Pi Bonding and Negative Hyperconjugation in Mono-, Di-, and Triaminoborane, -alane, -gallane, and -indane

Coordination of a Phosphine-Tethered Aminoborane to Group 10 Metals

While π-complexes of C=C bonds are ubiquitous in organometallic chemistry, analogous complexes of the isoelectronic but strongly polarized B=N double bond of aminoboranes are extremely scarce. To address this gap, a diphosphine-aminoborane ligand (PhDPBAiPr) is introduced and its coordination with group 10 metals is investigated. The B=N bond does not coordinate to the metal in Pt(0) and Pd(II) complexes. In contrast, side-on coordination of the B=N bond is observed in the Ni(0) complex (PhDPBAiPr)Ni(NCPh), and the X-ray crystal structure reveals B-N bond elongation compared to the free ligand. The choice of co-ligand strongly influences the presence or absence of side-on coordination at Ni(0) as evidenced by NMR spectroscopy. While the B=N π-complex is geometrically similar to C=C analogues, a bonding analysis reveals that the interaction of the B=N motif with the electron-rich Ni(0) center is best described as 3c4e hyperbond, in which Ni and N are competing for the empty orbital on B.

Stretched Central Double Bonds in Dialumene and Disilene by Amino Substituents: A Case of Lone Pair Repulsion

There have been remarkable advances in the syntheses and applications of groups 13 and 14 homonuclear ethene analogues. However, successes are largely limited to aryl- and/or silyl-substituted species. Analogues bearing two or more heteroatoms are still scarce. In this work, the block-localized wavefunction (BLW) method at the density functional theory (DFT) level was employed to study dialumene and disilene bearing two amino substituents whose optimal geometries exhibit significantly stretched central M=M (M=Al or Si) double bonds compared with aryl- and/or silyl-substituted species. Computational analyses showed that the repulsion between the lone electron pairs of amino substituents and M=M π bond plays a critical role in the elongation of the M=M bonds. Evidently, replacing the substituent groups -NH2 with -BH2 can enhance the planarity and shorten the central double bonds due to the absence of lone pair electrons in BH2 .

Control of Excited-State Conformations in B,N-Acenes

We present a new concept to control the conformations of molecules in the excited state through harvesting negative hyperconjugation. The strategy was realized with the 2,3,1,4-benzodiazadiborinane scaffold, which was prepared by a new synthetic procedure. Photochemical studies identified dual light emission, which was assigned to well-defined conformers. The emission at longer wavelength can be switched off by restricting the rotational degrees of freedom in the solid state as well as by controlling the energy levels of the excited states through adjusting the solvent polarity.

Substituent-dependent anomeric effects as a source of conformational preference in pyridinium methylides

A systematic density functional theory level investigation of differently substituted pyridinium methylides was carried out to determine the role of C(ylidic) lone-pair-associated hyperconjugative and negative hyperconjugative interactions in deciding conformational preferences. Deviation from the coplanar orientation of the carbanionic center with the pyridine ring and its substituent dependence has been found to correlate well with the relative opportunities for conjugative and negative hyperconjugative interactions of a ylidic moiety with different substituent groups present at the ylidic carbon. The contribution of individual n-->pi* conjugative, n-->sigma* negative hyperconjugative, and sigma-->pi* hyperconjugative interactions in a particular conformation of pyridinium dichlorophosphinomethylides was assessed from donor-acceptor stabilization energies, as obtained from natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The relative extent of conjugative and negative hyperconjugative interactions with the substituents present at the ylidic carbon plays an important role in permitting the delocalization of ylidic charge into the pyridine ring, thereby controlling the relative orientation of the latter with the carbanionic plane.

Revisiting the Electronic Structure of Phosphazenes

Natural bond orbital (NBO) and topological electron density analyses have been used to investigate the electronic structure of phosphazenes [N3P3R6] (R = H, F, Cl, Br, CH3, CF3, N(C2H4); 2R = O2C6H4), [N4P4Cl8], and H[NPCl2]4H. Using the former, the two most likely phosphazene bonding alternatives, negative hyperconjugation and ionic bonding have been critically evaluated. Ionic bonding, as suggested by topological analysis, was found to be the dominant bonding feature, although contributions from negative hyperconjugation are necessary for a more complete bonding description. Substituent effects on the P-N bond have been assessed and cases of bond length alternation have been rationalized using this combined bonding model, which supersedes previous models involving d-orbital participation, leading to an explanation for the observed bond length alternation found in some linear polyphosphazenes. In addition, common aromaticity indicators, nucleus independent chemical shifts (NICS) and para-delocalization indices (PDI), have been determined for the cyclophosphazenes.

The Insertion of Carbodiimides into Al and Ga Amido Linkages. Guanidinates and Mixed Amido Guanidinates of Aluminum and Gallium

The insertion of carbodiimides into existing metal-heteroatom bonds is an important preparative route for the synthesis of useful ligand systems such as amidinates and guanidinates. Our interest lies in multiple insertions at one metal center and the mechanisms of insertion and rearrangement. We have synthesized and characterized [Me(2)NC(N(i)Pr)(2)](n)M(NMe(2))(3)(-)(n) (n = 1, 2, 3; M = Al, Ga). We have investigated the mechanism of synthesis and discovered a ligand transfer step that is important for the formation of the final products.

Theoretical and Synthetic Investigations of Carbodiimide Insertions into Al−CH3 and Al−N(CH3)2 Bonds

Carbodiimides are known to insert into aluminum-carbon bonds to form four-membered bidentate amidinate chelate rings. Insertions into Al-R and Al-NR'2 (R, R' = alkyl) have been reported in the literature. We have devised a mechanism for these insertions and modeled it using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated barrier heights for competitive insertions show the insertion into Al-N(CH3)2 goes through a lower barrier than the reaction with Al-CH3 for diisopropyl carbodiimide due to the necessity of forming a pentavalent carbon intermediate in the Al-CH3 case. However, insertion into Al-CH3 has the lower barrier for the reaction with di-tert-butyl carbodiimide because of steric effects, which is consistent with the published experimental results. We have synthesized aluminum amidinates containing two and three acetamidinate rings via insertion of 2 and 3 equiv of diisopropylcarbodiimide into trimethylaluminum (TMA). The crystal structure for [CH3C(N(i)Pr)2]2 AlCH3 is reported. We have found that, although the first insertion is rapid at room temperature, the second and third insertions require refluxing above 70 degrees C. We have calculated the barrier heights for the first and second insertion and have found that this is due to a higher barrier for the migration of the methyl group in the second insertion. This higher barrier is the result of the lack of an exergic precoordination of the carbodiimide to the metal center, which facilitates the first insertion.