Ylide-Stabilized Phosphenium Cations: Impact of the Substitution Pattern on the Coordination Chemistry

Although N-heterocyclic phosphenium (NHP) cations have received considerable research interest due to their application in organocatalysis, including asymmetric synthesis, phosphenium cations with other substitution patterns have hardly been explored. Herein, the preparation of a series of ylide-substituted cations of type [YPR]+ (with Y=Ph3 PC(Ph), R=Ph, Cy or Y) and their structural and coordination properties are reported. Although the diylide-substituted cation forms spontaneous from the chlorophosphine precursor, the monoylidylphosphenium ions required the addition of a halide-abstraction reagent. The molecular structures of the cations reflected the different degrees of electron donation from the ylide to the phosphorus center depending on the second substituent. Molecular orbital analysis confirmed the stronger donor properties of the ylide systems compared to NHPs with the mono-ylide substituted cations featuring a more pronounced electrophilicity. This was mirrored by the reaction of the cations towards gold chloride, in which only the diylide-substituted cation [Y2 P]+ formed the expected LAuCl]+ complex, while the monoylide-substituted compounds reacted to the chlorophosphine ligands by transfer of the chloride from gold to the phosphorus center. These results demonstrate the tunability of ylide-functionalized phosphorus cations, which should allow for further applications in coordination chemistry in the future.

Trapping of Brønsted acids with a phosphorus-centered biradicaloid - synthesis of hydrogen pseudohalide addition products

The trapping of classical hydrogen pseudohalides (HX, X = pseudohalogen = CN, N3, NCO, NCS, and PCO) utilizing a phosphorus-centered cyclic biradicaloid, [P(μ-NTer)]2, is reported. These formal Brønsted acids were generated in situ as gases and passed over the trapping reagent, the biradicaloid [P(μ-NTer)]2, leading to the formation of the addition product [HP(μ-NTer)2PX] (successful for X = CN, N3, and NCO). In addition to this direct addition reaction, a two-step procedure was also applied because we failed in isolating HPCO and HNCS addition products. This two-step process comprises the generation and isolation of the highly reactive [HP(μ-NTer)2PX]+ cation as a [B(C6F5)4]- salt, followed by salt metathesis with salts such as [cat]X (cat = PPh4, n-Bu3NMe), which also gives the desired [HP(μ-NTer)2PX] product, with the exception of the reaction with the PCO- salt. In this case, proton migration was observed, finally affording the formation of a [3.1.1]-hetero-propellane-type cage compound, an OC(H)P isomer of a HPCO adduct. All discussed species were fully characterized.

Moving toward Ylide-Stabilized Carbenes

The effect of ylide substitution at the α position to the carbene carbon (Cc ) atom on the stability and σ-donating ability of a number of cyclic carbenes has been studied theoretically. The stabilities of all of the carbenes were investigated from an evaluation of their singlet-triplet energy gaps and stabilization energies. All carbenes were found to have a stable singlet state. The energy of the σ-symmetric lone-pair orbital at the Cc atom increases as a result of the introduction of ylide centers near to the Cc atom. This indicates an enhanced σ-donating ability of the ylide-containing carbenes. The calculated carbonyl-stretching frequencies of the corresponding rhodium complexes, proton affinities, and nucleophilicity index values correlate well with the σ basicity of the carbenes.

Synthesis of elusive chloropnictenium ions

This work describes the synthesis and full characterization of elusive chloropnictenium ion salts of the type [(R)Ar*N(SiMe)ECl][A] ((R)Ar* = 2,6-(CHPh2)-4-R-C6H2, R = Me, tBu; E = Sb, Bi; A(-) = GaCl4, Al(OCH(CF3)2)4). In these species the cation is significantly stabilized by weak arene interactions to flanking phenyl groups of the (R)Ar* moiety. In this context the bonding situation has been studied by computational means and the reactivity towards the Lewis base 4-dimethylaminopyridine (dmap) was investigated.

The reactivity of silylated amino(dichloro)phosphanes in the presence of silver salts

New cyclic and acylic phosphorus-nitrogen compounds have been synthesized in reactions of Hyp-N(SiMe3)PCl2 (hypersilyl = Hyp = (Me3Si)3Si) with silver salts of the perfluorinated anions [CF3CO2](-), [CF3SO3](-), and [C6F5](-). Depending on the choice of the silver salt, not only AgCl but also Me3SiCl elimination could be observed, leading to a transient highly reactive 1,3 dipole molecule. This 1,3 dipole molecule was found to be a key species, which can undergo [3 + 2] cyclization, when a dipolarophile such as acetonitrile is present. Also, dimerization or even cyclo-tetramerization are observed. The occurrence of different reaction channels demonstrates that the hypersilyl moiety can act as a highly reactive functional group. All new compounds have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.

Structure and bonding of novel acyclic bisaminoarsenium cations

The synthesis and characterization of a salt bearing a labile bisaminoarsenium cation of the type {[(Me3Si)2N]2As}(+) (9a) are described, which was obtained in the reaction of the chloroarsane [(Me3Si)2N]2AsCl (8) with GaCl3. Reacting 8 with AgOTf did not yield an arsenium salt, but the cyclo-diarsadiazane [(Me3Si)2NAs-μ-NSiMe3]2 (11) was obtained in excellent yields. Moreover, the reactivity of the analogous antimony species [(Me3Si)2N]2SbCl (12) was studied. In the reaction with GaCl3, the aminochlorostibenium salt [(Me3Si)2NSbCl](+)[(Me3Si)2N(GaCl3)2](-) (5) was isolated. In the reaction with AgOTf, substitution of the chlorine in 12 resulted in the formation of [(Me3Si)2N]2SbOTf (13), a compound with significant stibenium character. All new compounds have been fully characterized by means of X-ray, vibrational spectroscopy, CHN analysis, and NMR experiments. All compounds were further investigated by means of density functional theory and the bonding situation was accessed by natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis.

On the synthesis and reactivity of highly labile pseudohalogen phosphenium ions

The synthesis and characterization of salts bearing highly labile pseudohalogen-substituted aminophosphenium cations of the type [(Me3Si)2NPX][GaCl4] (X = NCO, NCS, O(SiMe3)) and their respective reactivity toward Lewis bases (4-dimethylaminopyridine, dmap) and dienes (2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, dmb; 1,3-cyclo-hexadiene, chd) are described. As π-acidic species, aminophosphenium cations react with dmap at low temperatures to yield adduct salts of the type [(Me3Si)2NP(dmap)X][GaCl4] (X = Cl, N3, NCO) which were fully characterized. In the reaction with dienes at -50 °C, salts bearing phospholenium cations were obtained that could be structurally characterized. The crystal structures of novel 7-phosphanorbornenium cations of the type [(Me3Si)2NP(C6H8)X][GaCl4] (X = Cl, N3, NCO) are reported. All compounds were further investigated by means of density functional theory, and the bonding situation was accessed by Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis.