A Bis(phosphaethenyl)pyridine Complex of Iridium(I): Synthesis and Catalytic Application to N-Alkylation of Amines with Alcohols

The iridium(I) complex [IrCl(BPEP-H)] (1), coordinated with 2,6-bis[2-(2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenyl)-2-phosphaethenyl]pyridine (BPEP-H) as a PNP-pincer-type phosphaalkene ligand, has been synthesized and fully characterized by elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Complex 1 (1 mol %) catalyzes N-alkylation of primary and secondary amines with alcohols, leading to the selective formation of secondary and tertiary amines, respectively. Primary amines are smoothly alkylated with a variety of benzylic and aliphatic alcohols (1 or 3 equiv) at 100 degrees C under basic conditions (CsOH, 10 mol %) to give the corresponding secondary amines in good to high yields. On the other hand, N-alkylation of secondary amines with benzyl alcohol (3 equiv) proceeds in the presence of KH2PO4 (5 mol %) at 140 degrees C to afford tertiary amines in high yields.