CC BY 4.0 · SynOpen 2024; 08(04): 328-359
DOI: 10.1055/a-2460-7378
graphical review

Transition-Metal-Catalyzed Deuteration via Hydrogen Isotope Exchange

a   NingboTech-Cuiying Joint Laboratory of Stable Isotope Technology, School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, NingboTech University, Ningbo, 315100, P. R. of China
,
Jian-Fei Bai
a   NingboTech-Cuiying Joint Laboratory of Stable Isotope Technology, School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, NingboTech University, Ningbo, 315100, P. R. of China
,
Zhanghua Gao
a   NingboTech-Cuiying Joint Laboratory of Stable Isotope Technology, School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, NingboTech University, Ningbo, 315100, P. R. of China
b   Ningbo Cuiying Chemical Technology Co. Ltd., Ningbo, 315100, P. R. of China
› Author Affiliations
Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [22308307 (Z.-J.J.) and 22001257 (J.F.B.)], the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo Municipality [202003N4310 (Z.-J.J.)], and the Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology under the CM2025 Programme [2020Z092 (Z.G.)] is acknowledged. J.F.B. thanks the NingboTech University Start-up Foundation (2022A229G).
 


Abstract

Direct hydrogen isotope exchange represents a distinctive strategy for deuterium labelling, where the protium is directly replaced by deuterium. In this graphical review, we summarize the progress in deuteration via transition-metal-catalyzed hydrogen isotope exchange. The review is organized according to the mechanism of C–H bond activation relating to the homogeneous catalysis, and heterogeneous catalysis is also discussed according to the catalyst type. Representative mechanistic processes are depicted, and proven cases for tritiation are also highlighted.


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Biosketches

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Zhi-Jiang Jiang was born in 1990 in Ningbo, China. He obtained his B.Sc. in pharmaceutical science at Zhejiang University of Technology. He completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Wei-Ke Su and Prof. Alexandre. V. Dushkin at the Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, where he explored the phenomenon of liquid-assisted grinding in mechanochemistry. He subsequently joined the School of Biological and Chemical Engineering of NingboTech University as an assistant professor in 2019. Currently, his research interests focus on the development of tools and strategies for selective deuterium-labelling.

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Jian-Fei Bai graduated from Lanzhou University in 2007 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2012 under the supervision of Prof. Lixin Wang. In the same year, he joined the group of Prof. P. Vogel as a postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He continued his postdoctoral studies at Kyoto University in 2015, working with Prof. Keiji Maruoka. In 2019, he was appointed as an associate professor at the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, before moving to NingboTech University in 2021. His research focuses on the development and applications of the site-specific synthesis of deuterium-labeled compounds.

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Zhanghua Gao obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 under the supervision of Prof. Wei-Dong Z. Li at Lanzhou University. In 2006, he joined the group of Prof. Philip J. Kocienski at the University of Leeds as a postdoctoral associate, undertaking research in natural product synthesis. After a one-year stay in the chemical industry, in 2010, he joined the University of Oxford as a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof. Véronique­ Gouverneur and Prof. Benjamin G. Davis on fluorine-18 radiolabeling of amino acids and proteins. In 2015, he moved to Ningbo University as an associate professor and became a full professor in 2016. His research interests include isotope-labelling methodology/technology and its applications in drug discovery and functional materials.

Deuterium labelling has become an increasingly important tool in biomedical and materials science, with its successful applications in drug development,[1] biological-compound imaging and tracking[2] and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).[3] These applications have been accompanied by the development of synthetic strategies for efficient deuterium incorporation, such as conventional chemical transformations by catalytic hydrogenation of unsaturated bonds and the defunctionalization of aromatic halides.[4] Meanwhile, in contrast to the transformations of functional groups, the direct hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) of C–H bonds has been extensively developed since the early days of deuterium incorporation, especially under a pH-dependent manner with harsh acid or base environments, which is still employed industrially in the mass production of deuterium compounds. Therefore, the development of milder and environmentally friendly deuteration strategies remains a necessity, especially methods that are compatible with economical deuterium sources, such as heavy water or deuterium gas.

