Early/Late Heteronuclear Complexes Bridged by Bifunctional Phosphorus-Based Ligands

Substituted bifunctional phosphorus-based ligands HX(CRR') n PR"H (or -PR" 2 ) [where X = O, S, NR', (substituted) cyclopentadienyl; n = 1, 2, 3; R, R', R" = alkyl, aryl, H] were employed as bridging ligands in the synthesis of early/late bridged transition metal complexes. Synthetic routes to the bifunctional ligands were also developed. First, mononuclear complexes, such as [TpZr(OCH 2 PPh 2 ) 3 ] (Tp = trispyrazolylborato), [Cp 2 Zr(1-O-2-PHR-C 6 H 10 )(Me)] (R = 2,4,6-Pr i 3 C 6 H 2 (Tipp)), [Cp 2 Zr(SCH 2 CH 2 PHR) 2 ] (R = Ph, Mes, Tipp), and phosphinoferrocene derivatives, were prepared. These complexes are suitable precursors for the introduction of a second metal (as in, for example, [TpZr( w -OCH 2 PPh 2 ) 3 Mo(CO) 3 ]).     

Electrochemical Behavior of Ce(IV)/Ce(III) Couple in N,N-Di(2-ethylhexyl)-n-butanamide (DEHBA), N,N-Di(2-ethylhexyl)-iso-butanamide (DEHiBA), and N,N-Di(2-ethylhexyl)-3,3-dimethyl Butanamide (DEHDMBA)

In this work we report on the electrochemical behavior of Ce(IV)/Ce(III) redox couple in pure N,N-dialkyl amides (N,N-DA), namely N,N-di(2-ethylhexyl)-n-butanamide (DEHBA), N,N-di(2-ethylhexyl)-iso-butanamide (DEHiBA), and N,N-di(2-ethylhexyl)-3,3-dimethyl butanamide (DEHDMBA) equilibrated with nitric aqueous solutions as an entry to the direct electrochemical characterization of plutonium in these extractants. Ce(IV)/Ce(III) redox process was used as a model. Its potential (E_1/2≅1.02 V/SCE) is not affected by the temperature and the nature of the N,N-DA and this clearly indicates that the functionalities of these extractants produce the same relative effect on both +IV and +III oxidation states of the cerium cation. Linear variations of the current intensity of the reduction peak of Ce(IV) with the concentration of Ce(IV)/N,N-DAs/HNO₃(5 M) solutions were obtained from cyclic voltammograms recorded at 25 °C and 40 °C. Due to the poor definition of the voltammograms in DEHiBA and DEHDMBA, such characterization allows only the evaluation of the performances of the chemical extraction of Ce(IV) from aqueous nitric acid solution by the undiluted DEHBA. To our knowledge, the electrochemical behavior of Ce(IV)/Ce(III) in N,N-DAs was not previously studied and our findings will for sure open the door for further investigations in this field.     

N,N, N′, N′‐Tetrakis(diphenylphosphanyl)‐1, 3‐diaminobenzene as a Bis‐chelate Ligand in [1, 3‐{cis‐Mo(CO)4(PPh2)2N}2C6H4]

1, 3‐Diaminobenzene reacts readily with PPh₂Cl to give N, N, N′, N′‐tetrakis(diphenylphosphanyl)‐1, 3‐diaminobenzene ( 1 ) in excellent yield. The dinuclear complex [1, 3‐{cis‐Mo(CO)₄(PPh₂)₂N}₂C₆H₄] ( 2 ) is obtained in high yield from 1 and cis‐[Mo(CO)₄(NCEt)₂]. Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized by NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P) and by crystal structure determination. The latter shows the formation of a bis‐chelate complex with Mo‐P‐N‐P four‐membered rings.     

Oligomerization of α-olefins by the dimeric nickel bisamido complex [Ni{1-N(PMes2)-2-N(μ-PMes2)C6H4-κN,N′,P,-κP′}]2 activated by methylalumoxane (MAO)

The reaction of Li₂[1,2-{N(PMes₂)}₂C₆H₄], formed in situ from n-BuLi and the corresponding amines, with 1 equiv. of [NiBr₂(DME)] gives [Ni{1-N(PMes₂)-2-N(μ-PMes₂)C₆H₄-κ³N,N′,P-κ¹P′}]₂ (1). After activation by methylalumoxane (MAO), 1 is a highly active catalyst in the oligomerization and isomerization of α-olefins such as ethene, propene, isobutene, 1-hexene and 1,5-hexadiene. For ethene oligomerization turnover frequencies (TOFs) range from 3000 to 79015 h⁻¹, depending on the reaction conditions. The TOF for propene oligomerization reaches 1 190 730 h⁻¹. To our knowledge, catalyst 1, activated by MAO, is the most active catalyst for the oligomerization of propene and outperforms the best known complexes for this reaction. In the reactions with 1-hexene, 1,5-hexadiene and isobutene dimerization and isomerization products were observed.