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Post‐synthetic modification of the hafnium metal–organic framework MOF‐808(Hf) to include triarylphosphine ligands is reported. Sulfonated phenylphosphines are incorporated without oxidation to give a "MOF ligand" that can complex late transition metals such as Ir and Rh to give a bifunctional catalyst containing both metal–phosphine complexes and the Lewis acidic framework hafnium metal sites. The metallated phosphine‐bearing MOFs act as fully heterogeneous bifunctional catalysts for tandem reductive amination and hydroaminomethylation reactions. Post‐synthetic modification of hafnium MOF‐808 with sulfonated arylphosphines and precious metal catalyst pre‐cursors generates highly active and tunable bifunctional catalysts for reductive amination reactions, including alkene hydroaminomethylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of a range of phosphine-diamine, phosphine-amino-alcohol, and phosphine-amino-amide ligands and their ruthenium(II) complexes are reported. Five of these were characterised by X-ray crystallography. The activities of this collection of catalysts were initially compared for the hydrogenation of two model ester hydrogenations. Catalyst turnover frequencies up to 2400 h−1 were observed at 85 °C. However, turnover is slow at near ambient temperatures. By using a phosphine-diamine RuII complex, identified as the most active catalyst, a range of aromatic esters were reduced in high yield. The hydrogenation of alkene-, diene-, and alkyne-functionalised esters was also studied. Substrates with a remote, but reactive terminal alkene substituent could be reduced chemoselectively in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) co-catalyst. The chemoselective reduction of the ester function in conjugated dienoate ethyl sorbate could deliver (2 E,4 E)-hexa-2,4-dien-1-ol, a precursor to leaf alcohol. The monounsaturated alcohol ( E)-hex-4-en-1-ol was produced with reasonable selectivity, but complete chemoselectivity of CO over the diene is elusive. High chemoselectivity for the reduction of an ester over an alkyne group was observed in the hydrogenation of an alkynoate for the first time. The catalysts were also active in the depolymerisation reduction of samples of waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) to produce benzene dimethanol. These depolymerisations were found to be poisoned by the ethylene glycol side product, although good yields could still be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an alternative to conventional asymmetric hydroformylation (AHF), asymmetric transfer hydroformylation (ATHF) by using formaldehyde as a surrogate for syngas is reported. A catalyst derived from commercially available [Rh(acac)(CO)2] (acac=acetylacetonate) and 1,2-bis[(2 S,5 S)-2,5-diphenylphospholano]ethane(1,5-cyclooctadiene) (Ph-BPE) stands out in terms of both activity and enantioselectivity. Remarkably, not only are high selectivities achievable, the reactions are very simple to perform, and higher enantioselectivity (up to 96 % ee) and/or turnover frequencies than those achievable by using the same catalyst (or other leading catalysts) can be obtained by using typical conditions for AHF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The trivalent metal cations Al3+, Cr3+, and Fe3+ were each introduced, together with Sc3+, into MIL-100(Sc,M) solid solutions (M=Al, Cr, Fe) by direct synthesis. The substitution has been confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and solid-state NMR, UV/Vis, and X-ray absorption (XAS) spectroscopy. Mixed Sc/Fe MIL-100 samples were prepared in which part of the Fe is present as α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles within the mesoporous cages of the MOF, as shown by XAS, TGA, and PXRD. The catalytic activity of the mixed-metal catalysts in Lewis acid catalysed Friedel-Crafts additions increases with the amount of Sc present, with the attenuating effect of the second metal decreasing in the order Al>Fe>Cr. Mixed-metal Sc,Fe materials give acceptable activity: 40% Fe incorporation only results in a 20% decrease in activity over the same reaction time and pure product can still be obtained and filtered off after extended reaction times. Supported α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were also active Lewis acid species, although less active than Sc3+ in trimer sites. The incorporation of Fe3+ into MIL-100(Sc) imparts activity for oxidation catalysis and tandem catalytic processes (Lewis acid+oxidation) that make use of both catalytically active framework Sc3+ and Fe3+. A procedure for using these mixed-metal heterogeneous catalysts has been developed for making ketones from (hetero)aromatics and a hemiacetal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]