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Bis(alkyl)nickel(II) complexes [(tmeda)NiR2] (R = CH2SiMe3 (1a), CH2CMe3 (1b), CH2CMe2Ph (1c)) can be prepared from [(tmeda)Ni(acac)2] and MgR2. This approach is equivalent to and, in some cases, e...

A series of Co(I), Co(II), and Ni(II) compounds were prepared by employing the open pentadienyl 2,4-(Me3C)2C5H5 (Pdl′) and some edge-bridged variants (ePdl) such as 6,6′-dimethylcyclohexadienyl (dm...

The first preparations of half-open and open manganocenes were accomplished. Treatment of KPdl′ (Pdl′ = 2,4-(Me3C)2C5H5)) with [{(η5-Cp”)Mn(thf)(μ-I)}2] (Cp″ = 1,2,4-(Me3C)3C5H2) and MnI2(thf)2 resulted in the formation of [(η5-Cp″)Mn(Pdl′)] (2) and [(Pdl′)2Mn] (4), respectively. Both compounds adopt a high-spin (S = 5/2) ground state. Maximum spin states are rather unusual for pentadienyl complexes, since these ligands generally stabilize transition metal complexes in their low-spin state. In addition, the electronic structure of 2 was compared to its closed analogue [(η5-Cp″)Mn(η5-Cp′)] (Cp′ = 1,3-(Me3C)2C5H3), which also adopts the high-spin configuration because of steric hindrance destabilizing the electronically more favorable low-spin state. Reaction of KPdl′ with [(C5H5)2Mn] yields the trimetallic compound [{(η5-Pdl′)Mn(η5-C5H5)]}2Mn] (5) concomitant with the formation of 2,4,7,9-tetra-tert-butyl-1,3,7,9-decatetraene (Pdl′2), indicating reduction of two Mn atoms. Solid-state magnetic susceptibilit...

A series of (allyl)palladium(II) complexes of anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes that contain a weakly coordinating borate moiety (WCA-NHC) were prepared by deprotonation of the carbene IPr with n-butyllithium in the 4-position, which was followed by addition of B(C6F5)3 and reaction of the resulting lithium carbene–borate with [(η3-allyl)Pd(μ-Cl)]2 (allyl = 2-propenyl, 2-butenyl, 2-methyl-2-propenyl, 1-phenyl-2-propenyl). In polar solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, chloropalladate complexes of the type [Li(THF)3][(WCA-NHC)PdCl(η3-allyl)] were formed, whereas the reactions in toluene afforded neutral complexes of the type [(WCA-NHC)Pd(η3-allyl)], which exhibit an intramolecular interaction with the N-aryl groups of the carbene ligands. The allyl-palladium complexes were employed as catalysts for the Buchwald–Hartwig amination of various aryl halides with morpholine.

A series of enantiomerically pure −SiMe2NR2 (R = Me, Et) substituted pentadienyl ligands were prepared starting from the natural product (1R)-(−)-myrtenal. Deprotonation with a Schlosser superbase yields the corresponding potassium salts, which were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. In solution these neutral N-donor-substituted pentadienyl systems predominantly adopt a U conformation, but in two cases the rare S conformation was also observed as a minor component in solution. Addition of 18-crown-6 allowed the molecular structures of two of these potassium pentadienyls to be determined by X-ray diffraction. Interestingly, η5 and κN coordination of the pentadienyl system to the [K(18-crown-6)]+ cation was observed. Furthermore, these ligand systems also coordinate to transition metals and form an open titanocene, open vanadocenes, open chromocenes, and half-open trozircenes with [TiCl3(thf)3], [VCl3(thf)3], CrCl2, and [(η7-C7H7)ZrCl(tmeda)], respectively. These complexes were characterized...

With the natural product (1R)-(−)-myrtenal as the starting material, a series of chiral pentadienes (Pdl*) such as dimethylnopadiene (2a), methylphenylnopadiene (2b), and methylnopadiene (2c) have been prepared by Wittig reactions. Deprotonation with the Schlosser base gives the corresponding potassium pentadienides 3a-K–3c-K, whose structures were investigated by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. In all cases a “U” conformation was observed. Furthermore, the coordination chemistry and electronic properties of these new pentadienyl systems were explored in several half-open trozircene complexes [(η7-C7H7)Zr(η5-Pdl*)] and their PMe3 and tBuNC adducts. Density functional theory (DFT) computations are consistent with the experimentally observed face selectivity upon metal coordination: namely, that the metal coordinates exclusively from the sterically less encumbered side.

Bulky pyrrolyl ligands have been used for the synthesis of diazaferrocenes, which have been characterized by various spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray diffraction for rac-[{η5-2,3,5-(Me3C)3...

Efficient and simple methods for the large-scale preparation of 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxylic acid, fc(COOH)2, involving the sodium salts of cyclopentadienecarboxylic methyl and ethyl esters, Na(C5H4COOR) (R = Me, Et), are presented. With fc(COOH)2 at hand, the syntheses of various 1,1′-disubstituted compounds of the type fcX2 (X = CH2OH, COCl, CON3, NCO, NHCOOMe, NHBoc, NH2) were optimized and scaled up. The X-ray crystal structures of fc(COOEt)2, fc(NCO)2·1/2C6H6, and fc(NHCOOMe)2·MeOH are reported.

The coordination chemistry of the enantiomerically pure dimethylnopadienyl ligand (Pdl*) with early to late transition metals is presented. Dimethylnopadiene is prepared by a Wittig reaction from (1R)-(−)-myrtenal, which is readily available from the chiral pool. Deprotonation of dimethylnopadiene with a Schlosser base gives K(Pdl*), which is a good starting material for the preparation of the early- to late-transition-metal open metallocenes [M(η5-Pdl*)2] (M = Ti, V, Cr, Fe) and mono(pentadienyl) complexes [(η5-Cp′)Fe(η5-Pdl*)] (Cp′ = 1,2,4-(Me3C)3C5H2), [(η7-C7H7)Zr(η5-Pdl*)], and [(η4-COD)Ir(η5-Pdl*)]. These complexes have been fully characterized by several spectroscopic techniques, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. In all of these cases the Pdl* ligand exhibits excellent face selectivity upon metal coordination, because it coordinates exclusively from the sterically less hindered site of the bicyclic ligand framework. Within the series of open metallocenes [M(η5-Pdl*)2] (M = Ti, V, Cr, F...

[FeI2(thf)2] was sequentially treated with Li(C5Me5) and the potassium salt of the phenylmethallyl (“open indenyl”) ligand oIndMe, leading to selective formation of the half-open ferrocene [(η5-C5Me5)Fe(η5-oIndMe)] (1). A variable-temperature NMR study revealed a barrier of ca. 12 kcal mol–1 for the rotation of the phenyl group. The apparent lability and susceptibility of the oIndMe ligand in 1 to undergo η5–η3 interconversion allowed the preparation of the complexes [(η5-C5Me5)Fe(η3-oIndMe)(L)] (2, L = CO; 3, L = IMe; 4, L = PMe3) by addition of carbon monoxide, 1,3,4,5-tetramethylimidazolin-2-ylidene (IMe), and trimethylphosphine, respectively. The η3-bound phenylmethallyl ligand in these complexes initially adopts an anti orientation with regard to the relative positions of the phenyl and methyl substituents, followed by anti-to-syn isomerization. For L = CO, both isomers could be isolated, and the conversion of anti-2 into syn-2 was monitored by NMR spectroscopy at 35, 50, 65, and 80 °C, affording an ...