A new and selective cycle for dehydrogenation of linear and cyclic alkanes under mild conditions using a base metal

Selectively converting linear alkanes to alpha-olefins under mild conditions is a highly desirable transformation given the abundance of alkanes as well as the use of olefins as building blocks in the chemical community. Until now, this reaction has been primarily the remit of noble-metal catalysts, despite extensive work showing that base-metal alkylidenes can mediate the reaction in a stoichiometric fashion. Here, we show how the presence of a hydrogen acceptor, such as the phosphorus ylide, when combined with the alkylidene complex (PNP)Ti=(CHBu)-Bu-t(CH3) (PNP=N[2-P(CHMe2)(2)-4-methylphenyl](2)(-)), catalyses the dehydrogenation of cycloalkanes to cyclic alkenes, and linear alkanes with chain lengths of C-4 to C-8 to terminal olefins under mild conditions. This Article represents the first example of a homogeneous and selective alkane dehydrogenation reaction using a base-metal titanium catalyst. We also propose a unique mechanism for the transfer dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons to olefins and discuss a complete cycle based on a combined experimental and computational study.