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Cobalt-Catalyzed Aqueous Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid
Among the known liquid organic hydrogen carriers, formic acid attracts increasing interest in the context of safe and reversible storage of hydrogen. Here, the first molecularly defined cobalt pincer complex is disclosed for the dehydrogenation of formic acid in aqueous medium under mild conditions. Crucial for catalytic activity is the use of the specific complex 3. Compared to related ruthenium and manganese complexes 7 and 8, this optimal cobalt complex showed improved performance. DFT computations support an innocent non-classical bifunctional outer-sphere mechanism on the triplet state potential energy surface. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Homogeneous cobalt-catalyzed reductive amination for synthesis of functionalized primary amines
The development of earth abundant 3d metal-based catalysts continues to be an important goal of chemical research. In particular, the design of base metal complexes for reductive amination to produce primary amines remains as challenging. Here, we report the combination of cobalt and linear-triphos (bis(2-diphenylphosphinoethyl)phenylphosphine) as the molecularly-defined non-noble metal catalyst for the synthesis of linear and branched benzylic, heterocyclic and aliphatic primary amines from carbonyl compounds, gaseous ammonia and hydrogen in good to excellent yields. Noteworthy, this cobalt catalyst exhibits high selectivity and as a result the -NH2 moiety is introduced in functionalized and structurally diverse molecules. An inner-sphere mechanism on the basis of the mono-cationic [triphos-CoH]+ complex as active catalyst is proposed and supported with density functional theory computation on the doublet state potential free energy surface and H2 metathesis is found as the rate-determining step.
3,3′-Dimethyl-1,1′-methylenediimidazolium tetrabromidocobaltate(II)
The title compound, (C9H14N4)[CoBr4], was obtained as single crystals directly in very low yield as a side product in the reaction of 1,1′-bis(1-methylimidazolium)acetate bromide and CoBr2. The title compound consists of an imidazolium-based dication and a tetrabromidocobaltate(II) complex anion, which are connected via C—H...Br interactions in the crystal. The dihedral angle between the imidazolium rings in the cation is 72.89 (16)°. The CoII ion in the anion is coordinated tetrahedrally by four bromide ligands [Co—Br = 2.4025 (5)–2.4091 (5) Å and Br—Co—Br = 106.224 (17)–113.893 (17)°]. The compound exhibits a high melting point (>300°C) and is a light-blue solid under ambient conditions.