The invention relates to monocarbonyl complexes of ruthenium and osmium with bi- and tridentate nitrogen and phosphine ligands. The invention relates to methods for preparing these complexes and the use of these complexes, isolated or prepared in situ, as catalysts for reduction reactions of ketones and aldehydes both via transfer hydrogenation or hydrogenation with hydrogen.

Describes herein are methods of using ruthenium complexes in base-free hydrogenation processes for the reduction of imines into the corresponding amines.

Processes to produce tunable mixtures of 1-hexene and 1-octene are described. The process includes contacting a mixture of a 1-hexene catalyst and a 1-octene catalyst with ethylene under conditions sufficient to produce a composition that includes a desired amount 1-hexene and 1-octene are described.

A method for preparing a homogenous catalyst for the production of linear alpha olefins includes: preparing a first pre-catalyst solution comprising a modifier and an organoaluminum compound in a first solvent wherein the first pre-catalyst solution is reacted and stored in a first vessel for a period of time of 1 hour to 90 days; preparing a second pre-catalyst solution comprising a second solvent, a ligand, and a chromium containing compound, wherein the second pre-catalyst solution is stored in a second vessel for a period of time of 1 hour to 90 days; and after a period of time, adding the first pre-catalyst solution to a catalyst pre-formation unit; after the same period of time, adding the second pre-catalyst solution to the catalyst pre-formation unit; forming a homogenous catalyst by mixing the first pre-catalyst solution and the second pre-catalyst solution; adding the homogeneous catalyst to a reaction vessel, wherein the reaction vessel comprises an alpha olefin; and forming the linear alpha olefin by mixing the homogeneous catalyst and the homogenous catalyst.

Chiral spirobiindane skeleton compound and preparation method thereof is disclosed in the present invention. The spirobiindane skeleton compound of the present invention having the structure formula of I or I′; the preparation method for synthesizing the spirobiindane skeleton compound of the present invention comprising the following steps: in the presence of solvent and catalysts, the structure formula compound III reacted through intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reaction to obtain the compound of formula I; the catalyst is a Browsteric acidor Lewis acid. The preparation method of chiral fused spirobiindane skeleton compound of the present invention does not need to adopt chiral starting materials or chiral resolving agents, does not require chiral resolving steps, is simple in method, is simple in post-treatment, and is economic and environment friendly. High product yield, high product optical purity and chemical purity. The catalyst for the asymmetric reaction is obtained from the chiral spirobiindane skeleton ligand of the present invention, under the catalytic reagent of transition metal, the catalyzed hydrogenation reaction can arrive at a remarkable catalytic effect with a product yield of >99%, and a product ee value of up to >99%. ##STR00001##

The present invention provides a novel cationic ruthenium complex which is easy to produce and handle and can be procured at a relatively low cost and a production method for the ruthenium complex, a method for producing an alcohol or the like using the ruthenium complex as a catalyst, a method for producing a carbonyl compound using the ruthenium complex as a catalyst, and a method for producing a N-alkylamine compound using the ruthenium complex as a catalyst. The present invention pertains to a ruthenium complex represented by general formula (1): [RuX(CO).sub.2(PNP)]Y (wherein, X represents a monovalent anionic monodentate ligand, Y represents a counter anion, PNP represents a tridentate ligand, and CO represents carbon monoxide), a production method for the ruthenium complex, a catalyst containing the ruthenium complex, and a production method for various organic compounds using the catalyst.

The invention provides a method comprising hydrogenating a ketone in the presence of (i) a base, (ii) hydrogen gas and (iii) a catalyst comprising a charged or neutral complex of formula (I):

##STR00001## wherein: Mn is a manganese atom or a manganese ion in oxidation state (I) to (VII); R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently optionally substituted C.sub.4-8monocyclic aryl or C.sub.3-7monocyclic heteroaryl moieties; -Fc- denotes a ferrocene (bis(η.sup.5-cyclopentadienyl)iron) moiety covalently bonded via adjacent carbon atoms of one of the two cyclopentadienyl moieties, and which may be optionally further substituted, in either cyclopentadienyl ring; —Z— is an alkylene linker of the formula —(CH.sub.2).sub.1-6— in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms of the alkylene may be independently substituted; —N.sup.x is an optionally substituted nitrogen-containing heteroaryl moiety, with the proviso that at least one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and —N.sup.x is substituted one or more times with an electron donating group; and L.sup.1-L.sup.3 constitute one, two or three ligands, wherein, when the complex of formula (I) is charged, the catalyst comprises one or more additional counterions to balance the charge of the complex.

The present application discloses complexes useful as catalysts for organic chemical synthesis including hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of unsaturated compounds or dehydrogenation of substrates. The range of hydrogenation substrate compounds includes esters, lactones, oils and fats, resulting in alcohols, diols, and triols as reaction products. The catalysts of current application can be used to catalyze a hydrogenation reaction under solvent free conditions. The present catalysts also allow the hydrogenation to proceed without added base, and it can be used in place of the conventional reduction methods employing hydrides of the main-group elements. Furthermore, the catalysts of the present application can catalyze a dehydrogenation reaction under homogenous and/or acceptorless conditions. As such, the catalysts provided herein can be useful in substantially reducing cost and improving the environmental profile of manufacturing processes for variety of chemicals.

Disclosed herein are oligomerization processes in which ethylene and a catalyst system are first combined for a suitable residence time in an activation vessel, prior to introduction into a reaction zone to oligomerize ethylene to form a desired oligomer product, such as 1-hexene and/or 1-octene. Related oligomerization reaction systems that include the activation vessel also are disclosed. In these oligomerization processes and reaction systems, the catalyst system can be fully activated as it leaves the activation vessel and enters the reaction zone, thus providing greater catalyst utilization and less catalyst waste.

Catalyst compositions and processes for the oligomerization of ethylene to 1-octene are described. The catalyst composition includes a triamino bisphospino (NPNPN) ligand system with specific phosphorous and nitrogen ligands. The terminal nitrogen atoms include linear alkyl hydrocarbons that differ in the number of carbon atoms by 3.