TiO2-Supported Re as a General and Chemoselective Heterogeneous Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Carboxylic Acids to Alcohols

TiO2-supported Re, Re/TiO2, was found to promote selective hydrogenation of carboxylic acids having aromatic and aliphatic moieties to the corresponding alcohols. Re/TiO2 showed superior results compared to other transition-metal-loaded TiO2 and supported Re catalysts for selective hydrogenation of 3-phenylpropionic acid. 3phenylpropanol was produced in 97% yield under mild conditions (5 MPa H-2 at 140 degrees C). Contrary to typical heterogeneous catalysts, Re/TiO2 does not lead to the formation of dearomatized byproducts. The catalyst is recyclable and shows a wide substrate scope in the synthesis of alcohols (22 examples; up to 97% isolated yield)

Synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted pyrroles via dehydrogenative condensation of secondary alcohols and 1,2-amino alcohols by supported platinum catalysts

Direct synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted pyrroles has been achieved via acceptorless dehydrogenative heterocyclization of 1,2-aminoalcohols and secondary alcohols by utilizing a heterogeneous carbon-supported Pt catalyst (Pt/C). The optimized method gave 92% yield of 2-ethyl-5-phenyl-1H-pyrrole as a desired product from 2-amino-1-butanol and 1-phenylethanol in the presence of 0.1 mol% of Pt/C and 1.1 equiv. of KOtBu. It has been revealed that Pt/C demonstrates superior catalytic activity to a number of catalysts tested in this study including other transition metal-loaded carbon and various metal-oxide-supported Pt catalysts. In addition, the turnover number (TON) obtained in the present system was found to be higher than those obtained in previously-reported catalytic systems. It is significant that the Pt/C catalyst could be recycled as a heterogeneous catalyst without significant loss in the activity and showed a wide substrate scope for the 2,5-disubstituted pyrrole forming process

Selective C3-alkenylation of oxindole with aldehydes using heterogeneous CeO2 catalyst

We report herein that a commercially available CeO2 is an active and reusable catalyst for the C3-selective alkenylation of oxindole with aldehydes under solvent-free conditions. This. catalytic method is generally applicable to different aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes, giving 3-alkyledene-oxindoles in high yields (87%-99%) and high stereoselectivities (79%-93% to E-isomers). This is the first example of the catalytic synthesis of 3-alkenyl-oxindoles from oxindole and various aliphatic aldehydes. The Lewis acid-base interaction between Lewis acid sites on CeO2 and benzaldehyde was studied by in situ IR. The structure-activity relationship study using CeO2 catalysts with different sizes suggests that defect-free CeO2 surface is the active site for this reaction. (C) 2020, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Direct Phenolysis Reactions of Unactivated Amides into Phenolic Esters Promoted by a Heterogeneous CeO2 Catalyst

The direct catalytic esterification of amides that leads to the construction of C-O bonds through the cleavage of amide C-N bonds is a highly attractive strategy in organic synthesis. While aliphatic and aromatic alcohols can be readily used for the alcoholysis of activated and unactivated amides, the introduction of phenols is more challenging due to their lower nucleophilicity in the phenolysis of unactivated amides. Herein, we demonstrate that phenols can be used for the phenolysis of unactivated amides into the corresponding phenolic esters using a simple heterogenous catalytic system based on CeO2 under additive-free reaction conditions. The method tolerates a broad variety of functional groups (>50 examples) in the substrates. Results of kinetic studies afforded mechanistic insights into the principles governing this reaction, suggesting that the cooperative effects of the acid-base functions of catalysts would be of paramount importance for the efficient progression of the C-N bond breaking process, and consequently, CeO2 showed the best catalytic performance among the catalysts explored

Mechanistic study of the selective hydrogenation of carboxylic acid derivatives over supported rhenium catalysts

The structure and performance of TiO2-supported Re (Re/TiO2) catalysts for selective hydrogenation of carboxylic acid derivatives have been investigated. Re/TiO2 promotes selective hydrogenation reactions of carboxylic acids and esters that form the corresponding alcohols, and of amides that generate the corresponding amines. These processes are not accompanied by reduction of aromatic moieties. A Re loading amount of 5 wt% and a catalyst pretreatment with H-2 at 500 degrees C were identified as being optimal to obtain the highest catalytic activity for the hydrogenation processes. The results of studies using various characterization methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), indicate that the Re species responsible for the catalytic hydrogenation processes have sub-nanometer to a few nanometer sizes and average oxidation states higher than 0 and below +4. The presence of either a carboxylic acid and/or its corresponding alcohol is critical for preventing the Re/TiO2 catalyst from promoting production of dearomatized byproducts. Although Re/TiO2 is intrinsically capable of hydrogenating aromatic rings, carboxylic acids, alcohols, amides, and amines strongly adsorb on the Re species, which leads to suppression of this process. Moreover, the developed catalytic system was applied to selective hydrogenation of triglycerides that form the corresponding alcohols

Rhenium-Loaded TiO2: A Highly Versatile and Chemoselective Catalyst for the Hydrogenation of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives and the N-Methylation of Amines Using H-2 and CO2

Herein, we report a heterogeneous TiO2-supported Re catalyst (Re/TiO2) that promotes various selective hydrogenation reactions, which includes the hydrogenation of esters to alcohols, the hydrogenation of amides to amines, and the N-methylation of amines, by using H-2 and CO2. Initially, Re/TiO2 was evaluated in the context of the selective hydrogenation of 3-phenylpropionic acid methyl ester to afford 3-phenylpropanol (p(H2)=5 MPa, T=180 degrees C), which revealed a superior performance over other catalysts that we tested in this study. In contrast to other typical heterogeneous catalysts, hydrogenation reactions with Re/TiO2 did not produce dearomatized byproducts. DFT studies suggested that the high selectivity for the formation of alcohols in favor of the hydrogenation of aromatic rings is ascribed to the higher affinity of Re towards the COOCH3 group than to the benzene ring. Moreover, Re/TiO2 showed a wide substrate scope for the hydrogenation reaction (19 examples). Subsequently, this Re/TiO2 catalyst was applied to the hydrogenation of amides, the N-methylation of amines, and the N-alkylation of amines with carboxylic acids or esters

<i>C</i>‑Methylation of Alcohols, Ketones, and Indoles with Methanol Using Heterogeneous Platinum Catalysts

A versatile, selective, and recyclable heterogeneous catalytic method for the methylation of C–H bonds in alcohols, ketones, and indoles with methanol under oxidant-free conditions using a Pt-loaded carbon (Pt/C) catalyst in the presence of NaOH is reported. This catalytic system is effective for various methylation reactions: (1) the β-methylation of primary alcohols, including aryl, aliphatic, and heterocyclic alcohols, (2) the α-methylation of ketones, and (3) the selective <i>C3</i>-methylation of indoles. The reactions are driven by a borrowing-hydrogen mechanism. The reaction begins with the dehydrogenation of the alcohol(s) to afford aldehydes, which subsequently undergo a condensation reaction with the nucleophile (aldehyde, ketone, or indole), followed by hydrogenation of the condensation product by Pt–H species to yield the desired product. In all of the methylation reactions explored in this study, the Pt/C catalyst exhibits a significantly higher turnover number than other previously reported homogeneous catalytic systems. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the high catalytic activity of Pt can be rationalized in terms of the adsorption energy of hydrogen on the metal surface, as revealed by density functional theory calculations on different metal surfaces