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International audience; Cp*IrH 4 reacts with Hf(Np) 4 (Np = CH 2 C(CH 3) 3) to yield the heterobimetallic complex [Hf(Np) 3 (μ-H) 3 IrCp*], 2. Treatment of 2 with neopentyl lithium (NpLi) results in the nucleophilic addition of a neopentyl moiety onto the Hf center, restoring Hf(Np) 4 and displacing the Cp*IrH 3 iridate fragment. By contrast, treatment of the tantalum/iridium analogue, [Ta(Np) 3 IrH 2 (Cp*)], 1, with NpLi triggers the α-hydrogen abstraction at a Ta-neopentyl moiety and leads to the formation of the alkylidene-ate complex [Li][{Ta(CH t Bu)(Np) 2 }{IrH 2 Cp*}], 4. The benzylidene analogue, [K][{Ta(CHPh)(Np) 2 }{IrH 2 Cp*}], 5, is obtained upon reacting 1 with benzyl potassium. An unusual vinyl oxo species, [{Li(THF) 3 }Ta(O)(Np) 2 {μ-C 2 H 3 }IrH(Cp*)], 6, is formed when the reaction of 1 with NpLi is carried out in THF, due to THF fragmentation.

International audience; A novel heterobimetallic tantalum/iridium hydrido complex, [{Ta(CH2 t Bu)3}{IrH2(Cp*)}] 1, featuring a very short metal-metal bond, has been isolated through an original alkane elimination route from Ta(CH t Bu)(CH2 t Bu)3 and Cp*IrH4. This molecular precursor has been used to synthesize well-defined silica-supported low-coordinate heterobime-tallic hydrido species [≡SiOTa(CH2 t Bu)2{IrH2(Cp*)}] 5 and [≡SiOTa(CH2 t Bu)H{IrH2(Cp*)}] 6 using a surface organometallic chemistry approach (SOMC). The SOMC methodology prevents undesired dimerization as encountered in solution and leading to a tetranuclear species [{Ta(CH2 t Bu)2}(Cp*IrH)]2, 4. This approach therefore allows access to unique low-coordinate species not attainable in solution. These original supported Ta/Ir species exhibit drastically enhanced catalytic performances in H/D exchange reactions with respect to (i) monometallic analogues as well as (ii) homogeneous systems. In particular, material 6 promotes the H/D exchange between fluorobenzene and C6D6 or D2 as deuterium sources with excellent productivity (TON up to 1422; TOF up to 23.3 h-1) under mild conditions (25°C, subatmospheric D2 pressure) without any additives.

A rare heterobimetallic oxidative addition of X-H (X = C, O) bonds is reported. DFT suggests that steric constraints around the bimetallic core play a critical role to synergistically activate C-H bonds across the two metals and thus explains the exceptional H/D exchange catalytic activity of unhindered surface organometallic Ta/Ir species observed experimentally.

International audience; A stepwise surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC) methodology consisting in using a silica-supported tantalum species, [(≡SiO)Ta(CH t Bu)(CH2 t Bu)2], as a reactive center to coordinate an iridium site, was developed to construct tantalum/iridium heterobimetallic edifices. The resulting material, MAT-2, exhibits enhanced catalytic performances-both in H/D isotopic exchange and alkane metathesis reactions-in comparison to MAT-1, which was prepared from the direct grafting on silica of a well-defined heterobimetallic Ta/Ir complex. We projected that the difference in catalytic activity was due to the presence of distinct active sites and we used a combination of advanced spectroscopic methods (IR, solid-state NMR and XAS spectroscopies) as well as modeling (computational studies and molecular models) to identify the structure of these surface species. These investigations point towards the presence of three types of active sites at the surface of MAT-2: the heterobimetallic surface species, [≡SiOTa(CH2 t Bu)2{IrH2(Cp*)}] 2-s, which is also found in MAT-1, as well as an unanticipated heterotrimetallic species, [≡SiOTa(CH2 t Bu)2{IrH2(Cp*)}], 3-s along with some unreacted monometallic Ta sites [(≡SiO)Ta(CH t Bu)(CH2 t Bu)2], 1-s. The well-defined trimetallic surface species 3-s was independently prepared and characterized to support this hypothesis. This study highlights the importance of the synthetic methodology used for the preparation of heterobimetallic species through SOMC, and the difficulty to obtain true single-sites surface species.