Heterolytic carbon-iodine bond cleavage by a palladium(I) metalloradical

T-Shaped Palladium and Platinum {MNO}10 Nitrosyl Complexes

The synthesis and characterization of a homologous series of T-shaped {MNO}10 nitrosyl complexes of the form [M(PR3)2(NO)]+ (M = Pd, Pt; R = tBu, Ad) are reported. These diamagnetic nitrosyls are obtained from monovalent or zerovalent precursors by treatment with NO and NO+, respectively, and are notable for distinctly bent M-NO angles of ∼123° in the solid state. Adoption of this coordination mode in solution is also supported by the analysis of isotopically enriched samples by 15N NMR spectroscopy. Effective oxidation states of M0/NO+ are calculated, and metal-nitrosyl bonding has been interrogated using DFT-based energy decomposition analysis techniques. While a linear nitrosyl coordination mode was found to be electronically preferred, the M-NO and P-M-P angles are inversely correlated to the extent that binding in this manner is prevented by steric repulsion between the bulky ancillary phosphine ligands.

Reversible Single-Electron-Transfer to Oxygen in a Stable N-Heterocyclic Carbene Palladium(I) Metalloradical

The chemical and electrochemical one-electron oxidation of [Pd(IPr)2] (1) leads to the formation of mononuclear palladium(I) complex [Pd(IPr)2][PF6] (2). This bench-stable metalloradical has been fully characterized and its structure confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. EPR and DFT studies confirm the localization of the unpaired electron onto the metal center. Low temperature NMR and EPR measurements reveal the ability of complex 2 to reversibly coordinate and reduce the dioxygen molecule, leading to the formation of a three-coordinate complex, [PdII(IPr)2(η1-O2)]+ (4), in which the unpaired electron has been transferred to the superoxido ligand.