Metal Identity Effects in the Pincer Complex-Catalyzed Dehydrogenative Coupling of Formamides with Alcohols to Form Carbamates

Abstract

This manuscript describes the impact of metal (ruthenium versus iron versus manganese) on the PNP pincer complex-catalyzed dehydrogenative coupling of formamides with alcohols to yield carbamates. Studies are conducted to compare the structure and reactivity of key organometallic intermediates as a function of metal. These reveal that all three pincer catalysts undergo fast reaction with isocyanates (the initial organic products of formamide dehydrogenation) to form off-cycle metallacyclic species. However, the structures and reactivities of these intermediates vary as a function of metal. The N-bound isomer of the metallacycle is formed with Fe (literature) and Ru (this work), while both O-bound (kinetic) and N-bound (thermodynamic) metallacycles are observed with Mn (this work). At 100 °C, the O-bound Mn cycloadduct reacts rapidly with cyclohexanol to release the pincer catalyst along with the corresponding carbamate. In contrast, all three of the N-bound metallacycles show dramatically lower reactivity toward catalyst regeneration under analogous conditions. The reactivity of the pincer complexes toward formamide dehydrogenation also varies as a function of metal, with Ru and Fe ≫ Mn at 100 °C. Overall, the Mn pincer complex is an effective catalyst for the conversion of a variety of formamides and alcohols to carbamates at 150 °C with catalyst loadings as low as 1 mol %. The catalyst performance and substrate scope are comparable to those of the Fe analogue.