Alkyl and alkenyl arenes are converted to a range of products, including plastics, elastomers, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. Alkyl and alkenyl arenes are produced on a large scale using initial acid-based catalysis for arene alkylation such as Brønsted acid-based or zeolite-based catalysts. The acid-catalyzed methods for arene alkylation have drawbacks that result from the mechanism including: 1) synthesis of 1-aryl alkanes (<i>i.e.</i>, anti-Markovnikov products) is not viable, 2) alkylated arenes have increased reactivity toward acid-catalyzed alkylation compared to starting arene, which often results in polyalkylation, and 3) the acid-based catalytic process generates only saturated alkyl arene products and cannot be used to directly synthesize unsaturated alkenyl arenes. Transition metal-mediated arene alkylation or alkenylation using unactivated olefins and arene substrates that proceeds by arene C–H activation and olefin insertion into metal-aryl bonds offers opportunities to overcome these limitations. Rh(I), Ir(I), and Pd(II) complexes are demonstrated to be catalyst precursors for benzene alkenylation by a non-acid catalyzed mechanism. This presentation will focus on new progress in alkenylation of benzene catalyzed by these d<sup>8</sup> transition metal complexes including development of new synthetic processes and elucidation of mechanistic details.

Study of alkenylation of benzene using Rh(I), Ir(I) and Pd(II) catalyst precursors

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.