C–H Activation of π-Arene Ruthenium Complexes

Wilkinson, Luke A.; Pike, Jack A.; Walton, James W.

Abstract

We present a C–H activation protocol for aromatic compounds that overcomes the current limitations of the need for a directing group or covalently bound activating groups, by exploiting the increase in C–H acidity of aromatic compounds on π-coordination to a Ru(II) center. The increased acidity facilitates catalytic concerted metalation–deprotonation and subsequent arylation reactions. We present the development and optimization of the C–H activation protocol and show the applicability of the reaction to a range of aromatic substrates, including the simplest of substrates (benzene). Furthermore, we demonstrate the recyclability of the activating Ru(II) fragment using photolysis and give a mechanistic study, which provides strong evidence that this reaction occurs via a silver-mediated C–H bond activation. This is the first time Ru complexes have been shown to allow C–H activation of arenes by a π-coordination mechanism.

Citation

Wilkinson, L. A., Pike, J. A., & Walton, J. W. (2017). C–H Activation of π-Arene Ruthenium Complexes. Organometallics, 36(22), 4376-4381. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.7b00563

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 30, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 8, 2017
• Publication Date: Nov 8, 2017
• Deposit Date: Dec 14, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 8, 2018
• Journal: Organometallics
• Print ISSN: 0276-7333
• Electronic ISSN: 1520-6041
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 22
• Pages: 4376-4381
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.organomet.7b00563
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1369649