Half-Sandwich Iridium Complexes for the One-Pot Synthesis of Amides: Preparation, Structure, and Diverse Catalytic Activity.

Several types of air-stable N,O-coordinate half-sandwich iridium complexes containing Schiff base ligands with the general formula [Cp*IrClL] were synthesized in good yields. These stable iridium complexes displayed a good catalytic efficiency in amide synthesis. A variety of amides with different substituents were obtained in a one-pot procedure with excellent yields and high selectivities through the amidation of aldehydes with NH2OH·HCl and nitrile hydration under the catalysis of complexes 1-4. The excellent and diverse catalytic activity, mild conditions, broad substance scope, and environmentally friendly solvent make this system potentially applicable in industrial production. Half-sandwich iridium complexes 1-4 were characterized by NMR, elemental analysis, and IR techniques. Molecular structures of complexes 2 and 3 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray analysis.