Palladium and half sandwich ruthenium(II) complexes of selenated and tellurated benzotriazoles: Synthesis, structural aspects and catalytic applications

1-(Phenylselenomethyl)-1H-benzotriazole (L¹) and 1-(4-methoxyphenyltelluromethyl)-1H-benzotriazole (L²) have been synthesized by reacting 1-(chloromethyl)-1H-benzotriazole with in situ generated nucleophiles PhSe⁻ and ArTe⁻, respectively. The complexes of L¹ and L² with Pd(II) and Ru(II)(η⁶-p-cymene) have been synthesized. Proton, carbon-13, Se-77 and/or Te-125 NMR spectra authenticate both the ligands and their complexes. The single crystal structures of L¹, L² and RuCl(η⁶-p-cymene)(L)]PF₆] (L = L¹: 3, L = L²: 4) have been solved. The Ru-Se and Ru-Te bond lengths have been found 2.4801(11) and 2.6183(10) Å, respectively. The palladium complexes, PdCl₂(L)] (L = L¹: 1, L = L²: 2) have been explored for Heck and Suzuki-Miyaura C-C coupling reactions. The TON values are upto 95,000. The Ru-complexes have been found promising for catalytic oxidation of alcohols (TON ∼ 7.8-9.4 × 10⁴). The complexes of telluroether ligands are as efficient catalysts as those of selenoether ones and in fact better for catalytic oxidation.