Mn(III) O

Polyurethanes are synthesized on industrial scale by the reaction of diisocyanates with diols in the presence of catalysts which are commonly based on tin complexes and amines. However, due to the toxicity and volatility of these tin catalysts and amines, there is the need to develop new catalysts that are more environmentally benign. Herein, we report the synthesis of O^N^O pincer-ligated Mn(III) and Fe(III) complexes that serve as suitable catalysts for urethane formation and are stable to hydrolysis as predicted by computations and observed experimentally. The O^N^O pincer scaffold is vital to the activity of these catalysts, simultaneously ensuring increased solubility in the reaction medium as well as providing a stable framework upon dissociation of co-ligands in the catalytic cycle. In silico mechanistic investigations for urethane formation show that the stabilization of active species in square-planar geometries enabled by these O^N^O ligands permit the simultaneous coordination of alcohol and isocyanate in suitable configuration at the metal center.

Hydrogenative Depolymerization of Polyurethanes Catalyzed by a Manganese Pincer Complex.

Chemical recycling, in particular hydrogenative depolymerization, offers a promising way to utilize plastic waste. This report covers the manganese-catalyzed hydrogenation of polyurethane materials to the corresponding monomeric units. The key to success is a Mn pincer complex as a potent hydrogenation catalyst in combination with elevated temperatures (up to 200 °C) and appropriate solvents to ensure sufficient solubility of the polymers. A wide range of polyurethane samples of varying polyol and isocyanate compositions, some of which feature significant amounts of urea functionalities, are depolymerized, releasing polyetherols and diaminotoluene (TDA) in yields of up to 89 % and 76 %, respectively.

Phosphine-Catalyzed Vinylation at Low Acetylene Pressure.

The vinylation of various nucleophiles with acetylene at a maximum pressure of 1.5 bar is achieved by organocatalysis with easily accessible phosphines like tri-n-butylphosphine. A detailed mechanistic investigation by quantum-chemical and experimental methods supports a nucleophilic activation of acetylene by the phosphine catalyst. At 140 °C and typically 5 mol % catalyst loading, cyclic amides, oxazolidinones, ureas, unsaturated cyclic amines, and alcohols were successfully vinylated. Furthermore, the in situ generation of a vinyl phosphonium species can also be utilized in Wittig-type functionalization of aldehydes.

Efficient Industrial Organic Synthesis and the Principles of Green Chemistry.

Making industry greener: Many principles for the economic production of organic bulk chemicals, the syntheses of which have potentially the highest environmental impact, currently overlap with principles of green chemistry. However, there remain enough challenges in making industrial organic synthesis even greener while keeping them efficient, which requires research and innovative processes. How efficient industrial organic chemistry can go hand in hand with principles of green chemistry is reflected in this Science Voices article.

Selective and Scalable Synthesis of Sugar Alcohols by Homogeneous Asymmetric Hydrogenation of Unprotected Ketoses.

Sugar alcohols are of great importance for the food industry and are promising building blocks for bio-based polymers. Industrially, they are produced by heterogeneous hydrogenation of sugars with H2 , usually with none to low stereoselectivities. Now, we present a homogeneous system based on commercially available components, which not only increases the overall yield, but also allows a wide range of unprotected ketoses to be diastereoselectively hydrogenated. Furthermore, the system is reliable on a multi-gram scale allowing sugar alcohols to be isolated in large quantities at high atom economy.

Depolymerization of Technical-Grade Polyamide 66 and Polyurethane Materials through Hydrogenation.

Chemical recycling provides a promising solution to utilize plastic waste. Here, a catalytic hydrogenative depolymerization of polyamide 66 (PA 66) and polyurethane (PU) was developed. The system employed Ru pincer complexes at high temperature (200 °C) in THF solution, and even technical-grade polymers could be hydrogenated with satisfactory yields under these conditions. A comparison of the system with some known heterogeneous catalysts as well as catalyst poisoning tests supported the homogeneity of the system. These results demonstrate the potential of chemical recycling to regain building blocks for polymers and will be interesting for the further development of polymer hydrogenation.

