustrate
one of the very few existing cases in which palladium
catalysts are used for this reaction.
examples of C-C coupling reactions catalyzed by palladium
8
a,b,9
nanoparticles have been reported.
The use of metal
nanoparticles in HDS reactions has been studied with a
variety of transition metals such as Mo, Ni, Ni/Fe, Ni/W,
Mo/W, and Mo/Co, which are able to hydrodesulfurize
thiophene (T) and DBT in good yields, although only poor
HDS yields have been afforded in the case of 4,6-Me
Recently, Schlaf et al. have shown that palladium nanopar-
ticles produced by reduction of palladium salts such as PdCl
Pd(dba) , and Pd(OAc) are able to cleave the C-S bond of
aromatic thioethers in the presence of silanes. The reaction
Results and Discussion
10
2
DBT.
Desulfurization of Dibenzothiophene with Palladium
Nanoparticles. The reaction of cis-[(PEt
equiv of MeMgBr at room temperature resulted in the
quantitative formation of cis- and trans-[(PEt PdMe ], in
( P{ H} NMR signals for cis- and trans-
PdMe ] being δ 10.42 (s) and 18.56 (s), respectively).
The thermal decomposition of the two methylated com-
3 2 2
) PdCl ] (1) and 2
2
,
3
)
2
2
3
2
3
1
1
toluene-d
[(PEt
8
1
1
produces thiosilanes and silthianes in DMA (eq 2).
3
)
2
2
3
1
1
pounds was followed by P{ H} NMR spectroscopy. The
followup confirmed the disappearance of the corresponding
3
1
1
P{ H} NMR signals after continuous heating at 100 °C,
which coincided with the apparition of a black metallic
precipitate in the NMR tube, unequivocally identified as
palladium black. Catalytic desulfurization experiments over
DBT were then carried out assuming 1 to behave as a
nanoparticle precursor. The catalytic desulfurization reaction
of DBT in the presence of two additional equivalents of
MeMgBr and complex 1 (1 mol%) under toluene reflux
yielded in all cases the cross-coupling product 2,2′-dimeth-
ylbiphenyl as the sole product, although variable amounts
of DBT were still found to remain in solution in these
experiments. Table 1 summarizes the catalytic experiments
that were carried out. Indications for compounds 2, 3, and 4
in the table refer to the use of additional palladium nano-
We recently reported the use of soluble nickel and
platinum compounds that allow the desulfurization of DBT
and its more hindered analogues 4-MeDBT and 4,6-Me DBT.
2
The reaction occurred in the presence of Grignard reagents
which yield both substituted and unsubstituted biphenyls in
1
2
high yields (eq 3).
particle precursors, the latter being [(PPh
(dippe)PdCl ] (3), and [(dppe)PdCl ] (4), respectively.
The desulfurization of DBT using THF (entry 1) did not
3 2 2
) PdCl ] (2),
[
2
2
Herein we report the use of palladium nanoparticles
formed by the thermal reduction of (PEt PdMe in the
desulfurization of DBT, also using MeMgBr. The desulfu-
)
3 2
2
result in any catalytic activity, although the use of toluene
did result in formation of the C-C cross-coupled product,
2,2′-dimethylbiphenyl, in 45% yield (entry 2). The difference
in reactivity was attributed to the more coordinating nature
of THF, which lowers the desulfurization activity as observed
in earlier experiments concerning this reaction when using
both nickel and platinum based catalysts, under homogeneous
conditions. In particular, the latter behavior was explained
at the time in terms of a decoordination of the bound
thiophene from the metal center, which is driven by solvent
rization occurs via C-C cross-coupling reaction similar to
(
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1
2
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(
(
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-4). The use of 300 equiv of MeMgBr (entry 5) improved
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11430 Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 47, No. 23, 2008