The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to investigate and develop catalytic processes mediated by iridium(III) complexes. By understanding the mechanisms, the weaknesses of the designed catalysts can be identified and be overcome in the following generation.

The thesis is composed of two general sections dedicated to the synthesis and applications of homogeneous catalysts and to the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). After a general introduction (Chapter 1), the first part of the thesis (Chapters 2-4, and Appendix 1) covers the use of several homogeneous bifunctional [Cp*Ir(III)] catalysts in a variety of chemical transformations, as well as mechanistic studies.

Chapter 2 summarizes the studies on the N-alkylation of anilines with benzyl alcohols catalyzed by bifunctional Ir(III) complexes. Mechanistic investigations when the reactions were catalyzed by Ir(III) complexes with a hydroxy-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand are discussed, followed by the design of a new generation of catalysts. The chapter finishes presenting the improved catalytic performance of these new complexes.   

A family of these NHC-iridium complexes was evaluated in the acceptorless dehydrogenation of alcohols, as shown in Chapter 3. The beneficial effect of a co-solvent was investigated too. Under these base-free conditions, a wide scope of alcohols was efficiently dehydrogenated in excellent yields. The unexpected higher activity of the hydroxy-containing bifunctional NHC-Ir(III) catalysts, in comparison to that of the amino-functionalized one, was investigated experimentally.

In the fourth chapter, the catalytic process presented in Chapter 3 was further explored on 1,4- and 1,5-diols, which were transformed into their corresponding tetrahydrofurans and dihydropyrans, respectively. Mechanistic investigations are also discussed.

In the second part of the thesis (Chapter 5), a Cp*Ir(III) complex was immobilized into a MOF. The heterogenization of the metal complex was achieved efficiently, reaching high ratios of functionalization. However, a change in the topology of the MOF was observed. In this chapter, the use of advanced characterization techniques such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and pair distribution function (PDF) analyses enabled to study a phase transformation in these materials.