Advances in One-Pot Synthesis through Borrowing Hydrogen Catalysis.

The borrowing hydrogen (BH) principle, also called hydrogen auto-transfer, is a powerful approach which combines transfer hydrogenation (avoiding the direct use of molecular hydrogen) with one or more intermediate reactions to synthesize more complex molecules without the need for tedious separation or isolation processes. The strategy which usually relies on three steps, (i) dehydrogenation, (ii) intermediate reaction, and (iii) hydrogenation, is an excellent and well-recognized process from the synthetic, economic, and environmental point of view. In this context, the objective of the present review is to give a global overview on the topic starting from those contributions published prior to the emergence of the BH concept to the most recent and current research under the term of BH catalysis. Two main subareas of the topic (homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis) have been identified, from which three subheadings based on the source of the electrophile (alkanes, alcohols, and amines) have been considered. Then the type of bond being formed (carbon-carbon and carbon heteroatom) has been taken into account to end-up with the intermediate reaction working in tandem with the metal-catalyzed hydrogenation/dehydrogenation step. The review has been completed with the more recent advances in asymmetric catalysis using the BH strategy.

One-pot palladium-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen synthesis of thioethers.

Palladium on magnesium oxide is able to allow a one-pot reaction to synthesize thioethers from thiols and aldehydes formed in situ from the respective alcohol by means of a borrowing hydrogen method. The reaction is initiated by dehydrogenation of the alcohol to give a palladium hydride intermediate and an aldehyde. The latter reacts with a thiol involving most probably the intermediacy of a thionium ion RCH=S(+)R, which can be reduced in situ by the metal hydride to afford thioethers.

Coupling of two multistep catalytic cycles for the one-pot synthesis of propargylamines from alcohols and primary amines on a nanoparticulated gold catalyst.

A one-pot reaction was performed with a nanoparticulated gold catalyst. A secondary amine is formed through N-monoalkylation of a primary amine with an alcohol by a borrowing hydrogen methodology in a three-step reaction. The secondary amine formed enters into a second A(3)-coupling cycle to give propargylamines. The multistep reaction requires a gold species formed and stabilized on a ceria surface.

A recyclable bifunctional acid-base organocatalyst with ionic liquid character. The role of site separation and spatial configuration on different condensation reactions.

A series of bifunctional organic catalysts containing acid and basic sites with ionic liquid characteristics have been prepared and their catalytic activity and reaction coordinate for aldol and Knoevenagel condensations have been compared. While the only factor controlling catalyst activity for the Knoevenagel condensation was the distance between the acid and base sites, the spatial orientation of the organocatalyst is also key to achieve high activity and selectivity in the Claisen-Schmidt condensation. Mechanistic studies based on theoretical DFT calculations show that the acid-base bifunctional organocatalyst follows a mechanism inspired in natural aldolases for the synthesis of trans-chalcones, being able to produce a large variety of these compounds of industrial interest. The combination of the acid-base pairs within the proper geometry and the ionic liquid nature makes this catalyst active, selective and recyclable.

A bifunctional Pd/MgO solid catalyst for the one-pot selective N-monoalkylation of amines with alcohols.

It has been found that a bifunctional metal Pd/base (MgO) catalyst performs the selective monoalkylation of amines with alcohols. The reaction goes through a series of consecutive steps in a cascade mode that involves: 1) the abstraction of hydrogen from the alcohol that produces the metal hydride and the carbonyl compound; 2) condensation of the carbonyl with the amine to give an imine, and 3) hydrogenation of the imine with the surface hydrogen atoms from the metal hydride. Based on isotopic and spectroscopic studies and on the rate of each elementary step, a global reaction mechanism has been proposed. The controlling step of the process is the hydride transfer from the metal to the imine. By changing the crystallite size of the Pd, it is demonstrated that this is a structure-sensitive reaction, whereas the competing processes that lead to subproducts are not. On these bases, a highly selective catalyst has been obtained with Pd crystallite size below 2.5 nm in diameter. The high efficiency of the catalytic system has allowed us to extend the process to the one-pot synthesis of piperazines.

Bifunctional acid-base ionic liquid organocatalysts with a controlled distance between acid and base sites.

Bifunctional acid-base ionic liquid organocatalysts with different distances between the two sites have been synthesised, and their activity for the Knoevenagel condensation has been tested. As has been found to be the case with enzymes, the distance between the acidic and basic sites determines the activity of the bifunctional organocatalyst, and at the optimal distance the reaction rate increases by two orders of magnitude with respect to the purely acidic or basic counterpart organocatalysts. The experimental results have been rationalised through the study of the reaction mechanism of the Knoevenagel condensation between malononitrile and benzaldehyde by means of DFT calculations. It has been found that it consists of two consecutive steps. First, deprotonation of malononitrile on the basic site to obtain a methylene carbanion intermediate takes place, and second, co-adsorption and activation of benzaldehyde on the acid centre of this intermediate followed by the C-C bond-formation reaction. The calculations and the kinetic study indicate that there is an inversion of the rate-controlling step when the distance between the acidic and the basic sites is modified, with a direct implication on the reaction rate.

