Intramolecular hydroamination of unactivated alkenes with secondary alkylamines catalyzed by iridium phosphino–phenolate complexes

The phosphino–phenolate complex (κ2-{2-i-Pr2PC6H4}O)Ir(COD) (COD = η4-1,5-cyclooctadiene; 1) is shown to be an effective precatalyst for the intramolecular hydroamination of unactivated alkenes with pendant secondary alkylamines, providing either pyrrolidine or piperidine heterocycles in high isolated yields. While monitoring the progress of a selected test reaction of this type, a significant induction period (~3 h) was observed; variable-temperature 1H and 31P NMR studies (25–100 °C) under catalytically relevant conditions revealed no new metal-containing species. In an effort to develop an enantiopure variant of 1, a synthetic route to the chiral (κ2-P,O)Ir(COD) complex (7), which features a 1-aryl-2,5-dialkylphospholane structure derived from (2S,5S)-2,5-hexanediol cyclic sulfate, was developed. The structure of 7 was confirmed by use of single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. While 7 failed to provide enantioselectivity in the intramolecular hydroamination of unactivated alkenes with pendant secondary alkylamines, the activity of 7 was found to be comparable to that of 1.