Highly active, separable and recyclable bipyridine iridium catalysts for C-H borylation reactions

Iridium complexes generated from Ir(I) precursors and PIB oligomer functionalized bpy ligands efficiently catalyzed the reactions of arenes with bis(pinacolato) diboron under mild conditions to produce a variety of arylboronate compounds. The activity of this PIB bound homogeneous catalyst is similar to that of an original non-recyclable catalyst which allows it to be used under milder conditions than other reported recyclable catalysts. This oligomer-supported Ir catalyst was successfully recovered through biphasic extraction and reused for eight cycles without a loss of activity. Biphasic separation after the initial use of the catalyst led to an insignificant amount of iridium leaching from the catalyst to the product, and no iridium leaching from the catalyst was observed in the subsequent recycling runs. Arylboronate products obtained after extraction are sufficiently pure as observed by H-1 and C-13-NMR spectroscopy that they do not require further purification.