Not much progress has been made to identify alternate ways to hydrogenate olefins using less expensive homogeneous catalysts. A more sustainable way to hydrogenate olefins to alkanes could be achieved through the development of homogeneous nickel complexes to serve as catalysts. Work in this group is focused on the synthesis of nickel complexes to catalyze the hydrogenation of olefins. Eight new cationic (?-allyl)nickel complexes containing a pendent phosphonate group and either 2-bromobenzonitrile or triphenylphosphine ligands and different non-coordinating counteranions have been synthesized using a convenient one-pot method. The complexes were characterized by 1H, 31P, and 13C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Progress towards the synthesis and characterization of the complexes and preliminary results evaluating the isomerization of 1-pentene with each complex are described.

One-pot synthesis and characterization of new cationic (?-allyl)Ni(II) complexes containing pendent alkylphosphonate groups

247th National Meeting (2014)

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