Rhodium Complexes with Pincer Diphosphite Ligands. Unusual Olefin in-Plane Coordination in Square-Planar Compounds

η2-Alkene Complexes of [Rh(PONOP-iPr)(L)]+ Cations (L = COD, NBD, Ethene). Intramolecular Alkene-Assisted Hydrogenation and Dihydrogen Complex [Rh(PONOP-iPr)(η-H2)]. Inorg Chem 2021;60:13903-13912. [PMID: 33570930 PMCID: PMC8456414 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c03687]

Rhodium-alkene complexes of the pincer ligand κ³-C₅H₃N-2,6-(OPⁱPr₂)₂ (PONOP-ⁱPr) have been prepared and structurally characterized: [Rh(PONOP-ⁱPr)(η²-alkene)][BAr^F₄] [alkene = cyclooctadiene (COD), norbornadiene (NBD), ethene; Ar^F = 3,5-(CF₃)₂C₆H₃]. Only one of these, alkene = COD, undergoes a reaction with H₂ (1 bar), to form [Rh(PONOP-ⁱPr)(η²-COE)][BAr^F₄] (COE = cyclooctene), while the others show no significant reactivity. This COE complex does not undergo further hydrogenation. This difference in reactivity between COD and the other alkenes is proposed to be due to intramolecular alkene-assisted reductive elimination in the COD complex, in which the η²-bound diene can engage in bonding with its additional alkene unit. H/D exchange experiments on the ethene complex show that reductive elimination from a reversibly formed alkyl hydride intermediate is likely rate-limiting and with a high barrier. The proposed final product of alkene hydrogenation would be the dihydrogen complex [Rh(PONOP-ⁱPr)(η²-H₂)][BAr^F₄], which has been independently synthesized and undergoes exchange with free H₂ on the NMR time scale, as well as with D₂ to form free HD. When the H₂ addition to [Rh(PONOP-ⁱPr)(η²-ethene)][BAr^F₄] is interrogated using pH₂ at higher pressure (3 bar), this produces the dihydrogen complex as a transient product, for which enhancements in the ¹H NMR signal for the bound H₂ ligand, as well as that for free H₂, are observed. This is a unique example of the partially negative line-shape effect, with the enhanced signals that are observed for the dihydrogen complex being explained by the exchange processes already noted.

Dehydropolymerisation of methylamine borane using highly active rhodium(iii) bis(thiophosphinite) pincer complexes: catalytic and mechanistic insights

The bis(thiophosphinite) pincer complexes [(^RPSCSP^R)Rh(py)(H)(Cl)] (^RPSCSP^R = C₆H₄–2,6-(SPR₂)₂ with R = ⁱPr, 2a and R = Ph, 2b) are highly active precatalysts for the dehydropolymerisation of methylamine borane.

A combined experimental and computational study to decipher complexity in the asymmetric hydrogenation of imines with Ru catalysts bearing atropisomerizable ligands

RuCl₂(P–OP)(N–N) complexes containing an atropisomerizable phosphine–phosphite and a chiral diamine are effective catalyst precursors for the asymmetric hydrogenation of N-aryl imines following an outer-sphere mechanism.

Rhodium and iridium complexes with a new scorpionate phosphane ligand

A straightforward synthesis of a new hybrid scorpionate ligand [(allyl)2B(CH2PPh2)(Pz)](-) ([A2BPN](-)) is reported. Coordination to rhodium resulted in square-planar complexes [Rh(κ(2)-A2BPN)(L)(L')] [L = L' = (1)/2cod (1,5-cyclooctadiene), CN(t)Bu, CO (6); L = CO, L' = NH3, pyridine, PPh3, PMe3] for which spectroscopic data and the molecular structure of [Rh(κ(2)-A2BPN)(CO)PPh3] (11) indicate the ligand to be κN,κP-bound to rhodium with two dangling free allyl groups. Studies in solution point out that the six-membered Rh-N-N-B-C- P metallacycle undergoes a fast inversion in all of them. The bis(carbonyl) complex 6 easily loses a CO group to give [{Rh(A2BPN)(CO)}2], a dinuclear compound in which two mononuclear subunits are brought together by two bridging allyl groups. Coordination to iridium is dominated by a tripodal κN,κP,η(2)-C═C binding mode in the TBPY-5 complexes [Ir(κ(3)-A2BPN)(L)(L')] [L = L' = (1)/2cod (3), CN(t)Bu (5), CO (7); L = CO, L' = PPh3 (13), PMe3 (14), H2C═CH2, (17), MeO2CC≡CCO2Me (dmad, 18)], as confirmed by the single-crystal structure determination of complexes 3 and 18. A fast exchange between the two allyl arms is observed for complexes having L = L' (3, 5, and 7), while those having CO and L ligands (14, 17, and 18) were found to be nonfluxional species. An exception is complex 13, which establishes an equilibrium with the SP-4 configuration. Protonation reactions on complexes 13 and 14 with HCl yielded the hydride complex [Ir(κ(2)-A2BPN)(CO)(Cl)(H)PPh3] (15) and the C-alkyl compound [ Ir{κ(3)-(allyl)B(CH2 CHCH3)(CH2PPh2)(Pz)}(Cl)(CO)PMe3] (16), respectively. The bis(isocyanide) complex 5 reacts with dmad to form [Ir(κ(2)-A2BPN)(CN(t)Bu)2(dmad)]. On the whole, the electronic density provided to the metal by the [A2BPN](-) ligand is very sensitive to the coordination mode. The basicity of the new ligand is similar to that of the Tp(Me2) ligand in the κN,κP mode but comparable to Tp if coordinated in the κN,κP,η(2)-C═C mode.

Carbonyl{3,3′-di-tert-butyl-5,5′-dimethoxy-2,2′-bis[(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaphospholan-2-yl)oxy]biphenyl-κ2P,P′}hydrido(triphenylphosphane-κP)rhodium(I) diethyl ether trisolvate

In the title compound, [RhH(C₇₄H₆₈O₈P₂)(C₁₈H₁₅P)(CO)]·3C₄H₁₀O, the CHP₃ coordination set at the Rh^I ion is arranged in a distorted trigonal–bipyramidal geometry with the P atoms adopting equatorial coordination sites and the C atom of the carbonyl ligand as well as the H atom adopting the axial sites. The asymmetric unit contains two very similar mol­ecules of the rhodium complex, two half-occupied diethyl ether mol­ecules and further diethyl ether solvent mol­ecules which could not be modelled successfully. Therefore contributions of the latter were removed from the diffraction data using the SQUEEZE procedure in PLATON [Spek (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. D65, 148–155].

Syntheses of PBP pincer iridium complexes: a supporting boryl ligand

We synthesized a PBP pincer ligand precursor 2 and demonstrated its complexation with iridium(I) to afford the coordinatively unsaturated [PBP](hydrido)chloroiridium complex 3 via B-H oxidative addition. The reaction of 3 with carbon monoxide produced [PBP](hydrido)chloro(carbonyl)iridium 7. The longer Ir-Cl bond length of 7 than that of 8 revealed a stronger sigma-donor ability of the PBP ligand than that of PCP. Complex 3 was also converted to [PBP](ethylene)iridium(I) complex 9 by the reaction with LiTMP under an ethylene atmosphere.