Decamethyltitanocene hydride intermediates in the hydrogenation of the corresponding titanocene-(η2-ethene) or (η2-alkyne) complexes and the effects of bulkier auxiliary ligands

¹H NMR studies of reactions of titanocene [Cp*₂Ti] (Cp* = η⁵-C₅Me₅) and its derivatives [Cp*(η⁵:η¹-C₅Me₄CH₂)TiMe] and [Cp*₂Ti(η²-CH₂[double bond, length as m-dash]CH₂)] with excess dihydrogen at room temperature and pressures lower than 1 bar revealed the formation of dihydride [Cp*₂TiH₂] (1) and the concurrent liberation of either methane or ethane, depending on the organometallic reactant. The subsequent slow decay of 1 yielding [Cp*₂TiH] (2) was mediated by titanocene formed in situ and controlled by hydrogen pressure. The crystalline products obtained by evaporating a hexane solution of fresh [Cp*₂Ti] in the presence of hydrogen contained crystals having either two independent molecules of 1 in the asymmetric part of the unit cell or cocrystals consisting of 1 and [Cp*₂Ti] in a 2 : 1 ratio. Hydrogenation of alkyne complexes [Cp*₂Ti(η²-R¹C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CR²)] (R¹ = R² = Me or Et) performed at room temperature afforded alkanes R¹CH₂CH₂R², and after removing hydrogen, 2 was formed in quantitative yields. For alkyne complexes containing bulkier substituent(s) R¹ = Me or Ph, R² = SiMe₃, and R¹ = R² = Ph or SiMe₃, successful hydrogenation required the application of increased temperatures (70-80 °C) and prolonged reaction times, in particular for bis(trimethylsilyl)acetylene. Under these conditions, no transient 1 was detected during the formation of 2. The bulkier auxiliary ligands η⁵-C₅Me₄^tBu and η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃ did not hinder the addition of dihydrogen to the corresponding titanocenes [(η⁵-C₅Me₄^tBu)₂Ti] and [(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)₂Ti] yielding [(η⁵-C₅Me₄^tBu)₂TiH₂] (3) and [(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)₂TiH₂] (4), respectively. In contrast to 1, the dihydride 4 did not decay with the formation of titanocene monohydride, but dissociated to titanocene upon dihydrogen removal. The monohydrides [(η⁵-C₅Me₄^tBu)₂TiH] (5) and [(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)₂TiH] (6) were obtained by insertion of dihydrogen into the intramolecular titanium-methylene σ-bond in compounds [(η⁵-C₅Me₄^tBu)(η⁵:η¹-C₅Me₄CMe₂CH₂)Ti] and [(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₃)(η⁵:η¹-C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂)Ti], respectively. The steric influence of the auxiliary ligands became clear from the nature of the products obtained by reacting 5 and 6 with butadiene. They appeared to be the exclusively σ-bonded η¹-but-2-enyl titanocenes (7) and (8), instead of the common π-bonded derivatives formed for the sterically less congested titanocenes, including [Cp*₂Ti(η³-(1-methylallyl))] (9). The molecular structure optimized by DFT for compound 1 acquired a distinctly lower total energy than the analogously optimized complex with a coordinated dihydrogen [Cp*₂Ti(η²-H₂)]. The stabilization energies of binding the hydride ligands to the bent titanocenes were estimated from counterpoise computations; they showed a decrease in the order 1 (-132.70 kJ mol^-1), 3 (-121.11 kJ mol^-1), and 4 (-112.35 kJ mol^-1), in accordance with the more facile dihydrogen dissociation.

Hydrosilane-B(C6F5)3 adducts as activators in zirconocene catalyzed ethylene polymerization

Hydrosilane-B(C6F5)3 adducts were found to activate zirconocene dihalides and generate ternary catalytic systems possessing moderate to high activity in ethylene polymerization to high density polyethylene (HDPE). The activation efficacy of the adducts increased with increasing hydride donor ability and decreased with steric crowding of the particular hydrosilane used. NMR investigation of the HSiEt3/B(C6F5)3/Cp*2ZrF2 system (Cp* = η(5)-C5Me5) revealed the formation of a stable intermediate [Cp*2ZrF(FSiEt3-κF)](+)[HB(C6F5)3](-), whereas a crucial role of the [HB(C6F5)3](-) anion as a hydride donor for generation of an active cationic zirconium hydride center was elucidated.

Synthesis, molecular and electronic structure of a stacked half-sandwich dititanium complex incorporating a cyclic π-faced bridging ligand

The thermally robust ground singlet state complex [bis(η⁵-pentamethylcyclopentadienyltitanium)-μ-(η⁴:η⁴-1,2,4,5-tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)cyclohexa-1-4-diene-3,6-diyl)] (3) arises from thermolysis of Cp*TiMe₃.

Displacement of ethene from the decamethyltitanocene-ethene complex with internal alkynes, substituent-dependent alkyne-to-allene rearrangement, and the electronic transition relevant to the back-bonding interaction

The titanocene-ethene complex [Ti(II)(η(2)-C2H4)(η(5)-C5Me5)2] (1) with simple internal alkynes R(1)C≡CR(2) gives complexes [Ti(II)(η(2)-R(1)C≡CR(2))(η(5)-C5Me5)2] {R(1), R(2): Ph, Ph (3), Ph, Me (4), Me, SiMe3 (5), Ph, SiMe3 (6), t-Bu, SiMe3 (7), and SiMe3, SiMe3 (8). In contrast, alkynes with R(1) = Me and R(2) = t-Bu or i-Pr afford allene complexes [Ti(II)(η(2)-CH2=C=CHR(2))(η(5)-C5Me5)2] (11) and (12), whereas for R(2) = Et a mixture of alkyne complex (13A) and minor allene (13) is obtained. Crystal structures of 4, 6, 7 and 11 have been determined; the latter structure proved the back-bonding interaction of the allene terminal double bond. Only the synthesis of 8 from 1 was inefficient because the equilibrium constant for the reaction [1] + [Me3SiC≡CSiMe3] ⇌ [8] + [C2H4] approached 1. Compound 9 (R(1), R(2): Me), not obtainable from 1, together with compounds 3–6 and 10 (R(1), R(2): Et) were also prepared by alkyne exchange with 8, however this reaction did not take place in attempts to obtain 7. Compounds 1 and 3–9 display the longest-wavelength electronic absorption band in the range 670-940 nm due to the HOMO → LUMO transition. The assignment of the first excitation to be of predominantly a b2 → a1 transition was confirmed by DFT calculations. The calculated first excitation energies for 3–9 followed the order of hypsochromic shifts of the absorption band relative to 8 that were induced by acetylene substituents: Me > Ph ≫ SiMe3. Computational results have also affirmed the back-bonding nature in the alkyne-to-metal coordination.

Electrochemical analysis of a novel ferrocene derivative as a potential antitumor drug

Ferrocenes represent an interesting group of drugs with potential antitumor properties.

Mixed amido-cyclopentadienyl group 4 metal complexes

Two different kinds of nitrogen ligands and two Cp ligands with different electronic and steric effects were employed in order to demonstrate variability of the group 4 metal coordination spheres.

Heat-induced spinodal decomposition of Ag–Cu nanoparticles

The predicted spinodal decomposition of metastable Ag–Cu nanoparticles was experimentally induced (and detected) by heating on an high temperature X-ray diffractometer (HT XRD).