Structural equilibrium (S=0) ⇄ (S=1)and inversion of the configuration of the seven-membered saturated metal-containing ring in four-coordinate pyrazolealdiminate metal chelates of nickel(II) based on tetradentate ligands

¹H and¹³C NMR, x-ray structural analysis, and magnetic moment measurements have shown that in 5-thio(seleno)pyrazolealdiminate complexes of nickel(II) based on tetradentate ligands containing the fragment, with n=2, flattening of the chelate unit takes place in solution and in the solid state. A similar structure in which the diamine metal-containing ring has the twist-chair conformation is observed for the crystals of the complexes with n=4. For the complexes with n=4 in solution at a temperature below –50°C, rapid (on the NMR time scale) interconversion of the flattened (P) (S=0) and pseudotetrahedral (T) (S=1) structures is observed, not accompanied by inversion of the tetrahedral configuration of the metal atom. At temperatures above –50°C, in addition to the low-barrier reactions (T) (P), conversion of the seven-membered saturated metal-containing ring and inversion of the tetrahedral configuration of the Ni atom with activation barriers of 48–51 kJ/mole are observed.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 327–335, February, 1990.