3035-19-6

Upstream product

• 39511-12-1 (E)-3-(furan-2-yl)-1-phenyl-2-propen-1-one 
• 98-00-0 (2-furyl)methyl alcohol 
• 98-85-1 1-Phenylethanol 
• 98-01-1 furfural 
• 98-86-2 acetophenone 

Downstream Products

• 100612-02-0 2-phenyl-1,6-dioxa-spiro[4.4]nonane 
• 92036-18-5 1-phenyl-3-tetrahydro[2]furyl-propan-1-ol 

Relevant academic research and scientific papers

Electronically tuneable orthometalated RuII–NHC complexes as efficient catalysts for C–C and C–N bond formations via borrowing hydrogen strategy

The catalytic activities of a series of simple and electronically tuneable cyclometalated RuII–NHC complexes (2a–d) were explored in various C–C/N bond formations following the borrowing hydrogen process. Slight modifications in the ligand backbone were noted to tune the activities of these complexes. Among them, the complex 2d featuring a 1,2,4-triazolylidene donor with a 4-NO2–phenyl substituent displayed the highest activity for the coupling of diverse secondary and primary alcohols with a low catalyst loading of 0.01 mol% and a sub-stoichiometric amount of inexpensive KOH base. The efficacy of this simple system was further showcased in the challenging one-pot unsymmetrical double alkylation of secondary alcohols using different primary alcohols. Moreover, the complex 2d also effectively catalyses the selective mono-N-methylation of various aromatic and aliphatic primary amines using methanol to deliver a range of N-methyl amines. Mechanistically, the β-alkylation reaction follows a borrowing hydrogen pathway which was established by the deuterium labelling experiment in combination with various control experiments. Intriguingly, in situ1H NMR and ESI-MS analyses evidently suggested the involvement of a Ru–H species in the catalytic cycle and further, the kinetic studies revealed a first order dependence of the reaction rate on the catalyst as well as the alcohol concentrations.

One pot tandem dual CC and CO bond reductions in the β-alkylation of secondary alcohols with primary alcohols by ruthenium complexes of amido and picolyl functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes

Two different classes of ruthenium complexes, namely, [1-mesityl-3-(2,6-Me2-phenylacetamido)-imidazol-2-ylidene]Ru(p-cymene)Cl (1c) and {[1-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-3-(2,6-Me2-phenyl)-imidazol-2-ylidene]Ru(p-cymene)Cl}Cl (2c), successfully catalyzed the one-pot tandem alcohol-alcohol coupling reactions of a variety of secondary and primary alcohols, in moderate to good yields of ca. 63-89%. The mechanistic investigation performed on two representative catalytic substrates, 1-phenylethanol and benzyl alcohol using the neutral ruthenium (1c) complex showed that the catalysis proceeded via a partially reduced CC hydrogenated carbonyl species, [PhCOCH2CH2Ph] (3′), to the fully reduced CO and CC hydrogenated secondary alcohol, [PhCH(OH)CH2CH2Ph] (3). Furthermore, the time dependent study showed that the major product of the catalysis modulated between (3′) and (3) during the catalysis run performed over an extended period of 120 hours. Finally, the practical utility of the alcohol-alcohol coupling reaction was demonstrated by preparing five different flavan derivatives (13-17) related to various bioactive flavonoid natural products, in a one-pot tandem fashion.

Pincer-Nickel Catalyzed Selective Guerbet-Type Reactions

We report here the synthesis and characterization of a series of NNN pincer-nickel complexes of the type (R2NNN)NiCl2(CH3CN) (R = iPr, tBu, Cy, Ph, and p-F-C6H4) based on bis(imino)pyridine ligands. In solution, these complexes are found to be equilibrium mixtures containing one and two pincer ligands, respectively. While the crystal structure of the former was reported by us recently for R = iPr, we report the crystal structure of the latter in this study for R = p-F-C6H4. The considered NNN pincer-Ni complexes have been successfully employed to accomplish the catalytic β-alkylation of several secondary alcohols with a variety of benzyl alcohols at 140 °C with high yields and unprecedented turnovers. A maximum of 92% yield of the β-alkylated product at 18 ?400 TON was obtained in the reaction of benzyl alcohol with 1-(4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethane-1-ol in the presence of 0.005 mol % of (Ph2NNN)NiCl2(CH3CN) and 5 mol % of NaOtBu at 140 °C after 24 h. The reaction exhibits zero-order dependence of rate on catalyst concentration and first-order dependence on the concentration of base, benzyl alcohol, and 1-phenyl ethanol which points to the base-mediated aldol condensation as the rate-determining step. Most of the intermediates involved in catalysis have been identified by HRMS. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a pincer-Ni catalyzed β-alkylation of alcohols and, hitherto, such unprecedented turnovers have not been reported with a homogeneous molecular nickel-based catalyst.

