7476-46-2Relevant articles and documents
Multiple Mechanisms Mapped in Aryl Alkyl Ether Cleavage via Aqueous Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation over Skeletal Nickel
Hegg, Eric L.,Jackson, James E.,Klinger, Grace E.,Saffron, Christopher M.,Zhou, Yuting
supporting information, p. 4037 - 4050 (2020/03/10)
We present here detailed mechanistic studies of electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) in aqueous solution over skeletal nickel cathodes to probe the various paths of reductive catalytic C-O bond cleavage among functionalized aryl ethers relevant to energy science. Heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenolysis of aryl ethers is important both in hydrodeoxygenation of fossil fuels and in upgrading of lignin from biomass. The presence or absence of simple functionalities such as carbonyl, hydroxyl, methyl, or methoxyl groups is known to cause dramatic shifts in reactivity and cleavage selectivity between sp3 C-O and sp2 C-O bonds. Specifically, reported hydrogenolysis studies with Ni and other catalysts have hinted at different cleavage mechanisms for the C-O ether bonds in α-keto and α-hydroxy β-O-4 type aryl ether linkages of lignin. Our new rate, selectivity, and isotopic labeling results from ECH reactions confirm that these aryl ethers undergo C-O cleavage via distinct paths. For the simple 2-phenoxy-1-phenylethane or its alcohol congener, 2-phenoxy-1-phenylethanol, the benzylic site is activated via Ni C-H insertion, followed by beta elimination of the phenoxide leaving group. But in the case of the ketone, 2-phenoxyacetophenone, the polarized carbonyl πsystem apparently binds directly with the electron rich Ni cathode surface without breaking the aromaticity of the neighboring phenyl ring, leading to rapid cleavage. Substituent steric and electronic perturbations across a broad range of β-O-4 type ethers create a hierarchy of cleavage rates that supports these mechanistic ideas while offering guidance to allow rational design of the catalytic method. On the basis of the new insights, the usage of cosolvent acetone is shown to enable control of product selectivity.
Mild and Robust Redox-Neutral Pd/C-Catalyzed Lignol β-O-4′ Bond Cleavage Through a Low-Energy-Barrier Pathway
Galkin, Maxim V.,Dahlstrand, Christian,Samec, Joseph S. M.
, p. 2187 - 2192 (2015/07/15)
A Pd/C catalyzed redox neutral C - O bond cleavage of 2-aryloxy-1-arylethanols has been developed. The reactions are carried out at 80 °C, in air, using a green solvent system to yield the aryl ketones in near quantitative yields. Addition of catalytic amounts of a hydrogen source to the reaction mixture activates the catalyst to proceed through a low energy barrier pathway. Initial studies support a transfer hydrogenolysis reaction mechanism that proceeds through an initial dehydrogenation followed by an enol adsorption to Pd/C and a reductive C - O bond cleavage.
