Coordination versus Coupling of Dicyanamide in Molybdenum and Manganese Pyrazole Complexes

1,2-Azolylamidino ruthenium(II) complexes with DMSO ligands: electro- and photocatalysts for CO2 reduction

New 1,2-azolylamidino complexes fac-[RuCl(DMSO)3(NHC(R)az*-κ2N,N)]OTf [R = Me (2), Ph (3); az* = pz (pyrazolyl, a), indz (indazolyl, b)] are synthesized via chloride abstraction from their corresponding precursors cis,fac-[RuCl2(DMSO)3(az*H)] (1) after subsequent base-catalyzed coupling of the appropriate nitrile with the 1,2-azole previously coordinated. All the compounds are characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and IR spectroscopy. Those derived from MeCN are also characterized by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical studies showed several reduction waves in the range of -1.5 to -3 V. The electrochemical behavior in CO2 media is consistent with CO2 electrocatalytic reduction. The catalytic activity expressed as [icat(CO2)/ip(Ar)] ranged from 1.7 to 3.7 for the 1,2-azolylamidino complexes at voltages of ca. -2.7 to -3 V vs. ferrocene/ferrocenium. Controlled potential electrolysis showed rapid decomposition of the Ru catalysts. Photocatalytic CO2 reduction experiments using compounds 1b, 2b and 3b carried out in a CO2-saturated MeCN/TEOA (4 : 1 v/v) solution containing a mixture of the catalyst and [Ru(bipy)3]2+ as the photosensitizer under continuous irradiation (light intensity of 150 mW cm-2 at 25 °C, λ > 300 nm) show that compounds 1b, 2b and 3b allowed CO2 reduction catalysis, producing CO and trace amounts of formate. The combined turnover number for the production of formate and CO is ca. 100 after 8 h and follows the order 1b < 2b ≈ 3b.

The effect of anions in the synthesis and structure of pyrazolylamidino copper(II) complexes

Six new pyrazolylamidino Cu(II) complexes are synthesized directly from the reactions of Cu(X)₂ salts (X = ClO₄^-, BF₄^-, or Cl^-) and pyrazole (pzH) in nitrile solution (RCN, R = Me or Et) at 298 K via the metal-mediated coupling of RCN with pzH: [Cu(HNC(R)pz)₂(X)₂] (X = ClO₄^- or BF₄^-, R = Me, 1 or 7 and Et, 2 or 8, respectively) and dichloro Cu(II) complexes [Cu₂Cl₂(μ-Cl)₂(HNC(Me)pz)₂] (3) and [CuCl₂(HNC(Et)pz)] (4). Four more new complexes, [Cu₂(μ-Cl)₂(HNC(Me)pz)₂(pzH)₂][X]₂ (X = ClO₄^-, 5 and BF₄^-, 9) and [Cu₂(μ-Cl)₂(HNC(Et)pz)₂(pzH)₂(X)₂] (X = ClO₄^-, 6 and BF₄^-, 10), are obtained indirectly from the anion substitution reaction with Cl^- ions in 1 and 7, and 2 and 8, respectively. All complexes are characterized by EA, FTIR, UV-vis and EPR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallographic analyses. HNC(Et)pz or pzH is unobserved in both the nitrile-exchange reaction of 2 to d₆-1 and the anion-substitution reaction of 2 to d₆-5 in the CD₃CN solution. The ¹H NMR results reveal that the pzH-RCN coupling is intramolecular and reversible on a Cu(II) center. The crystal structures of these complexes show diverse supramolecular assemblies through imino NH⋯anion hydrogen bonds and pyrazolylamidino pz-pz (π⋯π) and pz-Cu(II) (π⋯metal) interactions. EPR results suggest weak magnetic couplings between Cu(II) centers in the polynuclear Cu(II) complexes. The yield and rate of the formation of 1 are higher in the reaction of Cu(ClO₄)₂ with a 4-fold molar excess of pzH compared with a 2-fold excess, indicating that [Cu(pzH)₄]²⁺ is the more active species for pzH-RCN coupling. The highest rate for the formation of 1 is achieved when [Cu(pzH)₄(ClO₄)₂] is used in MeCN solution. Thus, a plausible synthetic path for synthesizing pyrazolylamidino Cu(II) complexes is established. An intermediate species, [Cu(HNC(Me)pz)₂(pzH)₂][ClO₄]₂ (1a), is proposed for the synthetic process based on spectroscopic studies and DFT calculations. The reaction of [Cu(pzH)₄X₂] (X = ClO₄^-, Cl^-, NO₃^-, or BF₄^-) in MeCN solution suggests that the lability of coordinated anions upon nitrile substitution affects the rate of the formation of bis-pyrazolylamidino Cu(II) complexes.

Luminescent rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes with pyrazolylamidino ligands: photophysical, electrochemical, and computational studies

New pyrazolylamidino complexes fac-[ReCl(CO)3(NH[double bond, length as m-dash]C(Me)pz*-κ(2)N,N)] (pz*H = pyrazole, pzH; 3,5-dimethylpyrazole, dmpzH; indazole, indzH) and fac-[ReBr(CO)3(NH[double bond, length as m-dash]C(Ph)pz*-κ(2)N,N)] are synthesized via base-catalyzed coupling of the appropriate nitrile with pyrazole, or via metathesis by halide abstraction with AgBF4 from a bromido pyrazolylamidino complex and the subsequent addition of LiCl. In order to study both the influence of the substituents present at the pyrazolylamidino ligand, and that of the "sixth" ligand in the complex, photophysical, electrochemical, and computational studies have been carried out on this series and other complexes previously described by us, of the general formula fac-[ReL(CO)3(NH[double bond, length as m-dash]C(R')pz*-κ(2)N,N)](n+) (L = Cl, Br; R' = Me, Ph, n = 0; or L = NCMe, dmpzH, indzH, R' = Me, n = 1). All complexes exhibit phosphorescent decays from a prevalently (3)MLCT excited state with quantum yields (Φ) in the range between 0.007 and 0.039, and long lifetimes (τ∼ 8-1900 ns). The electrochemical study reveals irreversible reduction for all complexes. The oxidation of the neutral complexes was found to be irreversible due to halido-dissociation, whereas the cationic species display a reversible process implying the ReI/ReII couple. Density functional and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations provide a reasonable trend for the values of emission energies in line with the experimental photophysical data, supporting the (3)MLCT based character of the emissions.

Amidino ligands obtained from the coupling of 1-methylcytosine and nitrile: a new method to incorporate biomolecules into luminescent Re(CO)3 complexes

Amidino chelating ligands obtained from the coupling of 1-methylcytosine with nitriles allow the incorporation of biologically relevant substrates into Re(CO)₃ complexes.

Homo- and heteropolymetallic 3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazolate manganese and rhenium complexes

Heteropolymetallic complexes with pyridylpyrazolates bridging Mn and Na or K are tetrametallic and contain bridging pyridylpyrazolates with an unprecedented coordination mode, whereas the Mn/Li complex is bimetallic.

Metal–ligand bifunctional reactivity and catalysis of protic N-heterocyclic carbene and pyrazole complexes featuring β-NH units

The metal–ligand bifunctional cooperation of protic N-heterocyclic carbene and pyrazole complexes bearing an NH unit at the position β to the metal is surveyed.