Catalytic Deoxygenation of Nitroarenes Mediated by High-Valent Molybdenum(VI)–NHC Complexes

The high-valent molybdenum­(VI) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes, (NHC)­MoO2 (1) and (NHC)­MoO­(NtBu) (2) (NHC = 1,3-bis­(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-phenolato)-benzimidazol-2-ylidene), are investigated toward their catalytic potential in the deoxygenation of nitroarenes. Using pinacol as the sacrificial and green reductant, both complexes are shown to be very active (pre)­catalysts for this transformation allowing a reduction of the catalyst loading down to 0.25 mol %. Mechanistic investigations show μ-oxo bridged molybdenum­(V) complexes [(NHC)­MoO]2O (4) and [(NHC)­Mo­(NtBu)]2O (5) as well as zwitterionic pinacolate benzimidazolium complex 6, with a doubly protonated NHC ligand, to be potentially active species in the catalytic cycle. Both 4 and 5 can be prepared independently by the deoxygenation of 1 and 2 using triethyl phosphine (PEt3) or triphenyl phosphine (PPh3) and were shown to exhibit an unusual multireferenced ground state with a very small singlet–triplet gap at room temperature. Computational studies show that the spin state plays an unneglectable role in the catalytic process, efficiently lowering the reaction barrier of the deoxygenation step. Mechanistic details, putting special emphasis on the fate of the catalyst will be presented and potential routes how nitroarene reduction is facilitated are evaluated.