Spectral and kinetic evidence for attack at coordinated phenanthroline in the reaction between aliphatic amines and transition metal complexes of 5-nitro-1,10-phenanthroline

Various transition metal complexes of 5-nitro-1,10-phenanthroline react with aliphatic amines in dipolar aprotic solvents to give deeply coloured species. The spectral changes, which can be reversed upon addition of acid or of the appropriate protonated amine, do not depend either on the nature of the metal and the ancillary ligands or on the geometry of the complexes; this has been taken as evidence that the colour forming process is due to a specific interaction of aliphatic amines with coordinated phenanthroline. While the rate of reaction of Pt(5-NO₂phen)Cl₂] and Pd(5-NO₂phen)Cl₂] with Br^?, which is known to displace Cl^? in the substrates, depends strongly on the nature of the central atom, the second order rate constant at 25°C being 3.2 × 10^?4 dm³mol^?1s^?1 and 1.35 dm³mol^?1s^?1 for the platinum and the palladium derivative respectively, the rate of reaction with n-propylamine has a comparable value for both substrates. This is further evidence that amines attack the coordinated phenanthroline, rather than the central atom. On the basis of the spectral features and the reaction stoicheiometry, the adducts of metal complexes of 5-NO₂phen and aliphatic amines are presumably Meisenheimer-like complexes.