Structural Diversity in Alkali Metal Complexes of Sterically Demanding Carbazol-9-yl Ligands

π-Carbazolyl supported bis(alkyl) complexes of Sc, Y and La for α-olefin polymerization and hydrogenation

A series of new half-sandwich bis(alkyl) rare-earth metal complexes coordinated by a sterically demanding 1,3,6,8-tetra-tert-butyl-carbazol-9-yl ligand [tBu₄Carb]La(CH₂C₆H₅)₂(THF) (1-La), [tBu₄Carb]Ln(o-NMe₂C₆H₄CH₂)₂ (Ln = Sc (2-Sc), Y (2-Y), La (2-La), [tBu₄Carb]Ln(CH₂SiMe₃)₂(THF) (Ln = Sc (3-Sc), Y (3-Y)), were synthesized. 1-La, 2-La, and 2-Y were prepared by an alkane elimination protocol, while 2-Sc, 3-Sc, and 3-Y became accessible only when salt metathesis reactions of tBu₄CarbK with R₂Ln(THF)_n⁺[BPh₄]^- were employed. X-ray analysis revealed that in all complexes the carbazolyl ligand exhibits π-coordination with metal ions. 2-Sc and 3-Sc when activated with [Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] demonstrate excellent activity in α-olefin (octene-1, nonene-1, decene-1 and 1,1-diphenyl-but-1-ene) polymerization. When H₂ was used as a chain transfer agent (1 bar, rt) in the presence of 3-Sc/[Ph₃C][B(C₆F₅)₄] or 2-Y, 2-La olefin hydrogenation occurred with quantitative conversion.

Dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane mediated by Group 1 pincer complexes

Alkali metal carbazolido complexes are precatalysts for the dehydrogenation of Me₂NH·BH₃, where the cation plays a vital role in the reaction outcome.

Extremely bulky amide ligands in main group chemistry

The development of extremely sterically demanding, monodentate amide ligands facilitates the isolation of main group species with new and highly reactive coordination modes. An outstanding feature of these ligands is the ability to tune their steric demands. Reactivity investigations highlight the potential for small molecule activation chemistry and catalysis for these compounds.

Tuning coordination in s-block carbazol-9-yl complexes

1,3,6,8-Tetra-tert-butylcarbazol-9-yl and 1,8-diaryl-3,6-di(tert-butyl)carbazol-9-yl ligands have been utilized in the synthesis of potassium and magnesium complexes. The potassium complexes (1,3,6,8-tBu4carb)K(THF)4 (1; carb = C12H4N), [(1,8-Xyl2-3,6-tBu2carb)K(THF)]2 (2; Xyl = 3,5-Me2C6H3) and (1,8-Mes2-3,6-tBu2carb)K(THF)2 (3; Mes = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2) were reacted with MgI2 to give the Hauser bases 1,3,6,8-tBu4carbMgI(THF)2 (4) and 1,8-Ar2-3,6-tBu2carbMgI(THF) (Ar = Xyl 5, Ar = Mes 6). Structural investigations of the potassium and magnesium derivatives highlight significant differences in the coordination motifs, which depend on the nature of the 1- and 8-substituents: 1,8-di(tert-butyl)-substituted ligands gave π-type compounds (1 and 4), in which the carbazolyl ligand acts as a multi-hapto donor, with the metal cations positioned below the coordination plane in a half-sandwich conformation, whereas the use of 1,8-diaryl substituted ligands gave σ-type complexes (2 and 6). Space-filling diagrams and percent buried volume calculations indicated that aryl-substituted carbazolyl ligands offer a steric cleft better suited to stabilization of low-coordinate magnesium complexes.

Divalent heteroleptic ytterbium complexes--effective catalysts for intermolecular styrene hydrophosphination and hydroamination

New heteroleptic Yb(II)-amide species supported by amidinate and 1,3,6,8-tetra-tert-butylcarbazol-9-yl ligands [2-MeOC6H4NC(tBu)N(C6H3-iPr2-2,6)]YbN(SiMe3)2(THF) (6) and [1,3,6,8-tBu4C12H4N]Yb[N(SiMe3)2](THF)n (n = 1 (7), 2 (8)) were synthesized using the amine elimination approach. Complex 6 features an unusual κ(1)-N,κ(2)-O,η(6)-arene coordination mode of the amidinate ligand onto Yb(II). Complexes 7 and 8 represent the first examples of lanthanide complexes with π-coordination of carbazol-9-yl ligands. Complexes 6 and 7, as well as the amidinate-Yb(II)-amide [tBuC(NC6H3-iPr2-2,6)2]YbN(SiMe3)2(THF) (5), are efficient precatalysts for the intermolecular hydrophosphination and hydroamination of styrene with diphenylphosphine, phenylphosphine, and pyrrolidine to give exclusively the anti-Markovnikov monoaddition product. For both types of reaction, the best performances were observed with carbazol-9-yl complex 7 (TONs up to 92 and 48 mol/mol at 60 °C, respectively).