Directing Selectivity to Aldehydes, Alcohols, or Esters with Diphobane Ligands in Pd-Catalyzed Alkene Carbonylations

Phenylene-bridged diphobane ligands with different substituents (CF3, H, OMe, (OMe)2, tBu) have been synthesized and applied as ligands in palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reactions of various alkenes. The performance of these ligands in terms of selectivity in hydroformylation versus alkoxycarbonylation has been studied using 1-hexene, 1-octene, and methyl pentenoates as substrates, and the results have been compared with the ethylene-bridged diphobane ligand (BCOPE). Hydroformylation of 1-octene in the protic solvent 2-ethyl hexanol results in a competition between hydroformylation and alkoxycarbonylation, whereby the phenylene-bridged ligands, in particular, the trifluoromethylphenylene-bridged diphobane L1 with an electron-withdrawing substituent, lead to ester products via alkoxycarbonylation, whereas BCOPE gives predominantly alcohol products (n-nonanol and isomers) via reductive hydroformylation. The preference of BCOPE for reductive hydroformylation is also seen in the hydroformylation of 1-hexene in diglyme as the solvent, producing heptanol as the major product, whereas phenylene-bridged ligands show much lower activities in this case. The phenylene-bridged ligands show excellent performance in the methoxycarbonylation of 1-octene to methyl nonanoate, significantly better than BCOPE, the opposite trend seen in hydroformylation activity with these ligands. Studies on the hydroformylation of functionalized alkenes such as 4-methyl pentenoate with phenylene-bridged ligands versus BCOPE showed that also in this case, BCOPE directs product selectivity toward alcohols, while phenylene-bridge diphobane L2 favors aldehyde formation. In addition to ligand effects, product selectivities are also determined by the nature and the amount of the acid cocatalyst used, which can affect substrate and aldehyde hydrogenation as well as double bond isomerization.