Ethylene Reactions of a [ReH(η2-BH4)(NO)(PPh3)2] Complex: Reductive Elimination of Ethane and Oxidative Coupling to Butadiene

Oxidation-induced coupling reactions of bi(metallacycloprop-1-ene) complexes

The feasibility of coupling of two carbene ligands of biscarbene complexes LnM(CR2)2 to form alkene complexes LnM(η2-R2CCR2) was predicted theoretically as early as 1982. However, until now, there appear still no reports on carbene coupling reactions of well-defined biscarbene complexes. This work reports oxidation-induced coupling reactions of bi(metallacycloprop-1-ene) complexes to give η4-butadiene complexes, a unique example of coupling of two carbene ligands of biscarbene complexes.

Three-Center M-H-B Bonds Are Strong Field Interactions. Synthesis and Characterization of M(CH2NMe2BH3)3 Complexes of Titanium, Chromium, and Cobalt

We describe new compounds of stoichiometry M(CH2NMe2BH3)3 (M = Ti, Cr, and Co), each of which contains three chelating boranatodimethylaminomethyl (BDAM) ligands. In all three compounds, the BDAM anion, which is isoelectronic and isostructural with the neopentyl group, is bound to the metal center at one end by a metal-carbon σ bond and at the other by one three-center M-H-B interaction. The crystal structures show that the d1 titanium(III) compound is trigonal prismatic (or eight-coordinate, if two longer-ranged M···H interactions with the BH3 groups are included), whereas the d3 chromium(III) compound and the d6 cobalt(III) compounds are both fac-octahedral. The Cr and Co compounds exhibit two rapid dynamic processes in solution: exchange between the Δ and Λ enantiomers and exchange of the terminal and bridging hydrogen atoms on boron. For the Co complex, the barrier for Δ/Λ exchange (ΔG⧧298 = 10.1 kcal mol-1) is significantly smaller than those seen in other octahedral cobalt(III) compounds; DFT calculations suggest that Bailar twist and dissociative pathways for Δ/Λ exchange are both possible mechanisms. The UV-vis absorption spectra of the cobalt(III) and chromium(III) species show that the ligand field splittings Δo caused by the M-H-B interactions are unexpectedly large, thus placing them high on the spectrochemical series (near ammonia and alkyl groups); their nephelauxetic effect is also large. The DFT calculations suggest that these properties of M-H-B interactions are in part a consequence of their three-center nature, which delocalizes electron density away from the metal center and reduces electron-electron repulsions.

Selective Dehydrogenative Coupling of Ethylene to Butadiene via an Iridacyclopentane Complex

An iridium complex is found to catalyze the selective dehydrogenative coupling of ethylene to 1,3-butadiene. The key intermediate, and a major resting state, is an iridacyclopentane that undergoes a surprisingly facile β-H elimination, enabled by a partial dechelation (κ³-κ²) of the supporting 3,5-dimethylphenyl-2,6-bis(oxazolinyl) ligand.

Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity of Co(II) and Ni(II) PCP Pincer Borohydride Complexes

The 15e square-planar complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)Cl] (2a) and [Co(PCP-tBu)Cl] (2b), respectively, react readily with NaBH4 to afford complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (4a) and [Co(PCP-tBu)(η2-BH4)] (4b) in high yields, as confirmed by IR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and elemental analysis. The borohydride ligand is symmetrically bound to the cobalt center in η2-fashion. These compounds are paramagnetic with effective magnetic moments of 2.0(1) and 2.1(1) μB consistent with a d7 low-spin system corresponding to one unpaired electron. None of these complexes reacted with CO2 to give formate complexes. For structural and reactivity comparisons, we prepared the analogous Ni(II) borohydride complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (5) via two different synthetic routes. One utilizes [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)Cl] (3) and NaBH4, the second one makes use of the hydride complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)H] (6) and BH3·THF. In both cases, 5 is obtained in high yields. In contrast to 4a and 4b, the borohydride ligand is asymmetrically bound to the nickel center but still in an η2-mode. [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (5) loses readily BH3 at elevated temperatures in the presence of NEt3 to form 6. Complexes 5 and 6 are both diamagnetic and were characterized by a combination of 1H, 13C{1H}, and 31P{1H} NMR, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Additionally, the structure of these compounds was established by X-ray crystallography. Complexes 5 and 6 react with CO2 to give the formate complex [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(OC(C=O)H] (7). The extrusion of BH3 from [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (4a) and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (5) with the aid of NH3 to yield the respective hydride complexes [Co(PCPMe-iPr)H] and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)H] (6) and BH3NH3 was investigated by DFT calculations showing that formation of the Ni hydride is thermodynamically favorable, whereas the formation of the Co(II) hydride, in agreement with the experiment, is unfavorable. The electronic structures and the bonding of the borohydride ligand in [Co(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (4a) and [Ni(PCPMe-iPr)(η2-BH4)] (5) were established by DFT computations.