Dihydroguaiazulenide Complexes and Catalysts of Group 8-12 Transition Metals: Ligands from Renewable Feedstock Replace, even Outmatch Petrochemical Based Cyclopentadienyl Chemistry

We present an in-depth study of the sterically demanding Cp-synthon (8-H-GuaH)Li isolated from natural product guaiazulene (Gua) as a ligand transfer reagent towards late transition metal complex precursors. The synthesis and full characterization of selected, essentially unexplored homo- and heteroleptic 8-H-guaiazulenide complexes of iron, ruthenium, cobalt, rhodium, platinum, copper and zinc are discussed in detail. In order to demonstrate their potential in catalytic applications, [(GuaH)PtMe3 ] was selected. The latter proved an even higher catalytic activity in light induced olefin hydrosilylation at catalyst loads as low as 5 ppm than classical [CpPtMe3 ] in a typical test reaction of silicone elastomer fabrication. Our results demonstrate that traditional petrochemical based Cp metal chemistry and catalysis can be replaced, sometimes even outmatched by superior catalysts based on cheap building blocks from renewable feedstock.

Multinuclear silver(I) XPhos complexes with cyclooctatetraene: photochemical C-C bond cleavage of acetonitrile and cyanide bridged Ag cluster formation

Cationic mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-nuclear silver complexes with Buchwald-type phosphane (XPhos) and cyclooctatetraene (COT) have been synthesized and characterized. Formation of [(XPhos-Ag)n(COT)][SbF6]n (n = 1 and 2) complexes was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy in CD2Cl2 solution shows the fluxionality of the COT ring in the mono-Ag(i) XPhos complex. Fluxionality of COT was also confirmed in the case of the di-Ag(i) XPhos complex by solid-state and solution (31)P NMR spectroscopy. The C-C bond cleavage of coordinated acetonitrile [XPhos-Ag(i)-NCCH3] resulting in cyanide bridged Ag cluster formation [(XPhos-Ag)2(μ-CN)n(μ-Ag)n-1] (n = 1, 2, 3 and 4) upon light excitation of [(XPhos-Ag)n(COT)] was confirmed by HRESI-MS, UV-Absorption and HR-TEM.

1,2,3,4-Tetrasubstituted cyclopentadienes and their applications for metallocenes: efficient synthesis through zirconocene- and CuCl-mediated intermolecular coupling of two alkynes and one diiodomethane

1,2,3,4-Tetrasubstituted cyclopentadienes and indene derivatives with identical or different substituents were obtained in good to excellent isolated yields through a zirconocene- and CuCl-mediated intermolecular coupling process. This synthetic procedure involved three organic partners, including one CH2 I2 , and two different or identical alkynes. Two alkynes or one diyne undergo Cp2Zr(II)-mediated (Cp = η(5)-C5H5) pair-selective reductive coupling to afford the corresponding zirconacyclopentadiene derivatives, which react, in the presence of CuCl and 1,3-dimethyl-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-2(1 H)-pyrimidinone (DMPU), with CH2I2 through intermolecular followed by intramolecular coupling to afford the cyclopentadiene derivatives. An application of the prepared tetrasubstituted cyclopentadiene derivatives was demonstrated by the facile synthesis of the corresponding zirconocene complexes [((4R)Cp)2ZrCl2] and [((4R)Cp)2ZrR'2] (R' = Me, Et, or nBu). The unique 1,2,3,4-tetrasubstituted cyclopentadiene ligands and the corresponding metallocenes are expected to have further applications in organometallic chemistry and organic synthesis.