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International audience; New titanium complexes of general formula [Ti(OR)2(OiPr)2], containing functionalized alkoxido ligands, were developed for the selective catalytic dimerization of ethylene to 1-butene using a combined High Throughput Screening (HTS) / Design of Experiment (DoE) approach. First, a library of 19 ligands was elaborated and a primary screening spotted the phosphorus-functionalized alkoxido ligands as most promising. A second, more focused library containing 8 alkoxidophosphane ligands was then developed. A longer linear spacer between the alkoxido and the phosphorus functions, as in [Ti(19)2(OiPr)2], was found beneficial for this catalytic reaction. After identification of the best co-catalyst (AlEt3) and co-ligand (OnBu), final optimization of the reaction conditions was performed using a design of experiments (DoE) approach. The complex [Ti(19)2(OnBu)2] was shown to selectively dimerize ethylene in 1-butene (C4(α)=93 % (99+%)) at 30 bar C2H4 and 55 °C with AlEt3 as co-catalyst, resulting in very high activity and selectivity for a molecular titanium catalyst (13000 g gTi−1 h−1, 93 % 1-butene).

International audience; The transformation of ethylene and alkenes is of high importance for the chemical industry. In this review, we focus on selective alkenes transformation where metallacyclopentane is suspected or demonstrated to be involved in the reaction mechanism. In addition to the alkenes, the "classical" products of ethylene oligomerization, we also cover articles dealing with the synthesis of cyclobutane and butadiene derivatives, through the common metallacycle intermediate. We also present studies that help decipher the precise mechanism of the transformations, i.e. involving synthesis of postulated intermediates, labelling experiments and DFT calculations.

International audience; A family of L2Ni(ORF)2 (L2: (Cy3PO)24, dcpmS 5, dppf 9, bipyMe210; RF = C(CF3)3) complexes is synthesized via selective substitution of 2 equiv of (DME)NaORF from homoleptic [Ni(ORF)4][Na(DME)]2 complex 1, all characterized by 19F and 1H NMR and SCXRD analyses as well as elemental analyses. These L2Ni(ORF)2 precursors, activated by 2 equiv of PhF → Al(ORF)3, were active in ethylene oligomerization with selectivity toward butenes up to 97% and activities ranging from 10 to 50 kgC2H4·gNi·h–1. Mechanistic investigations, involving experiments with C2H4/C2D4 (1/1) coupled with GC-MS analysis, revealed the formation of a Ni–H fragment in the catalytic process. The L2Ni(ORF)2/2PhF → Al(ORF)3 catalytic system thus dimerizes ethylene through a Cossee–Arlman mechanism.

International audience; Upon reaction with copper(i), peri-halo naphthyl phosphines readily form peri-bridged naphthyl phosphonium salts. The reaction works with alkyl, aryl and amino substituents at phosphorus, with iodine, bromine and chlorine as a halogen. It proceeds under mild conditions and is quantitative, despite the strain associated with the resulting 4-membered ring structure and the naphthalene framework. The transformation is amenable to catalysis. Under optimized conditions, the peri-iodo naphthyl phosphine 1-I is converted into the corresponding peri-bridged naphthyl phosphonium salt 2b in only 5 minutes at room temperature using 1 mol% of CuI. Based on DFT calculations, the reaction is proposed to involve a Cu(i)/Cu(iii) cycle made of P-coordination, C-X oxidative addition and P-C reductive elimination. This copper-catalyzed route gives a general and efficient access to peri-bridged naphthyl phosphonium salts for the first time. Reactivity studies could thus be initiated and the possibility to insert gold into the strained P-C bond was demonstrated. It leads to (P,C)-cyclometallated gold(iii) complexes. According to experimental observations and DFT calculations, two mechanistic pathways are operating: (i) direct oxidative addition of the strained P-C bond to gold,(ii) backward-formation of the peri-halo naphthyl phosphine (by C-P oxidative addition to copper followed by C-X reductive elimination), copper to gold exchange and oxidative addition of the C-X bond to gold. Detailed analysis of the reaction profiles computed theoretically gives more insight into the influence of the nature of the solvent and halogen atom, and provides rationale for the very different behaviour of copper and gold in this chemistry.

