Tetraphosphinitoresorcinarene Complexes: Cationic Silver(I) and Copper(I) Halide Complexes as Mercurate(II) Anion Receptors

A Versatile Approach to Access Trimetallic Complexes Based on Trisphosphinite Ligands

A straightforward method for the preparation of trisphosphinite ligands in one step, using only commercially available reagents (1,1,1-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethane and chlorophosphines) is described. We have made use of this approach to prepare a small family of four trisphosphinite ligands of formula [CH3C{(C6H4OR2)3], where R stands for Ph (1a), Xyl (1b, Xyl = 2,6-Me2-C6H3), iPr (1c), and Cy (1d). These polyfunctional phosphinites allowed us to investigate their coordination chemistry towards a range of late transition metal precursors. As such, we report here the isolation and full characterization of a number of Au(I), Ag(I), Cu(I), Ir(III), Rh(III) and Ru(II) homotrimetallic complexes, including the structural characterization by X-ray diffraction studies of six of these compounds. We have observed that the flexibility of these trisphosphinites enables a variety of conformations for the different trimetallic species.

Montreal Medal Award Lecture — Coordination chemistry of molecular bowls: Ligands and their complexes derived from resorcinarenes

A review is given of the design, synthesis, structures, and properties of octadentate or tetradentate ligands and their coordination compounds, based on the bowl-like resorcinarene skeleton.Key words: resorcinarene, coordination, phosphine, thiophosphinate, polymer.

Structure and Dynamics of Tetrakis(thiophosphinato)resorcinarene Complexes of Silver(I), Gold(I), and Palladium(II)

The coordination chemistry of the tetrakis(thiophosphinato)resorcinarene sulfur-donor ligands [(C6H2CH{CH2CH2Ph})4{OC(O)R}4{OP(=S)Ph2}4] (L), where R = OCH2Ph, 4-C6H4CH3, C6H11, C4H3S, or OCH2CCH, is reported. Both silver(I) and gold(I) form cationic complexes of the type [LM2]2+, in which the ligand acts as a bis(chelate) in forming complexes with linear S-M-S (M = Ag or Au) stereochemistry. Gold(I) also forms the unusual complex [L(AuCl)2][LAu2]2+, which forms a supramolecular polymer through intermolecular aurophilic attractions. Palladium(II) forms the complex [LPd2Cl2(mu-Cl)2], in which the dipalladium(II) unit extends the natural bowl structure of the resorcinarene. The solid-state and solution conformations of the complexes, as determined by X-ray structure determination and NMR spectroscopy, respectively, are similar, but several complexes were found to exhibit dynamic behavior in solution, involving either conformational mobility of the resorcinarene unit or intermolecular ligand exchange.

Heptametallic Bowl-Shaped Complexes Derived from Conjugated Schiff-Base Macrocycles: Synthesis, Characterization, and X-ray Crystal Structures

The reaction of chelating conjugated macrocycles 1a-c with Zn(OAc)2 gives bowl-shaped heptanuclear Zn complexes featuring Zn in tetrahedral, octahedral, and square-pyramidal geometries. Crystallographic and NMR results indicate that vacant Zn coordination sites within the bowl may be accessed, suggesting that these coordination complexes may be used as mimics for Zn fingers and carbonic anhydrase.

Self-Assembly, Structures, and Solution Dynamics of Emissive Silver Metallacycles and Helices

Reactions of 9,10-bis(diphenylphosphino)anthracene (PAnP) and AgX (X = OTf-, ClO4-, PF6-, and BF4-) led to luminescent Ag-PAnP complexes with rich structural diversity. Helical polymers [Ag(mu-PAnP)(CH3CN)X]n (X = OTf-, ClO4-, and PF6-) and discrete binuclear [Ag2(mu-PAnP)2(CH3CN)4](PF6)2, trinuclear [Ag3(mu-PAnP)3 supersetBF4](BF4)2, and tetranuclear [Ag4(mu-PAnP)4 superset(ClO4)2](ClO4)2 metallacycles were isolated from different solvents. The tri- and tetranuclear metallacycles exhibited novel puckered-ring and saddlelike structures. Variable-temperature (VT) 31P{1H}-NMR spectroscopy of the complexes was solvent dependent. The dynamics in CD3CN involve two species, but the exchange processes in CD2Cl2 are more complicated. A ring-opening polymerization was proposed for the exchange mechanism in CD3CN.

Tetraphosphinite Resorcinarene Complexes: Silver(I) Capsule Complexes

Resorcinarene tetraphosphinite ligands, P4, react with silver(I) trifluoroacetate or silver(I) triflate, AgX, to give the corresponding [Ag4X4(P4)] complexes. The resorcinarene skeleton in these complexes adopts a boat conformation with the silver(I) phosphinite units on the horizontal, rather than the upright, arene units of the resorcinarene. The [Ag4X4(P4)] complexes react with free P4 ligand to yield the [Ag2X2(P4)] or [AgX(P4)] complexes, which are characterized in solution by NMR spectroscopy to have a conformation opposite to that of the [Ag4X4(P4)] complexes; the silver(I) phosphinite groups are on the upright arene rings of the resorcinarene "boat" instead of the horizontal arene units. There is an easy equilibrium between these complexes. When X = triflate, the [Ag4X4(P4)] complexes disproportionate and add aqua ligands during slow crystallization to give "capsule complexes", which are characterized crystallographically as [Ag10(O3SCF3)10(OH2)6(P4)2], [Ag10(O3SCF3)6(OH2)8(P4)2][O3SCF3]4, or [Ag13(O3SCF3)13(OH2)7(P4)2] depending on the resorcinarene tetraphosphinite ligand P4 used. These unusual capsule complexes are formed by the tail-to-tail self-assembly of pairs of [Ag4(P4)]4+ units linked by additional silver ions that bind to the phenyl substituents of one resorcinarene through {Ag(eta2-C6H5)}+ binding and to the bridging triflate ligands, aqua ligands, or both of the other resorcinarene unit.