3 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
- ItemMetal–ligand cooperative activation of nitriles by a ruthenium complex with a de-aromatized PNN pincer ligand(London : Soc., 2016) Eijsink, Linda E.; Perdriau, Sébastien C. P.; de Vries, Johannes G.; Otten, EdwinThe pincer complex (PNN)RuH(CO), with a de-aromatized pyridine in the ligand backbone, is shown to react with nitriles in a metal–ligand cooperative manner. This leads to the formation of a series of complexes with new Ru–N(nitrile) and C(ligand)–C(nitrile) bonds. The initial nitrile cycloaddition products, the ketimido complexes 3, have a Brønsted basic (nitrile-derived) Ru–N fragment. This is able to deprotonate a CH2 side-arm of the pincer ligand to give ketimine complexes (4) with a de-aromatized pyridine backbone. Alternatively, the presence of a CH2 group adjacent to the nitrile functionality can lead to tautomerization to an enamido complex (5). Variable-temperature NMR studies and DFT calculations provide insight in the relative stability of these compounds and highlight the importance of their facile interconversion in the context of subsequent nitrile transformations.
- ItemHydration of nitriles using a metal-ligand cooperative ruthenium pincer catalyst(Cambridge : RSC, 2019) Guo, Beibei; de Vries, Johannes G.; Otten, EdwinNitrile hydration provides access to amides that are important structural elements in organic chemistry. Here we report catalytic nitrile hydration using ruthenium catalysts based on a pincer scaffold with a dearomatized pyridine backbone. These complexes catalyze the nucleophilic addition of H2O to a wide variety of aliphatic and (hetero)aromatic nitriles in tBuOH as solvent. Reactions occur under mild conditions (room temperature) in the absence of additives. A mechanism for nitrile hydration is proposed that is initiated by metal-ligand cooperative binding of the nitrile. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
- ItemRuthenium Complexes with PNN Pincer Ligands Based on (Chiral) Pyrrolidines: Synthesis, Structure, and Dynamic Stereochemistry(Washington, DC : ACS Publ., 2020) Bootsma, Johan; Guo, Beibei; de Vries, Johannes G.; Otten, EdwinWe report the synthesis of lutidine-based PNN type metal pincer complexes, using achiral (pyrrolidine) as well as chiral ((R,R)-2,5-dimethylpyrrolidine and (R)-2-methylpyrrolidine) substituents at the N side arm of the pincer ligand. With the six-coordinate saturated Ru pincers (PNN)Ru(H)(CO)(Cl), which have an aromatic pyridine ligand backbone, as the starting materials, treatment with strong base (KOtBu) generated the corresponding dearomatized pincer complexes (PNN')Ru(H)(CO). Spectroscopic, crystallographic, and computational studies demonstrate that the C-centered chirality from the chiral pyrrolidine group exerts a small but non-negligible influence on the preferred stereochemistry at Ru (and N in the case of (R)-2-methylpyrrolidine) that is reflected in the equilibrium distribution of diastereomers of these Ru complexes in solution. Our data show that the N- and Ru-based stereogenic centers in this class of compounds are stereochemically labile and the mechanisms for epimerization are discussed. Inversion at the Ru center in the dearomatized complexes is proposed to occur via a rearomatized Ru(0) intermediate in which the Ru-bound hydride is transferred to the ligand. Support for this comes from the spectroscopic characterization of a closely related Ru(0) species that is obtained by reaction with CO. Testing these catalysts in enantioselective oxa-Michael addition or transfer hydrogenation led to racemic products, while a low ee (8%) was observed in the hydrogenation of 4-fluoroacetophenone. The lack of appreciable enantioinduction with these catalysts is ascribed to the kinetic lability of the Ru stereocenter, which results in the formation of equilibrium mixtures in which several diastereomers of the catalyst are present. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.