The present invention provides, inter alia, a multidentate ligand having the structure of: ##STR00001## Also provided are methods of preparing metal complexes from the multidentate ligand, and the metal complexes prepared by such methods. Further provided are catalysts comprising such metal complexes, and various uses of such catalysts.

The present invention relates to the application of lithium 4-methoxyaniline in catalysis of the hydroboration reaction of an imine and a borane. A catalyst, a borane and an imine are successively stirred and mixed until uniform, reacted for 1 to 2 hours, and then exposed to air so as to stop the reaction, and the reaction liquid is subjected to decompression to remove a solvent therein, so as to obtain a borate with different substituents. The lithium 4-methoxyaniline disclosed in the present invention can catalyze the hydroboration reaction of an imine and a borane in a high activity manner at room temperature, wherein the amount of the catalyst is merely 4-5 mol % of the molar amount of the imine, and the yield of the reaction can reach 90% or more. The yield of a borate with different substituents can reach 99% with mild reaction conditions under an optimized condition.

A method of synthesising a Pt(II) complex includes a first step of preparing a reaction mixture comprising a water-soluble hexachloroplatinate salt and a compound according to Formula I′, or salt thereof, and allowing the water-soluble hexachloroplatinate salt and the compound according to Formula I′ to react and a second step of adding a further quantity of the compound according to Formula I′, or a salt thereof, to the reaction mixture. Products of this method are Pt(II) complexes according to Formula I The Pt(II) complexes are useful as catalysts in hydrosilylation reactions.

##STR00001##

Cationic silicon (ii) compounds are easily formed by reaction of π-bonded cyclopentadienyl silicon (II) compound with a carbo-cation. The compounds have catalytic uses, particularly as a hydrosilylation catalyst.

The subject of the present invention is the use, as hydrosilylation and/or dehydrogenative silylation catalyst, of a cobalt compound of formula (1): [CO(N(SiR.sub.3).sub.2).sub.x].sub.y in which: —the R symbols, which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon-based radical having from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, and preferably the R symbols, which are identical or different, are chosen from the group consisting of: a hydrogen atom, alkyl groups having from 1 to 8 carbon atoms and aryl groups having from 6 to 12 carbon atoms, —x=1, 2 or 3 and—y=1 or 2.

The present application discloses a 3,3,3′,3′-tetramethyl-1,1′-spirobiindane-based phosphine ligand, an intermediate, a preparation method and uses thereof. The compound of phosphine ligand is a compound having a structure represented by formula I or formula II, or an enantiomer, a raceme, or diastereomer thereof. The phosphine ligand can be prepared via a preparation scheme in which the cheap and easily available 6,6′-dihydroxyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethyl-1,1′-spirobiindane is used as a raw material and the compound represented by formula III serves as the key intermediate. The new phosphine ligand developed by the present application can be used in catalytic organic reaction, in particular as a chiral phosphine ligand that is widely used in many asymmetric catalytic reactions including asymmetric hydrogenation and asymmetric allyl alkylation, and thus it has economic practicability and industrial application prospect.

##STR00001##

Provided is a hydro-regeneration catalyst system, comprising: (a) a first graded bed comprising a guard bed material; and (b) a second graded bed, fluidly connected to the first graded bed, comprising a noble metal catalyst on a support having mesopores and macropores; wherein the noble metal catalyst has an average pore diameter of 20 to 1,000 nm (0.02 to 1 μm), a total pore volume of greater than 0.80 cc/g, and a macropore volume of 0.10 to 0.50 cc/g. Also provided is a guard bed system, comprising: (a) a first guard bed comprising a first adsorbent having 10 μm or larger pores with an average pore diameter of 100 to 1,000 μm; and (b) a second guard bed fluidly connected to the first guard bed, comprising a second adsorbent material having mesopores and macropores with a second average pore diameter of 20 to 1,000 nm.

The invention describes phospho-amino pincer-type ligands, metal complexes thereof, and catalytic methods comprising such metal complexes for conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, conversion of aldehydes into alcohols, conversion of aldehydes in the presence of a trifluoromethylation agent into trifluorinated secondary alcohols, cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to an epoxide to provide cyclic carbonates or preparation of an amide from the combination of an alcohol and an amine.

Metal-organic framework (MOFs) compositions based on postsynthetic metalation of secondary building unit (SBU) terminal or bridging OH or OH.sub.2 groups with metal precursors or other post-synthetic manipulations are described. The MOFs provide a versatile family of recyclable and reusable single-site solid catalysts for catalyzing a variety of asymmetric organic transformations, including the regioselective boryiation and siiylation of benzyiic CH bonds, the hydrogenation of aikenes, imines, carbonyls, nitroarenes, and heterocycles, hydroboration, hydrophosphination, and cyclization reactions. The solid catalysts can also be integrated into a flow reactor or a supercritical fluid reactor.

An object of the present invention is the use of iron compounds as hydrosilylation and dehydrogenative silylation catalysts.