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Evaluation of Fe and Ru Pincer‐Type Complexes as Catalysts for the Racemization of Secondary Benzylic Alcohols
Author(s) -
Bornschein Christoph,
Gustafson Karl P. J.,
Verho Oscar,
Beller Matthias,
Bäckvall JanE.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201601793
Subject(s) - racemization , catalysis , pincer movement , chemistry , alcohol , organic chemistry , medicinal chemistry
Fe and Ru pincer‐type catalysts are used for the racemization of benzylic alcohols. Racemization with the Fe catalyst was achieved within 30 minutes under mild reaction conditions, with a catalyst loading as low as 2 mol %. This reaction constitutes the first example of an iron‐catalyzed racemization of an alcohol. The efficiency for racemization of the Fe catalyst and its Ru analogue was evaluated for a wide range of sec ‐benzylic alcohols. The commercially available Ru complex proved to be highly robust and even tolerated the presence of water in the reaction mixture.