N,N′-Bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diamine: a promising reducing agent for organic synthesis
摘要
The reactivity of N,N′-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)acenaphthylene-1,2-diarnine (dpp-bianH2, 1) toward air oxygen and various quinones has been studied. An exposure of a THF solution of 1 to air oxygen at ambient temperature affords immediately H2O2 (>97% according to NMR data) together with the dehydrogenated product: 1,2-bis[(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imino]acenaphthene (dpp-bian). The reaction of diamine 1 with 3,6-di-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone depends on stoichiometry: the stable hydroxyphenoxyl radical (semiquinone, 3,6-QH•) is formed at the 1: 2 ratio of the reactants, while pyrocatechol (3,6-QH2) is formed in 92% yield (according to NMR data) at the 1: 1 ratio. The reduction of p-benzoquinone with diamine 1 also proceeds easily to give hydroquinone (93%), whereas anthraquinone remains inert toward diamine 1 under analogous conditions. In turn, acenaphthenequinone reacts with diamine 1 via reduction of only one C=O group to yield 2-hydroxyacenaphthylen-1(2H)-one (89%). The calculated narrow (2.20 eV) HOMO—LUMO gap in diamine 1 is consistent with its experimentally observed absorption (526 nm). A high electron-donating ability of compound 1 is due to a low ionization potential (calculated value 5.35 eV).