Formal Decarbonylation of 1,2-Diketones Enabled by Synergistic Catalysis of Lewis Acid–Base Pairs and Redox Properties in CeO <sub>2</sub>
Takehiro Matsuyama, Takafumi Yatabe, Kazuya Yamaguchi
Abstract
Various decarbonylation reactions via oxidative addition of carbonyl compounds to metal catalysts can be applied to late-stage modification and have been actively studied to date; however, several inherent problems derived from the oxidative addition are difficult to solve, such as toxic CO production, deactivation of catalysts by CO adsorption, intolerance of some functional groups, or air-sensitivity of catalysts. In this context, formal decarbonylation, which eliminates CO as other compounds without involving oxidative addition, is attractive but hardly reported, especially using heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, formal decarbonylation of diaryl 1,2-diketones to afford monoketones using CeO 2 as a reusable heterogeneous catalyst and O 2 in the air as the terminal oxidant was developed, generating CO 2 as the only byproduct. The results revealed that the reaction was enabled by the synergistic catalytic effect of the Lewis acid–base pairs and redox properties in CeO 2 .