International audience; Brought to life more than half a century ago and successfully applied for high-value petrochemical intermediates production, nickel-catalyzed olefin oligomerization is still a very dynamic topic, with many fundamental questions to address and industrial challenges to overcome. The unique and versatile reactivity of nickel enables the oligomerization of ethylene, propylene and butenes into a wide range of oligomers that are highly sought-after in numerous fields to be controlled. Interestingly, both homogeneous and heterogeneous nickel catalysts have been scrutinized and employed to do this. This rare specificity encouraged us to interlink them in this review so as to open up opportunities for further catalyst development and innovation. An in-depth understanding of the reaction mechanisms in play is essential to being able to fine-tune the selectivity and achieve efficiency in the rational design of novel catalytic systems. This review thus provides a complete overview of the subject, compiling the main fundamental/industrial milestones and remaining challenges facing homogeneous/heterogeneous approaches as well as emerging catalytic concepts, with a focus on the last 10 years.

International audience; The reactivity of a phenoxy-imine-ether system (FI)TiCl3/MAO was studied toward selective ethylene trimerization. This system was shown to either trimerize or polymerize ethylene depending on the reaction temperature. Its selectivity switches from a significant production of the trimerization product, 1-hexene (85 wt %, 520-450 kg1-hexene gTi-1 h-1) between 30 and 40 °C, to a moderate polyethylene formation (70-80 wt %, 60-70 kgpolyethylene gTi-1 h-1) at higher reaction temperature (T > 60 °C). Polymerization was investigated based on an original "polymer-to-catalyst" strategy aiming at identifying the active species responsible for this side reaction. Using DSC, SEC and high temperature 13 C NMR analyses, polyethylenes were found to exhibit high molar masses (> 10 5 g mol-1) and a low 1-hexene content (< 1 mol %) at any temperature. Kinetic studies support that trimerization and polymerization species are generated from the catalyst precursor at 40 °C but a parallel process may occur at higher temperature. The increase dispersity to 4.6 at 80 °C suggests a change from single to multisite catalysis. The poor comonomer incorporation ability of the active species is reminiscent of a molecular Ziegler Natta or a bulky postmetallocene catalyst.

A series of tridentate aryloxy-based ligands were synthesized and characterized for their coordination behaviour towards TiIV. Coordination studies revealed that the nature of the central atom (amine vs. ether) and the type of bridging spacer (aromatic vs. aliphatic) are important aryloxy ligand parameters and influence the ligand coordination mode and the formation of stable titanium complexes. This series of titanium complexes were evaluated in ethylene oligomerization and polymerization after activation with methylaluminoxane (MAO) and showed the preferential formation of polyethylene. In some cases, the formation of a small amount of 1-hexene suggests the existence of several catalytic centres in the reaction mixture.

Homogeneous olefin oligomerization plays a pivotal role in the field of petrochemistry. Through catalyst, technology, and process developments, market requirements in terms of productivity, selectivity and sustainability have been addressed. Over more than 50 years, intensive research has been devoted to the design of new Group 4 to Group 10 transition metal complexes and to the study of their reactivity towards olefins leading to several breakthroughs of prime importance for academia as well as for industry. Since the early 1960s, IFPEN contributed to bring innovative industrial solutions to different targets from gasoline production to alpha-olefin on purpose processes with over 100 production units built worldwide. Based on nickel, titanium, zirconium or chromium, the catalytic systems for such processes and their next generation are subject to continuous research where the adaptation of the ligand architecture to the nature of the metal and their mode of activation, play a crucial role to control the reaction selectivity and the catalyst lifetime. Interesting relationships between the complex structure and their reactivity have been drawn and will be discussed in selected examples.