C-C coupling formation using nitron complexes

A series of RuII (1), RhIII (2), IrIII (3, 4), IrI (5) and PdII (6-9) complexes of the 'instant carbene' nitron were prepared and characterized by 1H- and 13C-NMR, FT-IR and elemental analysis. The molecular structures of complexes 1-4 and 6 were determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The catalytic activity of the complexes (1-9) was evaluated in alpha(α)-alkylation reactions of ketones with alcohol via the borrowing hydrogen strategy under mild conditions. These complexes were able to perform this catalytic transformation in a short time with low catalyst and base amounts under an air atmosphere. Also, the PdII-nitron complexes (6-9) were applied in the Suzuki-Miyaura C-C coupling reaction and these complexes successfully initiated this reaction in a short time (30 minutes) using the H2O/2-propanol (1.5?:?0.5) solvent system. The DFT calculations revealed that the Pd0/II/0 pathway was more preferable for the mechanism

Transition metal complexes of a bis(carbene) ligand featuring 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidene donors: structural diversity and catalytic applications

Dialkylation of the 1,3-bis(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)benzene with ethyl bromide results in the formation of [L-H2]Br2which, upon salt metathesis with NH4PF6, readily yields the bis(triazolium) salt [L-H2](PF6)2with non-coordinating counterions. [L-H2](PF6)2and Ag2O react in a 1?:?1 ratio to yield a binuclear AgI-tetracarbene complex of the composition [(L)2Ag2](PF6)2which undergoes a facile transmetalation reaction with [Cu(SMe2)Br] to deliver the corresponding CuI-NHC complex [(L)2Cu2](PF6)2. In contrast, the [L-H2]Br2reacts with [Ir(Cp*)Cl2]2to generate a doubly C-H activated IrIII-NHC complex5. Similarly, the triazolinylidene donor supported diorthometalated RuII-complex6is also obtained. Complexes5and6represent the first examples of a stable diorthometalated binuclear IrIII/RuII-complex supported by 1,2,4-triazolin-5-ylidene donors. The synthesized IrIII-NHC complex5is found to be more effective than its RuII-analogue (6) for the reduction of a range of alkenes/alkynesviathe transfer hydrogenation strategy. Conversely, RuII-complex6is identified as an efficient catalyst (0.01 mol% loading) for the β-alkylation of a wide range of secondary alcohols using primary alcohols as alkylating partnersviaa borrowing hydrogen strategy.

Room-Temperature Guerbet Reaction with Unprecedented Catalytic Efficiency and Enantioselectivity

We report herein an unprecedented highly efficient Guerbet-type reaction at room temperature (catalytic TON up to >6000). This β-alkylation of secondary methyl carbinols with primary alcohols has significant advantage of delivering higher-order secondary alcohols in an economical, redox-neutral fashion. In addition, the first enantioselective Guerbet reaction has also been achieved using a commercially available chiral ruthenium complex to deliver secondary alcohols with moderate yield and up to 92 % ee. In both reactions, the use of a traceless ketone promoter proved to be beneficial for the catalytic efficiency.

Asymmetric Guerbet Reaction to Access Chiral Alcohols

The first example of an asymmetric Guerbet reaction has been developed. Using commercially available, classic Noyori RuII-diamine-diphosphine catalysts, well-known in asymmetric hydrogenation, racemic secondary alcohols are shown to couple with primary alcohols in the presence of a base, affording new chiral alcohols with enantiomeric ratios of up to 99:1. Requiring no reducing agents, the protocol provides an easy, alternative route for the synthesis of chiral alcohols. Mechanistic studies reveal that the reaction proceeds via a Ru-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogen autotransfer process in concert with a base-promoted allylic alcohol isomerization.

