Solubilized Lanthanide Triflates: Lewis Acid Catalysis by Polyether and Poly(ethylene glycol) Complexes of Ln(OTf)₃

Abstract

Complexes of lanthanide triflates Ln(OTf)3 with polyether (MeO(CH2CH2O)nMe) and poly(ethylene glycol) (HO(CH2CH2O)nH) ligands (n = 2−4) have been prepared and characterized, and the activity of these complexes as Lewis acid catalysts has been investigated. The complexes [Ln(OTf)3(HO(CH2CH2O)nH)] have been shown to catalyze the allylation of a range of aldehydes with allyltributylstannane, and the complexes [Ln(OTf)3(MeO(CH2CH2O)nMe)] catalyze the Diels−Alder addition of N-crotonyloxazolidinone to cyclopentadiene. The single-crystal X-ray structures of [Dy(OTf)2(H2O)2(MeO(CH2CH2O)4Me)][OTf] and [La(OTf)3(THF)(HO(CH2CH2O)4H)] are reported.