Ruthenium-catalyzed synthesis of vinylamides at low acetylene pressure.

The reaction of cyclic amides with acetylene under low pressure, using ruthenium-phosphine catalysts, afforded a broad variety of N-vinylated amides including (azabicyclic) lactams, oxazolidinones, benzoisoxazolones, isoindolinones, quinoxalinones, oxazinanones, cyclic urea derivatives (imidazolidinones), nucleobases (thymine), amino acid anhydrides and thiazolidinone.

Ru0 or RuII: A Study on Stabilizing the "Activated" Form of Ru-PNP Complexes with Additional Phosphine Ligands in Alcohol Dehydrogenation and Ester Hydrogenation.

The complex Ru-MACHO has been previously shown to undergo uncontrolled degradation subsequent to base-induced dehydrochlorination in the absence of a substrate. In this study, we report that stabilization of the dehydrochlorinated Ru-MACHO with phosphines furnishes complexes whose structures depend on the phosphines employed: while PMe3 led to the expected octahedral RuII complex, PPh3 provided access to a trigonal-bipyramidal Ru0 complex. Because both complexes proved to be active in base-free (de)hydrogenation reactions, thorough quantum-chemical calculations were employed to understand the reaction mechanism. The calculations show that both complexes lead to the same mechanistic scenario after phosphine dissociation and, therefore, only differ energetically in this step. According to the calculations, the typically proposed metal-ligand cooperation mechanism is not the most viable pathway. Instead, a metal-ligand-assisted pathway is preferred. Finally, experiments show that phosphine addition enhances the catalyst's performance in comparison to the PR3-free "activated" Ru-MACHO.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Deaminative Hydrogenation of Amino Nitriles: Direct Access to 1,2-Amino Alcohols.

A new approach for the efficient and highly selective synthesis of 1,2-amino alcohols by direct reductive hydrolysis of N-formyl-protected α-amino nitriles is reported. The commercially available RuHCl(CO)(PPh3 )3 complex was found to be a suitable catalyst for this operationally simple protocol, in which no stoichiometric amounts of undesired metal waste are generated. The deaminative hydrogenation is performed at 55 bar of H2 , using a 6:1 mixture of 1,4-dioxane/water as solvent. In addition, hydroxymethyl alcohols were prepared from cyanoketones under very similar conditions.

Silver-Catalyzed Carboxylative Cyclization of Primary Propargyl Alcohols with CO2.

By using silver complexes with bulky ligands such as DavePhos or N-heterocyclic carbenes, propargylic alcohols are smoothly converted with CO2 into a unique class of unexplored cyclic alkylidene carbonates. These systems, for the first time, also achieve the direct carboxylative cyclization of primary propargylic alcohols. The silver-DavePhos catalyst is further applied for the bis-carboxylative cyclization of primary propargyl derivatives, thereby providing an effective route to a series of previously inaccessible and industrially relevant α-alkylidene cyclic carbonates.

Tackling Challenges in Industrially Relevant Homogeneous Catalysis: The Catalysis Research Laboratory (CaRLa), an Industrial-Academic Partnership.

Industrial-academic collaborations are broadly used for the development of new industrial processes. To achieve a strong and deep collaboration in the field of homogeneous catalysis, BASF and the Heidelberg University have been running the Catalysis Research Laboratory together in Heidelberg since 2006. This Perspective highlights the concept of this laboratory and our experiences over the past few years in this joint laboratory. How this collaboration works is explained in more detail using three selected projects: sodium acrylate based on CO2, the selective decomposition of cyclohexyl hydroperoxide to cyclohexanone, and the asymmetric amination of ketones with NH3/H2.

Direct Asymmetric Ruthenium-Catalyzed Reductive Amination of Alkyl-Aryl Ketones with Ammonia and Hydrogen.