The present paper describes the use of experimental designs (DoE) in association with high throughput experimentation devices for the optimization of cobalt hydroformylation of olefins in a biphasic system using ionic liquids. The main goal of the study was to gain insight into the various factors ([Co]NAIL , L/Co, Phorg /PhNAIL , pressure and temperature) and how they interact and influence the activity and selec-tivity of the catalyst. On the basis of a D-Optimal design, the study pointed out that temperature and to a less extend “Phaseorga /PhaseNAIL ” ratio are the most critical parameters. These conclusions confirm to a certain extend, the initial hypothesis formulated to describe the process operation. Furthermore, this strategy in association with high throughput experimentation devices, allows to predict catalytic results in the major part of a cubic space (representing the experimental domain) giving us the opportunity to determine the most suitable catalysts composition and optimal reaction conditions.

New imino-imidazole ligands bearing a pendant donor function L were synthesized in excellent yields. The corresponding nickel(II) complexes [NiCl2(imino-imidazole-L)]n (L = (CH2)2SMe (2a), (CH2)2OMe (2b), (CH2)2NEt2 (2c), (CH2)2PPh2 (2d), (C6H4)-p-OMe (2e), (CH2)3OMe (2f), (CH2)3CH3 (2g); n = 1, 2) were prepared and characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Furthermore, the coordination geometry around the metal center in the dinuclear complex 2a and the mononuclear complexes 2c and 2e was unambiguously established by single crystal X-ray diffraction. All complexes have been evaluated for the oligomerization of ethylene in the presence of EtAlCl2 or MAO (methylaluminoxane) as cocatalyst, and mostly dimers and trimers were produced. Better activities were observed with EtAlCl2 as cocatalyst than with MAO.

The Bronsted acidity level was evaluated for ionic liquids to which a strong acid has been added. As a first approach, the evaluation method was based on the determination of the Hammett acidity functions H0 , using UV-Visible spectroscopy. The acidity of protons is mainly determined by their solvation state and consequently, the properties of protons depend on both the nature of the solvent and the nature and concentration of the acid. An apparent acidity scale was defined following this principle. It was found that, for the investigated ionic liquids, the cation does not play a dominant role on the acidity level ([BMIm] ~ [BHIm] ~ [ HNEt3 ] ), whereas changing the nature of the anion of the ionic liquid may lead to very different acidities ([ SbF6 ] > [ PF6 ] > [ BF4 ] > [ NTf2 ] > [OTf]). This “acidity scale” was tentatively compared with an “activity scale” obtained for the dimerization of isobutene into isooctenes. The tendencies concerning the cation effect were confirmed ([BMIm] ~ [BuMePyrr] ~ [ HNEt3 ] ). The anion effect in only partially validated with a different behaviour for NTf2 type ionic liquids ([ NTf2 ] ~ [ SbF6 ] > [ PF6 ] ~ [ BF4 ] > [OTf]). By an adequate choice of the ionic liquid, selectivity for isobutene dimers can reach 88 wt% (at 70% isobutene conversion) with possible recycling of the catalytic system without loss of activity and selectivity.

In our attempt to evaluate the acidity levels reached by acidified ionic liquids (BMImBF4, BMImNTf2 and BMImOTf + HOTf or HNTf2), the uncertainty on the pKas of the indicators needed for the Hammett spectrophotometric procedure was pointed out. As consequence another method is proposed, based on the H+/H2 couple potential measurement. In this purpose, if dynamic methods failed mainly for lack of sufficient reversibility, potentiometry with a hydrogen electrode gave meaningful results. The R0(H+) Strehlow function, could be calculated, using the Fc+-Fc couple as reference assumed as solvent independent. The obtained results show that i) the acidities are much higher than those in water; ii) the acidities measured by the hydrogen electrode are higher than those measured by the Hammett method; iii) the sequence of acidities for solutions of similar content of added acid is still BF4- > NTf2- > OTf- as previously measured with the Hammett method.

International audience; Chromium(III) complexes bearing R'N(CH2PR2)2 (PCNCP) ligands were prepared. Upon activation with methylaluminoxane, these complexes proved to be effective in the selective tri- and tetramerization of ethylene. The formation of either 1-hexene or 1-octene was found to be highly dependent on the steric bulk of the substituents R on the phosphine moieties. This observation was rationalized using density functional theory calculations on selected steps of the metallacyclic mechanism of the ethylene oligomerization reaction.

