Syntheses, structures and catalytic properties of new mononuclear terpyridine-manganese(II) complexes with tetraphenylimido-diphosphinate and diphenylphosphinate ligands

Questing for homoleptic mononuclear manganese complexes with monodentate O-donor ligands

Compounds containing Mn-O bonds are of utmost importance in biological systems and catalytic processes. Nevertheless, mononuclear manganese complexes containing all O-donor ligands are still rare. Taking advantage of the low tendency of the pentafluoroorthotellurate ligand (teflate, OTeF5) to bridge metal centers, we have synthesized two homoleptic manganese complexes with monomeric structures and an all O-donor coordination sphere. The tetrahedrally distorted MnII anion, [Mn(OTeF5)4]2-, can be described as a high spin d5 complex (S = 5/2), as found experimentally (magnetic susceptibility measurements and EPR spectroscopy) and using theoretical calculations (DFT and CASSCF/NEVPT2). The high spin d4 electronic configuration (S = 2) of the MnIII anion, [Mn(OTeF5)5]2-, was also determined experimentally and theoretically, and a square pyramidal geometry was found to be the most stable one for this complex. Finally, the bonding situation in both complexes was investigated by means of the Interacting Quantum Atoms (IQA) methodology and compared to that of hypothetical mononuclear fluoromanganates. Within each pair of [MnXn]2- (n = 4, 5) species (X = OTeF5, F), the Mn-X interaction is found to be comparable, therefore proving that the similar electronic properties of the teflate and the fluoride are also responsible for the stabilization of these unique species.

Diastereotopic groups in two new single-enanti-omer structures (R2)P(O)[NH-(+)CH(C2H5)(C6H5)] (R = OC6H5 and C6H5)

The crystal structures of two single-enanti-omer compounds, i.e. diphenyl [(R)-(+)-α-ethyl-benzyl-amido]-phosphate, C21H22NO3P or (C6H5O)2P(O)[NH-(R)-(+)CH(C2H5)(C6H5)] (I), and N-[(R)-(+)-α-ethyl-benz-yl]-P,P-di-phenyl-phosphinic amide, C21H22NOP or (C6H5)2P(O)[NH-R-(+)CH(C2H5)(C6H5)] (II), were studied. The different environments at the phospho-rus atoms, (O)2P(O)(N) and (C)2P(O)(N), allow the P=O/P-N bond strengths to be compared, as well as the N-H⋯O=P hydrogen-bond strengths, and P=O/N-H vibrations. The following characteristics related to diastereotopic C6H5O/C6H5 groups in I/II were considered: geometry parameters, contributions to the crystal packing, solution 13C/1H NMR chemical shifts, conformations, and NMR coupling constants. The phospho-rus-carbon coupling constants nJ PC (n = 2 and 3) in I and mJ PC (m = 1, 2, 3 and 4) in II were evaluated. For a comparative study, chiral analogous structures were retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and their geometries and conformations are discussed.