Diversion of Catalytic C–N Bond Formation to Catalytic Oxidation of NH 3 through Modification of the Hydrogen Atom Abstractor
We report that (TMP)Ru(NH 3 ) 2 (TMP = tetramesitylporphryin) is a molecular catalyst for oxidation of ammonia to dinitrogen. An aryloxy radical, tri-tert-butylphenoxyl (ArO•) abstracts H atoms from a bound ammonia ligand of (TMP)Ru(NH 3 ) 2 , leading to the discovery of a new catalytic C-N coupling to the para position of ArO•, forming 4-amino-2,4,6-tri-tert-butylcyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one. Modification of the aryloxy radical to contain a trityl group at the para position, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-tritylphenoxyl radical, prevents C-N coupling and diverts the reaction to catalytic oxidation of ammonia to give N 2 . We achieve 125(±5) turnovers at 22 °C for oxidation of NH 3 , the highest reported to date for a molecular catalyst.