We report on the synthesis of mono(aryloxido)titanium(IV) complexes of general formula {Ti[O(o-R)Ar]X3}, with X = OiPr, ArO = 2-tert-butyl-4-methylphenoxy and R = CMe3 (2a), CMe2Ph (2b) and CH2NMe2 (2c). Attempts to reach pure mono(aryloxido) complexes when R = CH2NMe(CH2Ph) (2d) or CH2N(CH2Ph)2 (2e) were unsuccessful. When R = CH2OMe, the analogous mononuclear complex was not obtained, and instead, a dinuclear complex [(2-tert-butyl-4-methyl-6-methoxymethylphenoxy) TiCl(OiPr)(μ2-OiPr)2TiCl(OiPr)2] (3) was formed. Complexes 2b and 3 were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The former contains a tetrahedrally coordinated TiIV centre, whereas in the latter the aryloxido ligand behaves as a chelating–bridging ligand between the two, chemically very different metal centres that form two face-sharing octahedra. Different synthetic approaches starting from [Ti(OiPr)4] or [TiCl(OiPr)3] were evaluated and are discussed. The hemilabile behaviour of the aryloxido ligand resulting from reversible coordination of its side arm was studied by variable-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy for 2c (R = CH2NMe2). Complexes 2a–d were contacted with ethylene and AlEt3 as cocatalyst. When activated with AlEt3 (3 equiv.) at 20 bar and 60 °C, complex 2c exhibits interesting activity (2100 g/gTi/h) for the selective dimerization of ethylene to 1-butene (92 % C4=; 99+% C4=1). Noticeable differences in catalyst activity were observed when the R group was modified. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009)

Hydroformylation of olefins has been performed with a system based on cobalt and pyridine ligands in non-aqueous ionic liquids. In this work, a new approach was developed to recycle the cobalt catalyst without the use of chemicals. For 1-hexene, activity of the [ Co2 (CO)8 ] /Pyridine(2 eq)/[BMIM][ NTf2 ] at 100 bar and 130°C can reach 110 h-1 with a selectivity for aldehydes of up to 87% (linear to branched ratio being around 1.8). The recycling of the ionic liquid phase was performed several times without loss of activity or selectivity.

The Bro̸nsted acidity level was evaluated for ionic liquids to which a strong acid has been added. The evaluation method is based on the determination of the Hammett acidity functions H0, using UV-Visible spectroscopy. The acidity of protons is mainly determined by their solvation state and consequently, the properties of protons depend on both the nature of the solvent and the nature and concentration of the acid. In practice, it was found that, for the investigated ionic liquids, the cation as well as the added acid nature does not play a dominant role, whereas changing the anion nature may lead to very different acidities. Indeed, for a similar content of added acid, the measured acidity levels are in the order: PF6- > BF4- > NTf2- > OTf-. The problems of the influence of impurities on the final acidity and of the weakly dissociating character of the ionic liquid are addressed.

Homogeneous olefin oligomerization plays a pivotal role in the field of petrochemistry. Through catalyst, technology, and process developments, market requirements in terms of productivity, selectivity and sustainability have been addressed. Over more than 50 years, intensive research has been devoted to the design of new Group 4 to Group 10 transition metal complexes and to the study of their reactivity towards olefins leading to several breakthroughs of prime importance for academia as well as for industry. Since the early 1960s, IFPEN contributed to bring innovative industrial solutions to different targets from gasoline production to alpha-olefin on purpose processes with over 100 production units built worldwide. Based on nickel, titanium, zirconium or chromium, the catalytic systems for such processes and their next generation are subject to continuous research where the adaptation of the ligand architecture to the nature of the metal and their mode of activation, play a crucial role to control the reaction selectivity and the catalyst lifetime. Interesting relationships between the complex structure and their reactivity have been drawn and will be discussed in selected examples.

