Dehydrocoupling of dimethylamine–borane promoted by manganese(ii) m-terphenyl complexes

Abstract

Two- and three-coordinate manganese m-terphenyl complexes are precatalysts for the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine–borane (Me₂NH·BH₃) affording one equivalent of molecular hydrogen and half an equivalent of [Me₂N–BH₂]₂. Experimental studies into the nature of the catalyst indicate that small changes in the coordination environment give rise to significant differences in the reaction mechanism, occurring through a homogeneous mechanism for two-coordinate precatalysts, whilst for the three-coordinate species a heterogeneous mechanism takes place where nanoparticles are responsible for the catalysis.