IRON AND RUTHENIUM CATALYSTS FOR THE REDUCTION OF C=O AND C=N BONDS

In this PhD thesis recent developments in Iron and Ruthenium Catalysts for the Reduction of C=O and C=N bonds are reported. In Part A the synthesis and reactivity of new iron complexes promoting the reduction of C=O and C=N bonds is reported. The state of the art in homogenous iron catalyzed hydrogenations is introduced in Chapter 1 followed by the results obtained with each class of iron complexes. Chapter 2 shows the synthesis, characterization and reactivity of BINOL-derived tetra isonitrile iron complexes. Two different families were designed differing in the length of the arm bearing the isonitrile group. Those complexes proved to promote asymmetric transfer hydrogenation (ATH) and asymmetric hydrogenation (AH) of acetophenone under basic conditions. Although the initial results were encouraging, the further attempts to improve the performances were mostly ineffective. Lack of activity, enantioselectivity and reproducibility issues convinced us to not proceed further. Chapter 3 reports a new class of isonitrile-phosphine ligands called PCCP: a chelating system bearing phosphine and isonitrile groups in the same BINOL-derived scaffold. Design, synthesis and characterization of the PCCP ligand are here reported. Once the corresponding iron complex was obtained, ATH of acetophenone was performed but only racemic 1-phenylethanol was yielded. Synthesis of the second generation of PCCP is still undergoing. Chapter 4 is mainly dedicated to the synthesis and the catalytic properties of the (cyclopentadienone)iron pre-catalyst [bis(hexamethylene) cyclopentadienone] iron complex 81. In the first part of the chapter the synthesis of 81 by the reaction of cyclooctyne with Fe(CO)5 and the investigation of its catalytic properties in C=O bond reduction is reported. As a result of the peculiar reactivity of cyclooctyne, 81 was formed in good yield (56%) by intermolecular cyclative carbonylation/complexation with Fe(CO)5. 81 was fully characterized and its crystal structure was determined by using XRD. Catalytic tests revealed that, upon in situ activation with Me3NO, 81 promotes the hydrogenation of ketones, aldehydes, and activated esters as well as the transfer hydrogenation of ketones and shows a higher activity than the classical “Knölker complex” 30. Studies on the hydrogenation kinetics in the presence of 81 and 30 suggest that this difference in activity is probably caused by the better stability of the 81-derived complex than that of the in situ generated Knölker–Casey catalyst. In the second part of Chapter 4 the first catalytic transfer hydrogenation of non-activated imines promoted by a Fe-catalyst 81 in the absence of Lewis acid co-catalysts is reported. Use of the (cyclopentadienone)iron complex 81 allowed to reduce a number of N-aryl and N-alkyl imines in very good yields using iPrOH as hydrogen source. The reaction proceeds with relatively low catalyst loading (0.5-2 mol%) and, remarkably, its scope includes also ketimines, whose reduction with a Fe-complex as the only catalyst has little precedents. Based on this new methodology, we developed a one-pot catalytic transfer hydrogenation protocol for the reductive amination of aldehydes/ketones, which provides access to secondary amines in high yield without the need to isolate imine intermediates. Chapter 5 is focused on the catalytic performances of BINOL-derived (cyclopentadienone)iron complexes recently synthesized in our group. Those iron complexes showed good activity in asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones and although the ee values are clearly inferior to the best literature examples of ketone asymmetric hydrogenation, they still represent the best results obtained so far with chiral (cyclopentadienone)iron complexes. Their reactivity in imine reduction (AH and ATH) was investigated and the results are reported. Both pre- and in situ formed imines were screened and promising results were obtained for acetophenone-derived imines. Part B of this thesis is focused on the use of ruthenium and Trost Ligand as catalyst for asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones. This research was carried out during my Erasmus+ Placement in LIKAT (Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, Rostock, Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. J.G. de Vries and Dr. Sandra Hinze. In Chapter 6, we described the use of Trost ligand as ligand in the AH of ketones. Trost ligand was screened in the presence of several metal salts and found to form active catalysts when combined with ruthenium sources in the presence of hydrogen and a base. Reaction optimization was carried out by screening different Ru sources, solvents and bases. Under the optimized conditions, the complex formed by combination of Trost ligand with RuCl3(H2O)x in the presence of Na2CO3, is able to promote the AH of several ketones at r.t. with good yields and up to 96% ee. The reaction kinetics measured under the optimized conditions revealed the presence of a long induction period, during which the initially formed Ru species is transformed into the catalytically active complex by reaction with hydrogen.