A Cp‐based Molybdenum Catalyst for the Deoxydehydration of Biomass‐derived Diols

Dioxo‐molybdenum complexes have been reported as catalysts for the deoxydehydration (DODH) of diols and polyols. Here, we report on the DODH of diols using [Cp*MoO2]2O as catalyst (Cp*=1,2,3,4,5‐pentamethylcyclopentadienyl). The DODH reaction was optimized using 2 mol % of [Cp*MoO2]2O, 1.1 equiv. of PPh3 as reductant, and anisole as solvent. Aliphatic vicinal diols are converted to the corresponding olefins by [Cp*MoO2]2O in up to 65 % yield (representing over 30 turnovers per catalyst) and 91 % olefin selectivity, which rivals the performance of other Mo‐based DODH catalysts. Remarkably, cis‐1,2‐cyclohexanediol, which is known as quite a challenging substrate for DODH catalysis, is converted to 30 % of 1‐cyclohexene under optimized reaction conditions. Overall, the mass balances (up to 79 %) and TONs per Mo achievable with [Cp*MoO2]2O are amongst the highest reported for molecular Mo‐based DODH catalysts. A number of experiments aimed at providing insight in the reaction mechanism of [Cp*MoO2]2O have led to the proposal of a catalytic pathway in which the [Cp*MoO2]2O catalyst reacts with the diol substrate to form a putative nonsymmetric dimeric diolate species, which is reduced in the next step at only one of its Mo‐centers before extrusion of the olefin product. Biomass conversion: [Cp*MoO2]2O is reported as catalyst for the deoxydehydration of (biomass‐derived) vicinal diols, providing reasonable yields and mass balances.