Rhodium(III) porphyrin β-hydroxyethyl, Rh III (ttp)CH 2 CH 2 OH (ttp = 5,10,15,20-tetratolylporphyrinato dianion), was found to serve as a precursor of the highly reactive Rh III (ttp)OH for the C(CO)−C(α) bond activation (CCA) of ketones under mild and aerobic conditions of 25−50°C.
■ INTRODUCTIONCarbon−carbon bond activation (CCA) has attracted much research interest in recent decades, as it is a fundamentally important step in organic syntheses and industrial applications. 1−4 Selective CCA is challenging, as the carbon−carbon bonds in organic compounds are kinetically less accessible than the surrounding carbon−hydrogen bonds. In the past, examples of selective CCA of organic compounds were achieved with the utilization of low-valent transition-metal complexes via oxidative addition. 2−4 In contrast, CCA by high-valent transition-metal complexes was less reported, since electronically less accessible high-valent transition-metal intermediates from oxidative addition would be involved. 5 We recently reported that high-valent rhodium(III) and iridium(III) porphyrins cleave the C(CO)−C(α) bonds of ketones with the assistance of water at 200°C. 6,7 Initially, rhodium(III) and iridium(III) porphyrins catalyze the aldol condensation of ketones, giving water as a byproduct. The water that forms hydrolyzes the α-carbon−hydrogen bond activation (α-CHA) product of ketones with rhodium(III) and iridium(III) porphyrin complexes (M III (ttp)CHRCOR′, M = Rh, Ir) to generate Rh III (ttp)OH and Ir III (ttp)OH, respectively (Scheme 1). Rh III (ttp)OH and Ir III (ttp)OH were thus proposed intermediates in cleaving the C(CO)−C(α) bonds of ketones through σ-bond metathesis and oxidization of the alkyl fragments. 6,7 In the metalloporphyrin-based CCA of ketones, some limitations exist. 6,7 (1) High reaction temperature is required for the generation of M III (ttp)OH (M = Rh, Ir). (2) The reaction generally requires over 10 days. (3) Solvent-free conditions limit the use of high-boiling substrates. (4) The extensive and competitive aldol condensation of ketones, catalyzed by Lewis acidic metalloporphyrins, converts a large amount of starting material into undesired products. 6−8 Hence, the aldol-condensable diethyl ketone gives a lower yield of CCA product with rhodium(III) porphyrins in a slow reaction (eq 1), 6 and cyclohexanone is unsuccessful. 9 (5) The proposed intermediate Rh III (ttp)OH is highly reactive but extremely thermally unstable toward decomposition to form [Rh II (ttp)] 2 and unknown rhodium porphyrin complexes. 10 Hence, a mild method to generate Rh III (ttp)OH would be desirable for the facile CCA of ketones.Indeed, mild and selective cleavage of the C(CO)−C(α) bond of isopropyl ketones was recently achieved at 50°C from the hydrolysis of Rh III (ttp)Me to give Rh III (ttp)OH. 6 However, the ketone substrate is limited to non-aldol-condensable isopropyl ketones, since their aldol reactions are reversible without extensive undesirable consumption of ketones.Rh III (ttp)CH 2 CH 2 OH (Figure 1) has been used as...