Having the tremendous industrial importance of thermoplastics and elastomers in mind, it is not surprising to see a proliferation of studies on a variety of catalytic systems for polymerization and oligomerization of unsaturated hydrocarbons. Over the last 15 years, the development of mid- to late transition metal catalysts has provided significant advances in this area. The availability of iron combined with its low environmental impact and its tolerance to heteroatom functions attracts significant interest from both academia and industry. In the late 1990s, key milestones have been the development of well-characterized bulky bis(imino)pyridine-Fe(II) precatalysts, mainly for the polymerization or oligomerization of ethylene. This chapter provides a brief overview of the key developments reported in the last 5 years in the literature in the field of iron-catalyzed olefin and diolefin polymerization and oligomerization. Emphasis has been placed on ethylene oligomerization and polymerization, with a particular interest in ligand architecture modifications. The advances in characterization and understanding of catalytically active iron species and the corresponding mechanisms are reported. Heterogenization of bis(imino)pyridine iron catalytic systems has been considered for ethylene transformation and will also be covered in this chapter. The interest of iron catalysts for multiple single-site approaches such as reactor blending and tandem catalysis is also described. Finally, iron catalyst systems also present interesting features for diene polymerization even though both activities and selectivities remain far from those observed for conventional catalysts.

International audience; Multinuclear aluminum cocatalysts have been obtained by the reaction of various phenols, alcohols or diois with trimethylaluminum and were used in situ or as isolated, welldefined species, for the activation of an iron(ll) or an iron(lll) precatalyst for the oligomerization of ethylene. The best cocatalyst candidate involves 2,2'-biphenol (10) in a 10/AIMe3 ratio of 2/3.

Room-temperature ionic liquids are used as cosolvents in the palladium-catalyzed telomerization of butadiene with methanol. The basic catalyst is palladium(II) acetate with either triphenylphosphin...

In this computational study, we propose a detailed mechanism, which has been explored by density functional theory simulations, for the trimerization reaction of ethylene to give selectively 1-hexene using a [(η5-C5H4CMe2C6H5)TiCl3/MAO] catalyst. For ring-opening reactions we distinguish between agostic assisted β-hydrogen transfer and hydride formation. With the B3LYP functional it was found that the rate-determining step is the ring-opening reaction of the seven-membered metallacycle, exhibiting a barrier ΔG⧧(298.15 K) of 18.4 kcal/mol. It appears that the selectivity of the reaction results from two effects: the stabilizing effect of the hemilabile phenyl ligand and the ring size of the metallacycle. Upon interchange of the phenyl group by the labile methyl group, the calculations predict the formation of polyethylene, which is in agreement with the experimental data.

Ionic liquids are attracting a great deal of attention as possible replacement for conventional molecular solvents for catalytic and organic reactions. They complete the use of environmentally friendly water, supercritical fluids or perfluorinated solvents. Features that make ionic liquids attractive include their lack of vapor pressure and the great versatility of their chemical and physical properties. By a judicious combination of cations and anions, it is possible to adjust the solvent properties to the requirement of the reactions, thus creating an almost indefinitely set of “designer solvents”. Besides the possibility of recycling the catalytic system, one main potential interest in using ionic liquids results in the unique interactions of these media with the active species and in the possibility to modify the reaction activity and selectivity. Their successful use as solvents has been demonstrated for a wide range of organic reactions including acid catalyzed reactions and transition metal catalyzed transformations.

We report a novel iron(III)-based catalytic system formed by the addition of an anionic N,N,N ligand to an iron(III) precursor. The complex has been characterized by FT-IR, mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. This precatalyst proved to form a stable, active species for the selective oligomerization of ethylene. Up to 66 wt % of butenes was obtained with a selectivity of 98% in 1-butene.

International audience; Since the discovery that bis(imino)pyridine ligands are able to confer high activities in ethylene oligomerization and polymerization to their iron complexes, considerable attention has been focused on catalyst design for these reactions and this research constitutes an ever-growing area in molecular catalysis. The tuning of the ligand structures and properties, and thus of catalysts, generally represents the basis for subsequent work contributing to process development and industrialization. Significant effort is therefore devoted to generate structural diversity in order to access the required catalyst stability and selectivity. This feature article outlines nitrogen-containing ligands that have been developed for the iron-catalyzed oligomerization of ethylene since the seminal discovery of the properties of bis(imino)pyridine ligands.

