Effect of excess halide on the palladium‐catalyzed insertion‐triggered radical copolymerization of methyl acrylate and 1‐hexene

[Pd₂(μ‐Cl)₂(C₆F₅)₂(tht)₂] ( 1 ) is a very efficient initiator of the radical polymerization of methyl acrylate, but it is not active in the polymerization of methyl methacrylate or in the copolymerization with 1‐hexene. The addition of an excess of NBu₄Cl to solutions of [Pd₂(μ‐Cl)₂(C₆F₅)₂(tht)₂] ( 1 ) provides an initiator system that copolymerizes methyl acrylate and 1‐hexene by an insertion‐triggered radical mechanism. Random copolymers are obtained with 11% incorporation of 1‐hexene in moderate yields (about 35%). Studies of the decomposition products obtained after the first insertion of methyl acrylate in the Pd? C₆F₅ bond of 1 show that the addition of excess halide in the presence of monomer favors the homolytic cleavage of the Pd? C bond, and the generation of the radicals that are active species in the polymerization, versus alternative evolution pathways. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5682–5691, 2006     

The effect of polyether terminal chains in the liquid crystalline behavior of ortho-palladated complexes

A series of benzylideneanilines bearing terminal polyether chains, HL (HL = R-C₆H₄-CHN-C₆H₄-R′: R = OC₈H₁₇, R′ = O(CH₂CH₂O)₂C₂H₅; R = O(CH₂CH₂O)₂C₂H₅, R′ = OC₈H₁₇; R = R′ = O(CH₂CH₂O)₂C₂H₅; R = OC₁₂H₂₅, R′ = O(CH₂CH₂O)₃C₂H₅; R = O(CH₂CH₂O)₃C₂H₅, R′ = OC₁₂H₂₅; R = R′ = O(CH₂CH₂O)₃C₂H₅) have been prepared. Their dinuclear, [Pd(μ-X)L]₂ (X = OAc, Cl, Br, SC₈), [Pd₂(μ-SCn)(μ-X)L₂] (X = OAc, Cl; n = 8, 2) and mononuclear orthopalladated derivatives, Pd(acac)L, Pd(Ala)L, are reported and their mesogenic properties are compared with those of the analogous compounds with alkoxy chains. In general a great lowering in the melting points is produced for all the products. The free ligands and the alanine complexes are not liquid crystals. The chloro-bridged complexes bearing alkoxy and short polyether chains (O(CH₂CH₂O)₂C₂H₅) show the larger improvement of mesogenic properties. Longer polyether chains (O(CH₂CH₂O)₃C₂H₅) result usually in a destabilization of the mesophases. If only polyether chains are present, the destabilization is important regardless of the chain length. The ability of these molecules as ionic extractants and transporters was qualitatively evaluated for the more propitious cis-dinuclear complexes, which in fact showed some extracting ability, modest but improved compared to the free ligands.     

Synthesis and structure of neutral and cationic pentahaloarylpalladium(II) isonitrile complexes

Complexes of the types (a) trans- and cis-[Pd(C₆X₅)₂ (CNR)₂], (b) trans- [Pd(C₆X₅)Cl(CNR)₂] and (c) [Pd(C₆X₅)(CNR)₃]ClO₄ (X = F or Cl;R = Bu^t cyclohexyl or p-tolyl) have been made by replacement of the tetrahydrothiophen or Cl groups of appropriate precursors by isonitrile. Their structures have been assigned on the basis of their IR and ¹H NMR spectra.     

Dinuclear azolato-bridged complexes of the nickel group metals with haloaryl ligands: a reinvestigation of their behavior in solution

A reinvestigation of the NMR spectra of the complexes (NBu4)2[M2(mu-LL)2R4] (M = Pd, Ni, Pt, LL = pyrazolate (pz), 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate (dmpz), 3-methylpyrazolate (mpz), indazolate (indz), R = C6F5; M = Pd, LL = pz, dmpz, mpz, indz, R = 2,4,6-C6F3H2) shows that the boat-shaped dimeric structures of their anions are quite stable in solution, and the previously proposed fast equilibria or dissociations to give species such as [R2M(N-N)(acetone)]-, [R2M(acetone)2] + 2dmpz-, or [R2M(N1-N2)(acetone)]- + [R2M(N2-N1)(acetone)]- in no case occur. A mixture of the two diastereoisomers (head-to-head, HH, and head-to-tail, HT) is present for the asymmetrically substituted azolates (mpz and indz), in a ratio ranging from 1:7 to 1:30 for the different complexes. Strong through-space coupling between the endo ortho fluorine nuclei of different MR2 fragments is observed in the 19F NMR spectra of these diastereoisomers whose boatlike structures place these atoms at short distances.     

