Developments of new catalytic transformations by using earth-abundant metal (base-metal) catalysts have played a significant role in modern civilization and will continue to play a vital role towards maintaining and improving our quality of life. Particularly, these transformations have had a tremendous impacts on the agricultural, transport, energy, and pharmaceutical sectors. This field of base-metal catalysis would enjoy added benefits with the utilization of sustainable feedstock carbon sources for fine chemical synthesis. However, the dual problems of activation of thermodynamically stable precursors (ethylene, CO2, H2, CO, aldehydes, acrylates, HCN) and their highly stereoselective incorporation into other readily available substrates (1,3-dienes, alkynes, enynes) pose new challenges. In a nutshell, the development of benign catalysts for employing sustainable feedstock starting materials has the potential to transform inexpensive materials into valuable precursors for fine chemical synthesis.
My dissertation work focuses on the development of scalable, atom-economical, and cost-effective catalytic methods for the preparation of value-added products relevant to fine chemicals. The overarching aims are to use sustainable feedstocks or readily available precursors, and environmentally benign chemistry. To achieve these goals, three efficient catalytic methods have been developed which employ complexes of an earth-abundant metal, cobalt, with ligands derived from naturally occurring amino acids or commercially available bis-phosphine ligands. The key to success was a systematic ligands investigation that inspired the design and synthesis of novel ligands to achieve high chemo-, regio-, and enantioselectivities.
In the first methodology, a broadly applicable method affecting [2+2] cycloaddition between several alkynes and alkenyl derivatives to form cyclobutenes has been disclosed. A library of >70 nearly enantiopure cyclobutenes, which are ubiquitous motifs in bioactive compounds, have been synthesized in excellent yields. In the second methodology, ligand controlled regio-divergent enantioselective synthesis of primary and secondary homoallylic boronates (>50 examples) from readily available 1,3-dienes and a common boron reagent have been developed. Furthermore, the hydrofunctionalization of 1,3-dienes program has been extended to unprecedented enantioselective hydroacylation of 1,3-dienes. This method opens a realm to achieve the synthesis of enantiopure alpha- or beta-chiral center containing ketones.
In all the mentioned transformations above, cationic Co(I)- species has been invoked as an active catalyst. To further corroborate the role of cationic Co(I)-complexes, a reliable protocol has been developed to synthesize, isolate discrete neutral and cationic Co(I)-complexes and characterized by X-ray crystallography. These isolated cationic complexes serve as an excellent single-component catalyst for heterodimerization, hydroboration, and hydroacylation, suggesting the key role of cationic Co(I)-complexes in these transformations.
While developing these efficient methodologies, striking ligand, counterion, and solvent effects have been revealed along with a unique role of a cationic Co(I) intermediate in the reactions which advanced novel fundamental concepts. We believe that these cationic Co(I) complexes have broader utility in homogeneous catalysis. We hope that the rational evolution of a mechanism-based strategy that led to the eventual successful outcome and the attendant support studies will add to the burgeoning organometallic chemistry of cobalt and its applications with further implications beyond the synthetic reactions described in this dissertation.