The asymmetric ruthenium-catalyzed reductive amination employing ammonia and hydrogen to primary amines is described. Here we demonstrate the capability of our catalyst to perform a chemo- and enantioselective process while using simple ammonia gas as a reagent, one of the most attractive and industrially relevant nitrogen sources. The presence of a catalytic amount of ammonium iodide was essential for obtaining good yields and enantioselectivities. The mechanism of this reaction was investigated by DFT and we found a viable pathway that also explains the trend and magnitude of enantioselectivity through the halide series in good agreement with the experimental data. The in-depth investigation of substrate conformers during the reaction turned out to be crucial in obtaining an accurate prediction of the enantioselectivity. Furthermore, we report the crystallographic data of the chiral [Ru(I)H(CO)((S,S)-f-binaphane)(PPh3)] complex, which we identified as the most efficient catalyst in our investigation.

Synthesis of Mono- and Dinuclear Vanadium Complexes and Their Reactivity toward Dehydroperoxidation of Alkyl Hydroperoxides.

Several vanadium(V) complexes with either dipic-based or Schiff base ligands were synthesized. The complexes were fully characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H, 13C, and 51V NMR spectroscopy, as well as mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, they were tested toward their catalytic deperoxidation behavior and a significant difference between 4-heptyl hydroperoxide and cyclohexyl hydroperoxide was observed. In the case of 4-heptyl hydroperoxide, the selectivity toward the corresponding ketone was higher than with cyclohexyl hydroperoxide. DFT calculations performed on the vanadium complex showed that selective decomposition of secondary hydroperoxides with vanadium(V) to yield the corresponding ketone and water is indeed energetically feasible. The computed catalytic path, involving cleavage of the O-O bond, hydrogen transfer, release of ketone/water, and finally addition of hydroperoxide, can proceed without the generation of radical species.

Synthesis of Industrially Relevant Carbamates towards Isocyanates using Carbon Dioxide and Organotin(IV) Alkoxides.

A straightforward phosgene-free synthesis of aromatic isocyanates and diisocyanates is disclosed. Theoretical investigations suggested that the insertion of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) by dialkyltin(IV) dialkoxides could be used to convert aromatic amines into aromatic mono- and dicarbamates. Here we show, that methyl phenylcarbamate (MPC) from aniline using organotin(IV) dimethoxide and CO2 can be formed in high yield of up to 92 %, experimentally corroborating the predictions of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. MPC was then separated from the tin oxide residues and converted into phenyl isocyanate. Furthermore, organotin(IV) alkoxides could be regenerated from the tin oxide residues and reused, paving the way for a continuous industrial process. Extension of the scope to the synthesis of diurethanes from toluene 2,4-diamine and 4,4'-methylenedianiline could potentially allow the efficient production of industrially relevant diisocyanates.

Investigations on the catalytic carboxylation of olefins with CO2 towards α,ß-unsaturated carboxylic acid salts: characterization of intermediates and ligands as well as substrate effects.

The carboxylation of olefins beyond ethylene towards α,ß-unsaturated carboxylic acid salts and a detailed investigation on the critical steps in the catalysis are reported. The influence of two chelating phosphine ligands and several olefins on the elemental steps of the catalysis is shown. The work focusses on the formation of intermediate olefin complexes, lactone formation and base induced elimination of the lactone. The direct carboxylation of olefins is possible using nickel catalysts, which opens a new route towards the desired α,ß-unsaturated carboxylic acid salts. The reaction works particularly well for 1,3-dienes and proceeds via the formation of allyl-carboxylates. The ability to form such allyl-type lactone complexes seems in this case to be the most challenging step towards satisfactory turnover numbers.

Si-H bond activation at {(NHC)2Ni°} leading to hydrido silyl and bis(silyl) complexes: a versatile tool for catalytic Si-H/D exchange, acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of hydrosilanes, and hydrogenation of disilanes to hydrosilanes.