Accompanied with an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of C–H activation with transition metals,[5] a few examples of transition-metal-facilitated HIE have been used as a chemical tool to check the reversibility of the process. Thus, benefiting from mechanistic investigations, catalytic HIE has been enabled based on reversible manipulation of established catalytic systems.[6] For instance, Crabtree’s catalyst, designed for hydrogenation, was found to facilitate dehydrogenation under a low H2 pressure.[7a] This finding was further developed as a major type of HIE process based on reversible oxidative addition, catalyzed by a family of iridium catalysts such as Kerr’s catalysts,[8] [9] with D2 gas as the main source of deuterium. Similar HIE processes have also been employed with Ir, Rh, Ru, and Pt,[10–12g,13,15] whilst earth-abundant metals such as Fe, Co and Ni also show promising reactivities.[12f–h,14] On the other hand, the recently burgeoning strategy of concerted metalation–deprotonation (CMD) was also utilized in a reversible manner,[16–22] which employed D2O or deuterated acids as the deuterium source. Despite the challenge associated with CMD of subsequent route control between functionalization and C–D bond reconstruction, ortho- or meta-selective, as well as undirected deuteration, have been developed, mainly based on Pd catalysis;[20] [21] [22] however, Mn,[21a] Co,[18d] Ni,[18f] and Ag[19] have also been recently reported to show HIE activity. Moreover, HIE can also be accomplished through the strategy of hydrogen borrowing by exploiting the remarkable kinetic isotope effect of deuterium.[23] [24] As a reversible process, it has also been utilized in HIE with olefins.[25] Additionally, other specialized strategies have been reported, including Lewis acid enhanced local acidity of protons,[26] arene activation facilitated by an η6 complex,[27] and σ-metathesis-enabled H/D exchange between a metal and D2.[28] On the other hand, heterogeneous catalysts also comprise a large family for HIE based on a similar strategy of reversibility control under low D2 pressure,[31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] where recent findings suggest that the nanoparticles collide,[38,39] and that the corresponding ligand-loaded nanoparticles[40] may also achieve astonishing regioselectivity compared to their homogeneous alternatives. Noticeably, in most cases, tritiation could be easily achieved by replacing the deuterium source with the corresponding tritium source. We hope that this graphical review will stimulate further research on the development of innovative HIE strategies within this rapidly evolving field.

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Figure 1 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 1): Early attempts using iridium catalysts[7`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] and Kerr’s iridium catalysts[8a–k]
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Figure 2 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 2): Application of Kerr’s iridium catalysts[9`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 3 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 3): Iridium catalysts with bidentate ligands[10`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i]
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Figure 4 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 1): Phosphine-ligand-supported metal catalysts[11`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t]
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Figure 5 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 2): Bipyridine-, imine-, and NHC-ligand-supported metal catalysts[12`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k]
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Figure 6 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 3): Tridentate-ligand-supported noble metal catalysts[13`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i]
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Figure 7 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 4): Tridentate-ligand-supported earth-abundant metal catalysts[14`] [b] [c] [d] [e]
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Figure 8 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 5): Half-sandwich-type metal catalysts[15`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 9 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 1): Directing-group-enabled ortho-selective deuteration[16`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h]
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Figure 10 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 2): Supporting-ligand- and bidentate-substrate-enabled regioselective deuteration[17`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g]
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Figure 11 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 3): Regioselective deuteration of indoles, and earth-abundant-metal-catalyzed deuteration[18`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h]
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Figure 12 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 4): Silver-catalyzed deuteration[19`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] and meta-selective deuteration[20a–f]
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Figure 13 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 5): Application of a transient-directing-group (TDG) strategy[21`] [b] [c] [d] and a non-directing strategy in deuteration[22a–e]
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Figure 14 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 1): Principles, seminal work, and α-deuteration of alcohols via metal hydride intermediates[23`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 15 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 2): α- and β-deuteration of alcohols via ligand-enabled hydride transfer[23`] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l]
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Figure 16 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 3): Deuteration of amines, nitriles, and alkynes[24`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 17 HIE based on iterative migratory insertion/β-elimination (part 1): Deuteration of olefins[25`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 18 HIE based on iterative migratory insertion/β-elimination (part 2): Deuteration of allyl groups and chain-walking deuteration.[25`] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] Miscellaneous cases of homogeneous HIE (part 1): Lewis acid catalyzed deuteration[26a–c]
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Figure 19 Miscellaneous cases of homogeneous HIE (part 2): Deuteration catalyzed by η6 complexes,[27a] [b] σ-metathesis,[28] π-acids[29] and metal chlorides[30`] [b] [c] [d]
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Figure 20 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 1): Seminal work with PtO2 [31`] [b] [c] [d] [e] and a Pd/C-H2-D2O system (part 1)[32`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 21 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 2): A Pd/C-H2-D2O system (part 2)[32`] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o]
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Figure 22 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 3): Further applications of M/C-H2-D2O systems, Pt/C,[33`] [b] [c] [d] Rh/C[34a–e] and Ru/C[35a–c]
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Figure 23 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 4): M/C- i PrOH-D2O[36`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] and Pt/C- n BuNH2-D2O[37] systems
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Figure 24 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 1): PVP-supported metal nanoparticles[38`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j]
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Figure 25 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 2): NHC-supported metal nanoparticles (part 1)[39`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g]
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Figure 26 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 3): NHC-supported metal nanoparticles (part 2)[39h] [i] and pyrolytic-carbon-supported novel metal nanoparticles[40a–f]

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgment

We are grateful to Professor Bencan Tang of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China for constructive discussions, and to current and former members of the Gao group who have contributed to the development of this field. We also thank Ningbo Cuiying Chemical Technology Co. Ltd. for their continuous support of our research in this field.


