Rare-Earth Supported Nickel Catalysts for Alkyne Semihydrogenation: Chemo- and Regioselectivity Impacted by the Lewis Acidity and Size of the Support.

Bimetallic catalysts of nickel(0) with a trivalent rare-earth ion or Ga(III), NiML3 (where L is [iPr2PCH2NPh]-, and M is Sc, Y, La, Lu, or Ga), were investigated for the selective hydrogenation of diphenylacetylene (DPA) to (E)-stilbene. Each bimetallic complex features a relatively short Ni-M bond length, ranging from 2.3395(8) Å (Ni-Ga) to 2.5732(4) Å (Ni-La). The anodic peak potentials of the NiML3 complexes vary from -0.48 V to -1.23 V, where the potentials are negatively correlated with the Lewis acidity of the M(III) ion. Three catalysts, Ni-Y, Ni-Lu, and Ni-Ga, showed nearly quantitative conversions in the semihydrogenation of DPA, with NiYL3 giving the highest selectivity for (E)-stilbene. Initial rate studies were performed on the two tandem catalytic reactions: DPA hydrogenation and (Z)-stilbene isomerization. The catalytic activity in DPA hydrogenation follows the order Ni-Ga > Ni-La > Ni-Y > Ni-Lu > Ni-Sc. The ranking of catalysts by (Z)-stilbene isomerization initial rates is Ni-Ga ≫ Ni-Sc > Ni-Lu > Ni-Y > Ni-La. In operando 31P and 1H NMR studies revealed that in the presence of DPA, the Ni bimetallic complexes supported by Y, Lu, and La form the Ni(η2-alkyne) intermediate, (η2-PhC≡CPh)Ni(iPr2PCH2NPh)2M(κ2-iPr2PCH2NPh). In contrast, the Ni-Ga resting state is the Ni(η2-H2) species, and Ni-Sc showed no detectable binding of either substrate. Hence, the mechanism of Ni-catalyzed diphenylacetylene semihydrogenation adheres to two different kinetics: an autotandem pathway (Ni-Ga, Ni-Sc) versus temporally separated tandem reactions (Ni-Y, Ni-Lu, Ni-La). Collectively, the experimental results demonstrate that modulating a base-metal center via a covalently appended Lewis acidic support is viable for promoting selective alkyne semihydrogenation.