160661-40-5Relevant academic research and scientific papers
Lanthanide formamidinates as improved catalysts for the Tishchenko reaction
Zuyls, Agustino,Roesky, Peter W.,Deacon, Glen B.,Konstas, Kristina,Junk, Peter C.
, p. 693 - 697 (2008)
The tris(formamidinato)lanthanum(III) complexes [La(o-TolForm) 3(thf)2] [1; o-TolForm = N,N′-bis(o-tolyl) formamidin-ate], [La(XylForm)3(thf)] [2; XylForm = N,N′-bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)formamidinate], and [La(EtForm)3] [3, EtForm = N,N′-bis(2,6-diethylphenyl)formamidinate] are a new class of precatalysts for the Tishchenko reaction. Their catalytic activity is a result of their high Lewis acidity and the ease with which the ligand spheres can be interchanged. For the dimerization of benzaldehyde to give benzyl benzoate, which is a benchmark reaction, compound 1 is, to the best of our knowledge, the most active catalyst ever reported. On a preparative scale, the reaction can be performed in the absence of solvent. A range of aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic aldehydes was rapidly converted into the corresponding esters by using catalysts 1-3. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2008.
