phinoethane) seemed mainly to stabilize intermediates, and often the catalytic reactions were slower when dppe was used instead of the most common monodentate triphenylphosphine. We will briefly review the history of “ligand effects” in catalysis before discussing a range of reactions for which a notable effect has been observed. It has taken quite some time before the positive effect that bidentates can have on selectivities and rates of catalytic reactions was fully recognized. Most of the established examples of bite angle effects involve diphosphine ligands. Therefore, many important catalysts containing a chelate ligand such as bipyridine and diimine will fall outside the scope of this review. The connecting bridge in these bidentates does play a dominant role in the performance of these catalysts, but systematic studies have not been published. The effects of phosphine ligands in catalysis have been known for quite some time. One of the first reports involves the use of triphenylphosphine in the “Reppe” chemistry, the reactions of alkynes, alcohols, and carbon monoxide.1 It was found that formation of acrylic esters was much more efficient using NiBr2(PPh3)2 than NiBr2 without ligand. In the commercial system, though, a phosphine-free catalyst is used. While the reaction was not yet understood mechanistically, the use of phosphines in catalysis attracted the attention of the petrochemical industry worldwide. An early example of a phosphine ligand modified catalytic process is the Shell process for alkene hydroformylation using a cobalt catalyst containing a trialkylphoshine.2 The reaction requires higher temperatures, but it leads to more linear product as compared to the unmodified catalyst. The general mechanism of the hydroformylation reaction has been known for a long time.3 Hydrocyanation as used by Du Pont is another early example of an industrially applied catalytic reaction employing ligands.4 It is a nickel-catalyzed reaction in which aryl phosphite ligands are used for the production of adiponitrile. The development of this process has played a key role in the introduction of the now very common study of “ligand effects” in the field of homogeneous catalysis by organometallic complexes.5 While several industries were working on new homogeneous catalysts, important contributions to the new field were made in academia in the early 1960s with the appearance of the first phosphinemodified hydrogenation catalysts. An early example of a phosphine-free ruthenium catalyst was published by Halpern.6 Triphenylphosphine-modified platinumtin catalysts for the hydrogenation of alkenes were reported by Cramer from Du Pont in 1963.7 In the same year Breslow (Hercules) included a few phosFigure 1. Bite angle: The ligand-metal-ligand angle of bidentate ligands. 2741 Chem. Rev. 2000, 100, 2741−2769

Ligand Bite Angle Effects in Metal-catalyzed C−C Bond Formation

α-Arylated carbonyl compounds are commonly occurring motifs in biologically interesting molecules and are therefore of high interest to the pharmaceutical industry. Conventional procedures for their synthesis often result in complications in scale-up, such as the use of stoichiometric amounts of toxic reagents and harsh reaction conditions. Over the last decade, significant efforts have been directed towards the development of metal-catalyzed α-arylations of carbonyl compounds as an alternative synthetic approach that operates under milder conditions. This Review summarizes the developments in this area to date, with a focus on how the substrate scope has been expanded through selection of the most appropriate synthetic method, such as the careful choice of ligands, precatalysts, bases, and reaction conditions.

Metal-catalyzed alpha-arylation of carbonyl and related molecules: novel trends in C-C bond formation by C-H bond functionalization.

Catalytic reactions of C–C and C–X bond formation are discussed in this critical review with particular emphasis on cross coupling reactions catalyzed by palladium and wide bite angle bidentate diphosphine ligands. Especially those studies have been collected that allow comparison of the ligand bite angles for the selected ligands: dppp, BINAP, dppf, DPEphos and Xantphos. Similarities with hydrocyanation and CO/ethene/MeOH reactions have been highlighted, while rhodium hydroformylation has been mentioned as a contrasting example, in which predictability is high and steric and electronic effects follow smooth trends. In palladium catalysis wide bite angles and bulkiness of the ligands facilitate generally the reductive elimination thus giving more efficient cross coupling catalysis (174 references).

Bite angle effects of diphosphines in C-C and C-X bond forming cross coupling reactions.

The reactivity of organotransition metal complexes is dependent on the ligand environment of the metal. This Account describes the development and application of new diphosphine ligands, designed to induce large P−M−P angles in transition metal complexes. Aided by computational chemistry, a homologous range of diphosphines based on rigid heterocyclic aromatic backbones of the xanthene-type with natural bite angles of ∼100−134° have been developed. The special structure of the ligands has an enormous impact on stability and reactivity of various transition metal complexes. Highly active and selective catalysts have been obtained by influencing this reactivity.

Wide bite angle diphosphines: xantphos ligands in transition metal complexes and catalysis.

Applications of ionic liquids to replace conventional solvents in homogeneous transition-metal catalysis have increased significantly during the last decade. Biphasic ionic liquid/organic liquid systems offer advantages with regard to product separation, catalyst stability, and recycling but utilise in the case of fast chemical reactions only a small amount of expensive ionic liquid and catalyst. The novel Supported Ionic Liquid Phase (SILP) catalysis concept overcomes these drawbacks and allows the use of fixed-bed reactors for continuous reactions. In this Microreview the SILP catalysis concept is surveyed by presenting results for the continuous gas-phase hydroformylation of propene, as a reaction example. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006)

G.C. Schoemaker

Papers

Origin of the Bite Angle Effect in Rhodium Diphosphine Catalyzed Hydroformylation.

In situ mechanistic studies in rhodium catalyzed hydroformylation of alkenes

Photochemistry of piperidine pentacarbonyl complexes of the Group 6B metals isolated in an argon matrix at 10 K

Magnesium ion mediated protonation of imines in acetonitrile

Photochemistry of Cr(CO)5PMe3 in Ar and CH4 Matrices at 10 K