Carbene insertion into N-H bonds with size-selectivity induced by a microporous ruthenium-porphyrin metal-organic...

A stable and porous porphyrinic metal-organic framework, Ru-PMOF-1(Hf), has been prepared through the self-assembly of [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrinato](monocarbonyl)ruthenium (Ru(TCPP)(CO)) and HfCl₄. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that Ru-PMOF-1(Hf) possesses a three-dimensional (3D) structure with orthogonal 1D open channels of 1.9 × 1.9 nm². The porous nature has been confirmed by gas adsorption measurements. Its catalytic activity for the carbene insertion into N-H bonds has been investigated. The catalytic results indicate that Ru-PMOF-1(Hf) is efficient for the insertion reactions of ethyl 2-diazoacetate (EDA) into a range of secondary amines with up to 92% yield, 938 TON and 2475 h^-1 TOF. As an excellent heterogeneous catalyst, Ru-PMOF-1(Hf) can be recovered and reused for at least ten runs with negligible loss of catalytic activity. Due to its uniform microporosity in three orthogonal directions, Ru-PMOF-1(Hf), of which the particle sizes were carefully controlled by sieving, can induce size selectivity regarding the amine substrates. The reactivities of different unbranched dialkylamines, such as diethylamine (NHEt₂), dibutylamine (NHBu₂) and dipentylamine (NHPent₂), have been compared, and the results display an apparent decreasing trend along the chain lengthening. For comparison, the corresponding nonporous and homogeneous catalyst Ru(TMCPP)(CO) (TMCPP = tetrakis(4-methoxycarbonylphenyl)porphyrin) displays negligible difference towards the reactions with these three amines.