Supramolecular self-assembled molecules as organic directing agent for synthesis of zeolites.

Solid materials with uniform micropores, such as zeolites, can act as selective catalysts and adsorbents for molecular mixtures by separating those molecules small enough to enter their pores while leaving the larger molecules behind. Zeolite A is a microporous material with a high void volume. Despite its widespread industrial use in, for example, molecular separations and in detergency, its capability as a petroleum-refining material is limited owing to its poor acid-catalytic activity and hydrothermal stability, and its low hydrophobicity. These characteristics are ultimately a consequence of the low framework Si/Al ratio (normally around one) and the resulting high cationic fraction within the pores and cavities. Researchers have modified the properties of type-A zeolites by increasing the Si/Al compositions up to a ratio of three. Here we describe the synthesis of zeolite A structures exhibiting high Si/Al ratios up to infinity (pure silica). We synthesize these materials, named ITQ-29, using a supramolecular organic structure-directing agent obtained by the self-assembly, through pi-pi type interactions, of two identical organic cationic moieties. The highly hydrophobic pure-silica zeolite A can be used for hydrocarbon separations that avoid oligomerization reactions, whereas materials with high Si/Al ratios give excellent shape-selective cracking additives for increasing propylene yield in fluid catalytic cracking operations. We have also extended the use of our supramolecular structure-directing agents to the synthesis of a range of other zeolites.

Direct synthesis of a photoactive inorganic-organic mesostructured hybrid material and its application as a photocatalyst.

A photoactive, hexagonally structured mesoporous material (Tyl-MCM41) is produced through co-hydrolysis of SiO(2) and a trialkoxysilane-functionalized trityl cation as photoactive species. The formation of the corresponding triphenylmethanol precursor in the material is confirmed by spectroscopic techniques. The hybrid material has an ordered structure with a narrow pore size distribution typical of ordered mesoporous MCM-41-type materials. The triarylcarbinol molecules incorporated into this hybrid structure (Triphol-MCM41) generate trityl cations under acidic conditions, which are photoactive and able to promote the photosensitized dimerization of 1,3-cyclohexadiene in a heterogeneous solid-liquid system. The material is stable and can be recycled without loss of the photochemical activity.

Chiral copper(II) bisoxazoline covalently anchored to silica and mesoporous MCM-41 as a heterogeneous catalyst for the enantioselective Friedel-Crafts hydroxyalkylation.

Two solid catalysts in which a chiral copper(II) bisoxazoline has been covalently anchored on silica and MCM-41 have been prepared; the solids are enantioselective catalysts (up to 92% ee) for the Friedel-Crafts hydroxyalkylation of 1,3-dimethoxybenzene with 3,3,3-trifluoropyruvate.

Exceptional oxidation activity with size-controlled supported gold clusters of low atomicity.

The catalytic activity of gold depends on particle size, with the reactivity increasing as the particle diameter decreases. However, investigations into behaviour in the subnanometre regime (where gold exists as small clusters of a few atoms) began only recently with advances in synthesis and characterization techniques. Here we report an easy method to prepare isolated gold atoms supported on functionalized carbon nanotubes and their performance in the oxidation of thiophenol with O2. We show that single gold atoms are not active, but they aggregate under reaction conditions into gold clusters of low atomicity that exhibit a catalytic activity comparable to that of sulfhydryl oxidase enzymes. When clusters grow into larger nanoparticles, catalyst activity drops to zero. Theoretical calculations show that gold clusters are able to activate thiophenol and O2 simultaneously, and larger nanoparticles are passivated by strongly adsorbed thiolates. The combination of both reactants activation and facile product desorption makes gold clusters excellent catalysts.

Chiral N-alkyl-2,4,6-triphenylpyridiniums as enantioselective triplet photosensitizers. laser flash photolysis and preparative studies.

Three N-alkylpyridinium photosensitizers having chiral alkyl groups have been prepared by reacting 2,4,6-triphenylpyrylium tetrafluoroborate ion with (1R,2S)-(-)-norephedrine, (S)-(+)-2-(aminomethyl)pyrrolidine, and (R)-(-)-1-cyclohexylethylamine. Laser flash photolysis allows detection of the corresponding triplet excited states that are quenched by hydrogen atom donors and electron donors. Asymmetric quenching of the chiral triplet excited state was observed using enantiomerically pure 1,2-diamino cyclohexane as quencher. Low enantiomeric excess values (up to 7%) were measured for the photochemical cyclization of 5-methyl-4-hexenoic acid to its corresponding gamma-lactone using these chiral N-alkylpyridinium as photosensitizers.