Highly active and recyclable heterogeneous iridium pincer catalysts for transfer dehydrogenation of alkanes

Pincer-ligated iridium complexes have proven to be highly effective catalysts for the dehydrogenation and transfer-dehydrogenation of alkanes. Immobilization onto a solid support offers significant potential advantages in the application of such catalysts particularly with respect to catalyst separation and recycling. We describe three approaches toward such immobilization: (i) covalent attachment to a Merrifield resin, (ii) covalent bonding to silica via a pendant alkoxysilane group, and (iii) adsorption on γ-alumina (γ-Al₂O₃), through basic functional groups on the para-position of the pincer ligand. The simplest of these approaches, adsorption on γ-Al₂O₃, is also found to be the most effective, yielding catalysts that are robust, recyclable, and comparable to or even more active than the corresponding species in solution. Spectroscopic evidence (NMR, IR) and studies of catalytic activity support the hypothesis that binding occurs at the para-substituent and that this has only a relatively subtle and indirect influence on catalytic behavior.