Synthesis without solvent: consequences for mechanochemical reactivity

Solvents are so nearly omnipresent in synthetic chemistry that a classic question for their use has been: "What is the best solvent for this reaction?" The increasing use of mechanochemical approaches to synthesis-by grinding, milling, extrusion, or other means-and usually with no, or only limited, amounts of solvent, has raised an alternative question for the synthetic chemist: "What happens if there is no solvent?" This review focuses on a three-part answer to that question: when there is little change ("solvent-optional" reactions); when solvent needs to be present in some form, even if only in the amounts provided by liquid-assisted (LAG) or solvate-assisted grinding; and those cases in which mechanochemistry allows access to compounds that cannot be obtained from solution-based routes. The emphasis here is on inorganic and organometallic systems, including selected examples of mechanosynthesis and mechanocatalysis. Issues of mechanochemical depictions and the adequacy of LAG descriptions are also reviewed.

Barium tetraalkylaluminate complexes supported by the super-bulky hydrotris(pyrazolyl)borate ligand

A heteroleptic barium aminobenzyl complex [(Tp^Ad,iPr)Ba(o-CH₂C₆H₄-NMe₂)] (1) was obtained in excellent yield from a simple one-pot reaction. Treatment of [(Tp^Ad,iPr)Ba(o-CH₂C₆H₄-NMe₂)] (1) with two equivalents of AlR₃ (R = Me, Et) led to the formation of barium tetraalkylaluminate complexes [(Tp^Ad,iPr)Ba(AlR₄)]_n (R = Me, n = 2, 2; R = Et, n = 1, 3) as dimers or monomers in the solid state. The Tp^Ad,iPr ligand-free peralkylated barium complex [Ba(AlEt₄)₂]_n was isolated by the addition of ten equivalents of AlEt₃ under the same conditions. The donor-induced aluminate cleavage is not applicable when donor solvents are added to complexes 2 and 3. In the solution of complexes 2 and 3, the alkylaluminate moieties and Tp^Ad,iPr ligands show a rapid fluxional behavior in [D₈]toluene solution over the temperature range of -70 to 25 °C, without any significant decoalescence of the corresponding proton signals.

Synthesis, characterization and reactivity of potassium and barium complexes containing phosphane-borane stabilized methanides

The polymeric potassium complex [K{CH(PPh2BH3)2}]∞ (1) was prepared and used as a starting material for the syntheses of related N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmeda) and N,N,N',N',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (pmdta) ligated potassium derivatives [K{CH(PPh2BH3)2}(tmeda)2]∞ (2) and [K{CH(PPh2BH3)2}(pmdta)]2 (3). Salt metathesis reactions with [BaI2(thf)5] allowed the synthesis of the barium derivatives [BaI{CH(PPh2BH3)2}(thf)5] (5) and [Ba{CH(PPh2BH3)2}2(solv)2}] (solv = Et2O, thf) (6), which are more prone to subsequent reactions than the potassium derivatives. One of the resulting products, [Ba4O{CH(PPh2BH3)2}3{Ph2PCH(BH3)PPh2BH3}3] (7), which contains two different isomeric forms of the bis(borane) adduct of Ph2PCHPPh2, was isolated. The complexes were characterized by NMR techniques and single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements.

Bis(allyl)zinc revisited: sigma versus pi bonding of allyl coordination

The reinvestigation of two allyl zinc compounds, parent bis(allyl)zinc [Zn(C(3)H(5))(2)] (1) and 2-methallyl chloro zinc [Zn(C(4)H(7))Cl] (2), revealed two new coordination modes in the solid state for the allyl ligand, viz cis- and trans-μ(2)-η(1):η(1). These results call for modification of the conventional interpretation of zinc-allyl interactions. Computational results indicate that the classical η(3)-bonding mode of the allyl ligand is not favored in zinc compounds. A rare case of a zinc-olefin interaction in the dimer of [Zn(η(1)-C(3)H(5))(OC(C(3)H(5))Ph(2))] was found in the monoinsertion product of 1 with benzophenone.