Palladium(II) iminophosphine complexes

New complexes of general formula [PdCl₂(NP)] (NP = o-Ph₂PC₆H₄-CH=N-R; R = Me, ⁱPr, ^tBu, NH-Me) and [Pd(NP)₂](ClO₄)₂ (NP = o-Ph₂PC₆H₄-CH=N-R; R = Me, ⁱPr) have been prepared by directly reacting the precursor PdCl₂(PhCN)₂ with iminophosphines (NP) in 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratios respectively. When the chloro-complex [PdCl₂(o-Ph₂PC₆H₄-CH=Nⁱ-Pr)] was treated with CF₃SO₃Ag in MeCN, the labile complex [Pd(o-Ph₂PC₆H₄-CH=Nⁱ-Pr)(MeCN)₂](CF₃SO₃)₂ was obtained in good yield. The reactivity of the new precursor towards a variety of neutral N- and P-donor ligands (py, PMe₂Ph, PMePh₂, PEt₃, bipy, dppe, 2-thpy) has been studied. The new complexes were characterized by partial elemental analyses and by spectroscopy (i.r., ¹H- and ³¹P-n.m.r.). The molecular structure of the aquo-complex [Pd(NP)(2-thpy)(H₂O)](CF₃SO₃)₂ has been determined by a single-crystal diffraction study, showing that the iminophosphine acts as a chelating ligand with coordination around the palladium atom slightly distorted from square-planar geometry.