Air-Stable Half-Sandwich Iridium Complexes as Aerobic Oxidation Catalysts for Imine Synthesis

Several N,O-coordinate half-sandwich iridium complexes, 1-5, containing constrained bulky β-enaminoketonato ligands were prepared and clearly characterized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction characterization of these complexes indicates that the iridium center adopts a distorted octahedral geometry. Complexes 1-5 showed good catalytic efficiency in the oxidative homocoupling of primary amines, dehydrogenation of secondary amines, and the oxidative cross-coupling of amines and alcohols, which furnished various types of imines in good yields and high selectivities using O₂ as an oxidant under mild conditions. No distinctive substituent effects of the iridium catalysts were observed in these reactions. The diverse catalytic activity, broad substrate scope, mild reaction conditions, and high yields of the products made this catalytic system attractive in industrial processes.