Titanium and zirconium chloro, oxo and alkyl derivatives containing silyl-cyclopentadienyl ligands. Synthesis and characterisation

The reaction of the tetramethylcyclopentadiene-silyl substituted derivative C₅Me₄(SiMe₃)(SiMe₂Cl) with MCl₄ afforded the trichloro mono-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl complexes M(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂Cl)Cl₃ [M=Ti (1), Zr (2)] with selective elimination of SiMe₃Cl. Compound 1 reacts with deoxygenated water in methylene chloride, with the evolution of HCl, to give the dinuclear titanium compound {Ti[μ-(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂O-κO)]Cl₂}₂ (3), which was converted into the μ-oxo complex {Ti[μ-(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂O-κO)]Cl}₂(μ-O) (4) by a further hydrolysis reaction which occurred when a solution of 3 in toluene was refluxed for a long period of time in the air. Depending on the size of the alkyl ligand, reactions of the mononuclear compound 1 with an appropriate alkylating reagent rendered the peralkylated Ti(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂R)R₃ [R=Me (5), CH₂Ph (6)] or partially alkylated {Ti[(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂(CH₂SiMe₃)]Cl(CH₂SiMe₃)₂} (7) compounds by a salt metathesis route. Attempts to synthesise a partially methylated or benzylated complex were unsuccessful. Treatment of the dinuclear compound 3 with four equivalents of MgClMe yielded the tetramethyl derivative {Ti[μ-(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂O-κO)]Me₂}₂ (8), while the same reaction carried out with MgCl(CH₂Ph) or Mg(CH₂Ph)₂·2THF gave the chloro-benzyl derivative {Ti[μ-(η⁵-C₅Me₄SiMe₂O-κO)]Cl(CH₂Ph)}₂ (9) as an equimolar mixture of diastereomers, regardless of the molar ratio of the alkylating reagent used. All of the new compounds were characterised by elemental analysis and NMR spectroscopy.