Catalyst Comparison for Additive-Free Acceptorless Dehydro­genation of Indoline Derivatives

Abstract

AbstractA group of thirteen catalysts of type [Ru(Cp/Cp*)(P–P)(MeCN)]PF6, bearing cooperative or noncooperative bidentate phosphine ligands, were evaluated for the catalytic acceptorless dehydrogenation of indoline. The systematic comparison revealed that the optimal cooperative catalyst structure included a Cp ancillary ligand, and an N,N-disubstituted P,P-disubstituted 1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane ligand, denoted as (PR 2NR′ 2). A cooperative complex bearing a PPh 2NPh 2 ligand exhibited about a twofold longer lifetime than a noncooperative analogue with (diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) as the supporting bisphosphine ligand. The cooperative catalyst effectively dehydrogenated a range of indoline substrates to give substituted indoles.