In Situ Generation of ArCu from CuF2 Makes Coupling of Bulky Aryl Silanes Feasible and Highly Efficient

A bimetallic system of Pd/CuF₂, catalytic in Pd and stoichiometric in Cu, is very efficient and selective for the coupling of fairly hindered aryl silanes with aryl, anisyl, phenylaldehyde, p‐cyanophenyl, p‐nitrophenyl, or pyridyl iodides of conventional size. The reaction involves the activation of the silane by Cu^II, followed by disproportionation and transmetalation from the Cu^I(aryl) to Pd^II, upon which coupling takes place. Cu^III formed during disproportionation is reduced to Cu^I(aryl) by excess aryl silane, so that the CuF₂ system is fully converted into Cu^I(aryl) and used in the coupling. Moreover, no extra source of fluoride is needed. Interesting size selectivity towards coupling is found in competitive reactions of hindered aryl silanes. Easily accessible [PdCl₂(IDM)(AsPh₃)] (IDM = 1,3‐dimethylimidazol‐2‐ylidene) is by far the best catalyst, and the isolated products are essentially free from As or Pd (<1 ppm). The mechanistic aspects of the process have been experimentally examined and discussed.     

[Pd(Fmes)2(tmeda)]: A Case of Intermittent C?H⋅⋅⋅F?C Hydrogen‐Bond Interaction in Solution

The X‐ray structure of the title compound [Pd(Fmes)₂(tmeda)] (Fmes=2,4,6‐tris(trifluoromethyl)phenyl; tmeda=N,N,N′,N′‐tetramethylethylenediamine) shows the existence of uncommon C? H???F? C hydrogen‐bond interactions between methyl groups of the TMEDA ligand and ortho‐CF₃ groups of the Fmes ligand. The ¹⁹F NMR spectra in CD₂Cl₂ at very low temperature (157 K) detect restricted rotation for the two ortho‐CF₃ groups involved in hydrogen bonding, which might suggest that the hydrogen bond is responsible for this hindrance to rotation. However, a theoretical study of the hydrogen‐bond energy shows that it is too weak (about 7 kJ mol^?1) to account for the rotational barrier observed (ΔH^≠=26.8 kJ mol^?1), and it is the steric hindrance associated with the puckering of the TMEDA ligand that should be held responsible for most of the rotational barrier. At higher temperatures the rotation becomes fast, which requires that the hydrogen bond is continuously being split up and restored and exists only intermittently, following the pulse of the conformational changes of TMEDA.     

DFT Mechanistic Study on Diene Metathesis Catalyzed by Ru‐Based Grubbs–Hoveyda‐Type Carbenes: The Key Role of π‐Electron Density Delocalization in the Hoveyda Ligand

The catalytic activity and catalyst recovery of two heterogenized ruthenium‐based precatalysts ( H and NO₂(4) ) in diene ring‐closing metathesis have been studied by means of density functional calculations at the B3LYP level of theory. For comparison and rationalization of the key factors that lead to higher activities and higher catalyst recoveries, four other Grubbs–Hoveyda complexes have also been investigated. The full catalytic cycle (catalyst formation, propagation, and precatalyst regeneration) has been considered. DFT calculations suggest that either for the homogeneous and heterogenized systems the activity of the catalysts mainly depends on the ability of the precursor to generate the propagating carbene. This ability does not correlate with the traditionally identified key factor, the Ru???O interaction strength. In contrast, precatalysts with lower alkoxy‐dissociation energy barriers and lower stabilities compared with the propagating carbene also present larger C1? C2 bond length (i.e., lower π character of the C? C bond that exists between the metal–carbene (Ru?C) and the phenyl ring of the Hoveyda ligand). Catalyst recovery, regardless of whether a release–return mechanism occurs or not, is also mainly determined by the π delocalization. Therefore, future Grubbs–Hoveyda‐type catalyst development should be based on fine‐tuning the π‐electron density of the phenyl moiety, with the subsequent effect on the metalloaromaticity of the ruthenafurane ring, rather than considering the modification of the Ru???O interaction.     

Formation of trinuclear palladium orthometalated complexes with unprecedented asymmetrical (mu 3-S)(mu 3-X) bridges (X = OH, SR, O2CR) from mu 2-hydroxo dimeric complexes and CS2

Complexes [Pd(3)(mu(3)-S)(mu(3)-X)(L)(3)] (L = orthometalated imine), obtained by an unusual reaction of mu(2)-OH dimeric complexes and CS(2), are an unprecedented type of asymmetrical bridges between metallatriangles, which force an all-cis arrangement of the three orthometalated ligands relative to the metallatriangle.