Organometallic Iridium Complexes of (Z)-1-Phenyl-2-(4′,4′-dimethyl-2′-oxazolin-2′-yl)-eth-1-en-1-ate: Structural Aspects, Reactivity and Applications in the Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Alkanes

The treatment of [IrCl(cod)](2) with (Z)-1-phenyl-2-(4',4'-dimethyl-2'-oxazolin-2'-yl)-eth-1-en-1-ol (HL) in the presence of base yields the first Ir complex of this ligand class: Ir(kappa(2)-N,O-L)(cod) (3). Complex 3 is reactive with MeI or HSnPh3 to yield the oxidative addition products 4 (trans-Ir(Me)I(kappa(2)-N,O-L)(cod)) and 5 (cis-IrH(SnPh3)(kappa(2)-N,O-L)(cod)), respectively. All three of these derivatives have been fully characterised including via single crystal X-ray diffraction data. Complex 3 is generally resistant to cod ligand substitution but shown to be reactive with CO (g) to give Ir(kappa(2)-N,O-L)(CO)(2) (6). In addition, 3 is demonstrated to be a dehydrogenation catalyst for the conversion of C8H16 into cyclooctene and H-2 under acceptor-free conditions.