Cesium Reduction of a Lithium Diamidochloroberyllate

Room temperature reaction of elemental cesium with the dimeric lithium chloroberyllate [{SiNDipp}BeClLi]2 [{SiNDipp} = {CH2SiMe2N(Dipp)}2, where Dipp = 2,6-di-isopropylphenyl, in C6D6 results in activation of the arene solvent. Although, in contrast to earlier observations of lithium and sodium metal reduction, the generation of a mooted cesium phenylberyllate could not be confirmed, this process corroborates a previous hypothesis that such beryllium-centered solvent activation also necessitates the formation of hydridoberyllium species. These observations are further borne out by the study of an analogous reaction performed in toluene, in which case the proposed generation of formally low oxidation state beryllium radical anion intermediates induces activation of a toluene sp3 C-H bond and the isolation of the polymeric cesium benzylberyllate, [Cs({SiNDipp}BeCH2C6H5)]∞.

Beryllium-centred C-H activation of benzene

Reaction of BeCl₂ with the dilithium diamide, [{SiN^Dipp}Li₂] ({SiN^Dipp} = {CH₂SiMe₂NDipp}₂), provides the dimeric chloroberyllate, [{SiN^DippBeCl}Li]₂, en route to the 2-coordinate beryllium amide, [SiN^DippBe]. Lithium or sodium reduction of [SiN^DippBe] in benzene, provides the relevant organoberyllate products, [{SiN^DippBePh}M] (M = Li or Na), via the presumed intermediacy of transient Be(I) radicals.

Ligand Influence on Structural and Spectroscopic Properties of Beryllium Oxocarboxylates

Aluminum-based adjuvants for vaccines and beryllium ions interact with the same immune receptor. The Be₄O core, which is also found in beryllium oxocarboxylates, has been proposed to be the binding species in the latter case. However, this is not proven due to a lack of suitable probes for the Be₄O moiety. Therefore, a versatile synthetic route to beryllium oxocarboxylates has been developed to investigate the steric and electronic influence of the ligands onto their molecular and spectroscopic properties. The oxocarboxylates exhibit extremely narrow line widths in ⁹Be NMR spectroscopy, and the chemical shift is only influenced by the sterics of the ligands. The mean variation of the atomic distances in the central Be₄O building block is extremely small over all investigated compounds, and even the C-C distances are only little perturbed by the properties of the ligands. Vibrational spectroscopy showed Be-O bands; however, further distinctions could not be drawn.

N-Heterocyclic carbene, carbodiphosphorane and diphosphine adducts of beryllium dihalides: synthesis, characterisation and reduction studies

Reaction of several N-heterocyclic carbenes, a carbodiphosphorane, and bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (DPPE) with [BeX2(OEt2)2] (X = Br or I) have yielded a variety of beryllium dihalide adduct complexes, all of which were crystallographically characterised. Attempts to reduce the compounds to low oxidation state beryllium complexes using a variety of reducing agents have been carried out, but were of limited success. However, reaction of [(IPr)BeBr2] (IPr = :C{(DipNCH)2}; Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) with the aluminium(i) heterocycle, [:Al(DipNacnac)] (DipNacnac = [HC(MeCNDip)2]-) afforded the adduct complex, [{(IPr)(Br)Be(μ-H)}2], while reduction of [(IPr)BeBr2] with potassium naphthalenide gave the beryllium naphthalenediyl complex, [(IPr)Be(C10H8)]. Furthermore, reaction of [{(DPPE)BeI2}∞], with [:Al(DipNacnac)] led to insertion of the Al centre of the heterocycle into a Be-I bond, and formation of a rare example of an Al-Be bonded complex, [(DPPE)(i)Be-Al(i)(DipNacnac)].

Ethylenediamine complexes of the beryllium halides and pseudo-halides

The suitability of ethylenediamine (en) as an alternative solvent to liquid ammonia in beryllium chemistry was evaluated. Therefore, BeF2, BeCl2, BeBr2, BeI2, [Be(NH3)4](N3)2, [Be(NH3)4](CN)2 and [Be(NH3)4](SCN)2 were reacted with ethylenediamine and analysed via NMR and IR spectroscopy. Additionally single crystal structures of [BeF2(en)]n, [Be(en)3]Cl2, [Be(en)3]Br2, [Be(en)2]I2·en, [Be(en)2](N3)2·en, [Be(en)2]4(SCN)7Cl and [Be3(OH)3(en)3][C2H9N2](SCN)4 were obtained. The anions were found to have a distinct influence on the solubility as well as on the species present in solution and the solid state, while ethylenediamine can act as mono- and bidentate ligand or as a crystal solvent.

Behavior of beryllium halides and triflate in acetonitrile solutions

The solution behavior of beryllium halides and triflate in acetonitrile was studied by NMR, IR and Raman spectroscopy. Thereby mononuclear units [(MeCN)2BeX 2] (X = Cl, Br, I, OTf) were identified as dominant species in these solutions. The solid state structure of [(MeCN)2Be(OTf)2] has been determined by X-ray diffraction. If only one equivalent of MeCN is used the dinuclear compounds [(MeCN)BeX 2]2 (X = Cl, Br, I) are formed. Partial halide and triflate dissociation into the monomeric complexes as well as the formation of hetero-halide complexes [(MeCN)2BeClBr], [(MeCN)2BeClI] and [(MeCN)2BeBrI] was observed.

Speciation of Be2+ in acidic liquid ammonia and formation of tetra- and octanuclear beryllium amido clusters

The hexa-μ₂-amido-tetraammine-tetraberyllium compounds [Be₄(NH₂)₆(NH₃)₄]X₂ (X = Cl, Br, I, CN, SCN, N₃) have been prepared from beryllium metal and NH₄X or [Be(NH₃)₄]X₂ in liquid ammonia at ambient temperature. The obtained compounds feature an adamantyl shaped complex cation, which was examined via X-ray diffraction, IR, Raman and NMR spectroscopy. The speciation in solution was studied via¹⁵N labeling experiments supplemented with quantum chemistry. Hereby, the intermediates [Be₂(NH₂)(NH₃)₆]³⁺ and [Be₃(NH₂)₃(NH₃)₆]³⁺ were identified. Reactivity studies provided bis(N-acetimidoylacetamidinato-N,N′)-beryllium(ii), when [Be₄(NH₂)₆(NH₃)₄]²⁺ was treated with acetonitrile. While the unprecedented octa-nuclear complex cation [Be₈O(NH₂)₁₂(C₅H₅N)₄]²⁺ was received from pyridine. This cluster proves that the [Be₄O]⁶⁺ core can be stabilized without bidentate O-donor ligands.

The boundaries of beryllium metal oxidation in acidic ammonia have been explored. This enabled the isolation of the tetra- and octa-nuclear beryllium amide complexes. The latter exhibits a completely new structural motive in coordination chemistry.

Beryllium coordination chemistry and its implications on the understanding of metal induced immune responses

The coordination chemistry of beryllium with ligands containing biologically relevant functional groups is discussed. The geometry, speciation and reactivity of these compounds, aids a better understanding of metal ion induced immune reactions.