Fluorous biphasic hydrogenation of 1-alkenes using novel fluorous derivatives of Wilkinson's catalyst

Abstract

A novel approach for the easy attachment of fluorous tails to aryl phospines has been developed, leading to a new fluorous alkylsilyl-substituted triaryl phospines P(C 6H 4SiMe 2R f-4) 3(R f=-(CH 2) 2(CF 2) n CF 3; n=5, 7). The derived fluorous tris(aryl phospine)rhodium(I) chloride complexes, being fluorous analogs of Wilkinson's catalyst, show high activity in hydrogeneration of 1-alkenes under fluorous biphasic (FBS) conditions and can be effectively recycled.