Phosphine-free pincer-ruthenium catalyzed biofuel production: High rates, yields and turnovers of solventless alcohol alkylation

Phosphine-free pincer-ruthenium carbonyl complexes based on bis(imino)pyridine and 2,6-bis(benzimidazole-2-yl) pyridine ligands have been synthesized. For the β-alkylation of 1-phenyl ethanol with benzyl alcohol at 140 °C under solvent-free conditions, (Cy2NNN)RuCl2(CO) (0.00025 mol%) in combination with NaOH (2.5 mol%) was highly efficient (ca. 93% yield, 372?000 TON at 12?000 TO h-1). These are the highest reported values hitherto for a ruthenium based catalyst. The β-alkylation of various alcohol combinations was accomplished with ease which culminated to give 380?000 TON at 19?000 TO h-1 for the β-alkylation of 1-phenyl ethanol with 3-methoxy benzyl alcohol. DFT studies were complementary to mechanistic studies and indicate the β-hydride elimination step involving the extrusion of acetophenone to be the overall RDS. While the hydrogenation step is favored for the formation of α-alkylated ketone, the alcoholysis step is preferred for the formation of β-alkylated alcohol. The studies were extended for the upgradation of ethanol to biofuels. Among the pincer-ruthenium complexes based on bis(imino)pyridine, (Cy2NNN)RuCl2(CO) provided high productivity (335 TON at 170 TO h-1). Sterically more open pincer-ruthenium complexes such as (Bim2NNN)RuCl2(CO) based on the 2,6-bis(benzimidazole-2-yl) pyridine ligand demonstrated better reactivity and gave not only good ethanol conversion (ca. 58%) but also high turnovers (ca. 2100) with a good rate (ca. 710 TO h-1). Kinetic studies indicate first order dependence on concentration of both the catalyst and ethanol. Phosphine-free catalytic systems operating with unprecedented activity at a very low base loading to couple lower alcohols to higher alcohols of fuel and pharmaceutical importance are the salient features of this report. This journal is

Piano-stool Ru (II) arene complexes that contain ethylenediamine and application in alpha-alkylation reaction of ketones with alcohols

A series of piano-stool Ru (II) complexes (Ru1–7) bearing ethylenediamine with aryl and aliphatic groups were prepared and fully characterized by 1H, 13C, 19F and 31P NMR spectroscopy, FT-IR and elemental analysis. The crystal structures of Ru2–4 and Ru7 were determined by X-ray crystallography. They were successfully applied to the alpha(α)-alkylation of aliphatic and aromatic ketones with alcohols via the borrowing hydrogen strategy in mild reaction conditions within a short time. The catalytic system has a broad substrate scope, which allows the synthesis of alpha alkylated ketones with excellent yields. The electronic and steric effects of complexes on catalytic activity were analysed. The influence of the carbon chain length of the ligand on the alpha-alkylation reaction of ketones was also investigated. The catalytic cycle was also examined by 1H-NMR spectroscopy in d8-toluene.

Iridium(I)-Catalyzed C-C and C-N Bond Formation Reactions via the Borrowing Hydrogen Strategy

Iridium(I) complexes having an imidazol-2-ylidene ligand with benzylic wingtips efficiently catalyzed the β-alkylation of secondary alcohols with primary alcohols and acceptorless dehydrogenative cyclization of 2-aminobenzyl alcohol with ketones through a borrowing hydrogen pathway. The β-alkylated alcohols, including cholesterol derivatives, and substituted quinolines were obtained in good yields by using a minute amount of the catalyst with a catalytic amount of NaOH or KOH under the air atmosphere, liberating water (and H2 in the case of quinoline synthesis) as the sole byproduct. Notably, this system demonstrated turnover numbers of 940 000 (for β-alkylation of secondary alcohols with primary alcohols by using down to 0.0001 mol % = 1 ppm of the catalyst) and 9200 (acceptorless dehydrogenative cyclization of 2-aminobenzyl alcohol with ketones).