Improved Catalytic Activity of Ruthenium–Arene Complexes in the Reduction of NAD+

J.J. Soldevila-Barreda, P.C.A. Bruijnincx, A. Habtemariam, G.J. Clarkson, R.J. Deeth, Peter J. Sadler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

A series of neutral RuII half-sandwich complexes of the type [(η6-arene)Ru(N,N′)Cl] where the arene is para-cymene (p-cym), hexamethylbenzene (hmb), biphenyl (bip), or benzene (bn) and N,N′ is N-(2-aminoethyl)-4-(trifluoromethyl)benzenesulfonamide (TfEn), N-(2-aminoethyl)-4-toluenesulfonamide (TsEn), or N-(2-aminoethyl)methylenesulfonamide (MsEn) were synthesized and characterized. X-ray crystal structures of [(p-cym)Ru(MsEn)Cl] (1), [(hmb)Ru(TsEn)Cl] (5), [(hmb)Ru(TfEn)Cl] (6), [(bip)Ru(MsEn)Cl] (7), and [(bip)Ru(TsEn)Cl] (8) have been determined. The complexes can regioselectively catalyze the transfer hydrogenation of NAD+ to give 1,4-NADH in the presence of formate. The turnover frequencies (TOF) when the arene is varied decrease in the order bn > bip > p-cym > hmb for complexes with the same N,N′ chelating ligand. The TOF decreased with variation in the N,N′ chelating ligand in the order TfEn > TsEn > MsEn for a given arene. [(bn)Ru(TfEn)Cl] (12) was the most active, with a TOF of 10.4 h–1. The effects of NAD+ and formate concentration on the reaction rates were determined for [(p-cym)Ru(TsEn)Cl] (2). Isotope studies implicated the formation of [(arene)Ru(N,N′)(H)] as the rate-limiting step. The coordination of formate and subsequent CO2 elimination to generate the hydride were modeled computationally by density functional theory (DFT). CO2 elimination occurs via a two-step process with the coordinated formate first twisting to present its hydrogen toward the metal center. The computed barriers for CO2 release for arene = benzene follow the order MsEn > TsEn > TfEn, and for the MsEn system the barrier followed bn <hmb, both consistent with the observed rates. The effect of methanol on transfer hydrogenation rates in aqueous solution was investigated. A study of pH dependence of the reaction in D2O gave the optimum pH* as 7.2 with a TOF of 1.58 h–1 for 2. The series of compounds reported here show an improvement in the catalytic activity by an order of magnitude compared to the ethylenediamine analogues.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5958-5967
Number of pages10
JournalOrganometallics
Volume31
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

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