New titanium complexes of general formula [(ArO)(n)Ti(Oi-Pr)((4-n))] were synthesized and used as pre-catalysts for the selective dimerization of ethylene to 1-butene. The complexes were prepared in cyclohexane using [Ti(Oi-Pr)(4)] and one or two equivalents of the corresponding phenols (ArOH) at room temperature. In this work, both monodentate and chelating phenols were evaluated. For alkyl-substituted phenols, it was demonstrated that large steric hindrance at both ortho and ortho' positions selectively yielded the mono-substituted complexes [(ArO)Ti(Oi-Pr)(3)]. Substitution at only one of the ortho positions allowed both the mono- and the di-substituted Ti complexes to be isolated. When a heteroatom was introduced on the phenol backbone, di-substitution systematically occurred except with phenols presenting a hemilabile -CH(2)NR(2) group at the ortho position. Upon activation with 3 equiv. of AlEt(3) at 20 bar and 60 °C, all the complexes selectively dimerized ethylene to 1-butene (86% of butenes among which 99% of 1-butene). An increase of the steric bulk at the ortho position of the ligand or the introduction of a functional group led to decreased activity compared to [Ti(Oi-Pr)(4)].

In the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ionic liquid ([BMI][NTf(2)]), [Co(NTf(2))(2)] is reduced under 5.5 MPa of H(2)-CO to [Co(2)(CO)(8)] prior to [HCo(CO)(4)], provided a pyridine ligand is present in the medium.

The acidity scale of different Brønsted acids in ionic liquids such as [BMIM][NTf2], [BMIM][BF4], and [BMMIM][BF4] has been investigated by determination of Hammett functions, using a spectrophotometric indicator method. This scale should permit one to correlate the acidity strength of ionic liquid systems with their ability to achieve acid-catalyzed reactions.

International audience; Bis(aminophoshonium) salts derived from bis(diphenylphosphino)methane were prepared and triply deprotonated with potassium hexamethyldisilazane to yield the corresponding bis(iminophosphoranyl)methanides, which were then subjected to coordination with CrIIICl3(THF)3. Binuclear complexes of type [(HC(PPh2NR)2Cr(-Cl)(Cl))2] (R = iPr, tBu) with an octahedral coordination geometry and a long C–Cr bond were obtained and structurally characterized. In the case of R = o-MeO-C6H4, a monomeric species featuring no C–Cr bond is observed. Preliminary evaluation of catalytic activities of these complexes in ethylene oligomerization and polymerization is reported.

The Bronsted acidity level was evaluated for several ionic liquids ([BMIm][BF 4 ], [BMIm][PF 6] , [BMIm][SbF 6 ], [BMim][OTf], [BMIm][NTf 2 ], [HNET 3][ NTf 2] , and [HBIm][NTf 2 ]) to which a strong acid, such as HNTf 2 [NTf 2 = N(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 ] and HOTf (OTf = CF 3 SO 3 ), has been added. The main purpose is to tentatively measure the influence on the resulting acidity of (i) the solvent anion or cation structure and (ii) the added acid nature. The evaluation method is based on the determination of the Hammett acidity functions H 0 using UV/visible spectroscopy. The acidity of protons is mainly determined by their solvation state, and consequently, the properties of protons depend on both the nature of the solvent and the nature and concentration of the acid. In practice, for the investigated ionic liquids, the cation as well as the added acid nature does not play a dominant role, whereas changing the anion nature may lead to very different acidities. Indeed, for a similar content of added acid, the measured acidity levels are in the order PF6 > BF - 4 > NTf - 2 > OTf - . The problems of the influence of impurities on the final acidity and of the dissociating character of the ionic liquid are addressed.

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Quantification of impurities in ionic liquids is a crucial task in assessing the reliability of physical constants and solvent properties: taking into account the particularities of the ionic matrix, a simple routine method using capillary electrophoresis (CE) is developed to determine the halide content at the ppm level in water-immiscible ionic liquids.