The unique reactivity of the nickel(0) complex [Ni2(iPr2Im)4(COD)] (1) (iPr2Im = 1,3-di-isopropyl-imidazolin-2-ylidene) towards hydrosilanes in stoichiometric and catalytic reactions is reported. A series of nickel hydrido silyl complexes cis-[Ni(iPr2Im)2(H)(SiH(n-1)R(4-n))] (n = 1, 2) and nickel bis(silyl) complexes cis-[Ni(iPr2Im)2(SiH(n-1)R(4-n))2] (n = 1, 2, 3) were synthesized by stoichiometric reactions of 1 with hydrosilanes H(n)SiR(4-n), and fully characterized by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic methods. These hydrido silyl complexes are examples where the full oxidative addition step is hindered. They have, as a result of the remaining Si-H interactions, remarkably short Si-H distances and feature a unique dynamic behavior in solution. Cis-[Ni(iPr2Im)2(H)(SiMePh2)] (cis-5) shows in solution at room temperature a dynamic site exchange of the NHC ligands, H-D exchange with C6D6 to give the deuteride complex cis-[Ni(iPr2Im)2(D)(SiMePh2)] (cis-5-D), and at elevated temperatures an irreversible isomerization to trans-[Ni(iPr2Im)2(D)(SiMePh2)] (trans-5-D). Reactions with sterically less demanding silanes give cis-configured bis(silyl) complexes accompanied by the release of dihydrogen. These complexes display, similarly to the hydrido silyl complexes, interestingly short Si-Si distances. Complex 1 reacts with 4 eq. HSi(OEt)3, in contrast to all the other silanes used in this study, to give the trans-configured bis(silyl) complex trans-[Ni(iPr2Im)2Ni(Si(OEt)3)2] (trans-12). The addition of two equivalents of Ph2SiH2 to 1 results, at elevated temperatures, in the formation of the dinuclear complex [{(iPr2Im)Ni-µ(2)-(HSiPh2)}2] (6). This diamagnetic, formal Ni(I) complex exhibits a long Ni-Ni bond in the solid state, as established by X-ray diffraction. The capability of the electron rich {Ni(iPr2Im)2} complex fragment to activate Si-H bonds was applied catalytically in the deuteration of Et3Si-H to Et3Si-D employing C6D6 as a convenient deuterium source. Furthermore, we show that 1 serves as a catalyst for the acceptorless dehydrogenative coupling of Ph2SiH2 to the corresponding disilane Ph2HSi-SiHPh2 and trisilane Ph2HSi-Si(Ph)2-SiHPh2, and the coupling of PhSiH3 to give a mixture of cyclic and linear polysilanes with high polydispersity (M(w) = 1119; M(n) = 924; M(w)/M(n) = 1.2). The capability of 1 to catalyze the formal reverse reaction as well is demonstrated by the hydrogenation of disilanes. The hydrogenation of the disilanes Ph2MeSi-SiMePh2 and PhMe2Si-SiMe2Ph to the corresponding hydrosilanes Ph2MeSi-H and PhMe2Si-H, respectively, proceeds effectively in the presence of 1 under very mild conditions (room temperature, 1.8 bar H2 pressure).

Intramolecular hydrogen transfer reaction: menthon from isopulegol.

The flavor menthon (isomeric mixture of (-)-menthon and (+)-isomenthon) was obtained in good yields and selectivities by a solventless ruthenium catalyzed isomerization of the homoallylic alcohol (-)-isopulegol. In contrast to most previous assumptions on such "isomerization" reactions, this reaction follows an intermolecular pathway, with menthol and pulegon being the central intermediates in this transformation.

Alcohol amination with ammonia catalyzed by an acridine-based ruthenium pincer complex: a mechanistic study.

The mechanistic course of the amination of alcohols with ammonia catalyzed by a structurally modified congener of Milstein's well-defined acridine-based PNP-pincer Ru complex has been investigated both experimentally and by DFT calculations. Several key Ru intermediates have been isolated and characterized. The detailed analysis of a series of possible catalytic pathways (e.g., with and without metal-ligand cooperation, inner- and outer-sphere mechanisms) leads us to conclude that the most favorable pathway for this catalyst does not require metal-ligand cooperation.