Corresponding Authors

Zhi-Jiang Jiang
NingboTech-Cuiying Joint Laboratory of Stable Isotope Technology, School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, NingboTech University
Ningbo, 315100
P. R. of China   
Zhanghua Gao
NingboTech-Cuiying Joint Laboratory of Stable Isotope Technology, School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, NingboTech University
Ningbo, 315100
P. R. of China   

Publication History

Received: 20 September 2024

Accepted after revision: 29 October 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
04 November 2024

Article published online:
11 December 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Oswald-Hesse-Straße 50, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany


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Figure 1 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 1): Early attempts using iridium catalysts[7`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] and Kerr’s iridium catalysts[8a–k]
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Figure 2 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 2): Application of Kerr’s iridium catalysts[9`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 3 HIE based on oxidative addition with directing groups (part 3): Iridium catalysts with bidentate ligands[10`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i]
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Figure 4 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 1): Phosphine-ligand-supported metal catalysts[11`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] [t]
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Figure 5 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 2): Bipyridine-, imine-, and NHC-ligand-supported metal catalysts[12`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k]
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Figure 6 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 3): Tridentate-ligand-supported noble metal catalysts[13`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i]
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Figure 7 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 4): Tridentate-ligand-supported earth-abundant metal catalysts[14`] [b] [c] [d] [e]
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Figure 8 HIE based on oxidative addition without directing groups (part 5): Half-sandwich-type metal catalysts[15`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 9 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 1): Directing-group-enabled ortho-selective deuteration[16`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h]
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Figure 10 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 2): Supporting-ligand- and bidentate-substrate-enabled regioselective deuteration[17`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g]
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Figure 11 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 3): Regioselective deuteration of indoles, and earth-abundant-metal-catalyzed deuteration[18`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h]
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Figure 12 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 4): Silver-catalyzed deuteration[19`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] and meta-selective deuteration[20a–f]
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Figure 13 HIE based on concerted metalation–deprotonation (part 5): Application of a transient-directing-group (TDG) strategy[21`] [b] [c] [d] and a non-directing strategy in deuteration[22a–e]
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Figure 14 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 1): Principles, seminal work, and α-deuteration of alcohols via metal hydride intermediates[23`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 15 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 2): α- and β-deuteration of alcohols via ligand-enabled hydride transfer[23`] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l]
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Figure 16 HIE based on hydrogen borrowing (part 3): Deuteration of amines, nitriles, and alkynes[24`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 17 HIE based on iterative migratory insertion/β-elimination (part 1): Deuteration of olefins[25`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m]
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Figure 18 HIE based on iterative migratory insertion/β-elimination (part 2): Deuteration of allyl groups and chain-walking deuteration.[25`] [o] [p] [q] [r] [s] Miscellaneous cases of homogeneous HIE (part 1): Lewis acid catalyzed deuteration[26a–c]
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Figure 19 Miscellaneous cases of homogeneous HIE (part 2): Deuteration catalyzed by η6 complexes,[27a] [b] σ-metathesis,[28] π-acids[29] and metal chlorides[30`] [b] [c] [d]
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Figure 20 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 1): Seminal work with PtO2 [31`] [b] [c] [d] [e] and a Pd/C-H2-D2O system (part 1)[32`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f]
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Figure 21 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 2): A Pd/C-H2-D2O system (part 2)[32`] [h] [i] [j] [k] [l] [m] [n] [o]
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Figure 22 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 3): Further applications of M/C-H2-D2O systems, Pt/C,[33`] [b] [c] [d] Rh/C[34a–e] and Ru/C[35a–c]
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Figure 23 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by an active-carbon-supported metal catalyst (part 4): M/C- i PrOH-D2O[36`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] and Pt/C- n BuNH2-D2O[37] systems
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Figure 24 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 1): PVP-supported metal nanoparticles[38`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g] [h] [i] [j]
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Figure 25 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 2): NHC-supported metal nanoparticles (part 1)[39`] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] [g]
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Figure 26 Heterogeneous HIE catalyzed by metal nanoparticles (part 3): NHC-supported metal nanoparticles (part 2)[39h] [i] and pyrolytic-carbon-supported novel metal nanoparticles[40a–f]