Si?H and C?H Activation by Transition Metal Complexes: A Step Towards Isolable Alkane Complexes?

The recognition of the fundamental contributions by G. A. Olah on the elucidation of the structure of nonclassical carbocations, in the form of the award of the Nobel prize for chemistry, has recently emphasized the importance of electron-deficient bonds in the understanding of chemical bonding in organic chemistry. In the field of coordination chemistry, the formulation of electron-deficient bonds has been used for some time to describe nonclassical interactions between atoms. Traditional ligands in coordination chemistry such as amines and phosphanes bond to metal centers through their lone pair of electrons. Synergistic bonding effects dominate in the coordination of π-bonded ligands such as alkenes. In the mid-1980s the discovery of dihydrogen complexes having side-on coordination of H₂ gave fresh impetus to transition metal chemistry as well as to the understanding of the interaction of σ-coordinating ligands with transition metals. In the meantime, transiton metal complexes can be obtained with a variety of σ-coordinated X-H fragments, and their mode of bonding can be understood by a common and quite general model. The chemistry of σ-bound silane ligands is particularly varied and well-investigated. These silane ligands enable the investigation of a large range of σ-coordinated metal complex fragments up to complete oxidative addition with cleavage of the Si? H bond and formation of silyl(hydrido) complexes, which has thus also widened our general understanding of the bonding of other σ-bound ligands. Whilst there is a large range of isolable and stable H₂ and SiR₄ complexes available, there are no such alkane analogues known at present. Only when the C? H bond is part of a ligand that is already directly bonded to the transition metal center will the resulting chelate effect stabilize this agostic C-H-M interaction. The complexation of SiH₄, the simplest heavier homologue of CH₄, was achieved recently. This is a further step towards the understanding of the factors which govern σ-complexation of ligands at transition metal centers.     

Deprotonation of C‐Alkyl Groups of Cationic Triruthenium Clusters Containing Cyclometalated C‐Alkylpyrazinium Ligands: Experimental and Computational Studies

The C‐alkyl groups of cationic triruthenium cluster complexes of the type [Ru₃(μ‐H)(μ‐κ²N¹,C² ‐L)(CO)₁₀]⁺ (HL represents a generic C‐alkyl‐N‐methylpyrazium species) have been deprotonated to give kinetic products that contain unprecedented C‐alkylidene derivatives and maintain the original edge‐bridged decacarbonyl structure. When the starting complexes contain various C‐alkyl groups, the selectivity of these deprotonation reactions is related to the atomic charges of the alkyl H atoms, as suggested by DFT/natural‐bond orbital (NBO) calculations. Three additional electronic properties of the C‐alkyl C? H bonds have also been found to correlate with the experimental regioselectivity because, in all cases, the deprotonated C? H bond has the smallest electron density at the bond critical point, the greatest Laplacian of the electron density at the bond critical point, and the greatest total energy density ratio at the bond critical point (computed by using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, QTAIM). The kinetic decacarbonyl products evolve, under appropriate reaction conditions that depend upon the position of the C‐alkylidene group in the heterocyclic ring, toward face‐capped nonacarbonyl derivatives (thermodynamic products). The position of the C‐alkylidene group in the heterocyclic ring determines the distribution of single and double bonds within the ligand ring, which strongly affects the stability of the neutral decacarbonyl complexes and the way these ligands coordinate to the metal atoms in the nonacarbonyl products. The mechanisms of these decacarbonylation processes have been investigated by DFT methods, which have rationalized the structures observed for the final products and have shed light on the different kinetic and thermodynamic stabilities of the reaction intermediates, thus explaining the reaction conditions experimentally required by each transformation.     

Post‐Modification of meso–meso‐Linked Porphyrin Arrays by Iridium and Rhodium Catalyses for Tuning of Energy Gap

Skillfully attached! meso–meso‐Linked diporphyrins can be efficiently and selectively functionalized with multiple unsaturated carboxylic acid groups through iridium and rhodium catalyses. This post‐modification strategy allows fine‐tuning of energy levels of each porphyrin unit.

     

Aldehyde‐Assisted Hydrogen Transfer during the Formation of Hydride–Iridafurans from Alkynes and Aldehydes

The bis(ethylene) Ir^I complex [TpIr(C₂H₄)₂] ( 1 ; Tp=hydrotris(3,5‐dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) reacts with two equivalents of aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of one equivalent of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) with ultimate formation of hydride iridafurans of the formula [TpIr(H){C(R¹)?C(R²)C(R³)O }] (R¹=R²=CO₂Me; R³=alkyl, aryl; 3 ). Several intermediates have been observed in the course of the reaction. It is proposed that the key step of metallacycle formation is a C? C coupling process in the undetected Ir^I species [TpIr{η¹‐O‐R³C(?O)H}(DMAD)] ( A ) to give the trigonal‐bipyramidal 16 e^? Ir^III intermediates [TpIr{C(CO₂Me)?C(CO₂Me)C(R³)(H)O }] ( C ), which have been trapped by NCMe to afford the adducts 11 (R³=Ar). If a second aldehyde acts as the trapping reagent for these species, this ligand acts as a shuttle in transfering a hydrogen atom from the γ‐ to the α‐carbon atom of the iridacycle through the formation of an alkoxide group. Methyl propiolate (MP) can be used instead of DMAD to regioselectively afford the related iridafurans. These reactions have also been studied by DFT calculations.     

Synthesis and Insertion Chemistry of Mixed Tether Uranium Metallocene Complexes

The synthesis of mixed tethered alkyl uranium metallocenes has been investigated by examining the reactivity of the bis(tethered alkyl) metallocene [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂‐κC)₂U] ( 1 ) with substrates that react with only one of the U? C linkages. The effect of these mixed tether coordination environments on the reactivity of the remaining U? C bond has been studied by using CO insertion chemistry. One equivalent of azidoadamantane (AdN₃) reacts with 1 to yield the mixed tethered alkyl triazenido complex [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂‐κC)U(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂‐CH₂NNN‐Ad‐κ²N^1,3)]. Similarly, a single equivalent of CS₂ reacts with 1 to form the mixed tethered alkyl dithiocarboxylate complex [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂‐κC)U(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂‐ CH₂C(S)₂‐κ²S,S′)], a reaction that constitutes the first example of CS₂ insertion into a U⁴⁺? C bond. Complex 1 reacts with one equivalent of pyridine N‐oxide by C? H bond activation of the pyridine ring to form a mixed tethered alkyl cyclometalated pyridine N‐oxide complex [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂‐κC)(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₃)U(C₆H₄NO‐κ²C,O)]. The remaining (η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂‐κC)^2? ligand in each of these mixed tethered species show reactivity towards CO and tethered enolate ligands form by insertion. Subsequent rearrangement have been identified in [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₃)U(C₅H₄NO‐κ²C,O)(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂C(?CH₂)O‐κO)] and [(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂CH₂NNN‐Ad‐κ²N^1,3)U(η⁵‐C₅Me₄SiMe₂C(?CH₂)O‐κO)].