Synthesis, structure, and rearrangements of new tricarbonylchromium complexes of substituted heptalenes

Reactions of 1,2,5,6,8,10-hexamethylheptalene (1) and its bond isomer, 1,4,5,6,8,10-hexamethylheptalene (2), with tricarbonylchromium complexes L{in3}Cr(CO){in3} (L=NH{in3} and Py) have been investigated. Thermodynamically less stable complex 1 exhibits higher reactivity with respect to Py{in3}Cr(CO){in3}/BF{in3} · Et{in2}O under the conditions of Ofele's reaction than complex2. At 10–30 °C, the Cr(CO){in3} group is coordinated to the asymmetrically substituted ring, which is accomplished by the shift of double bonds in the ligand, to afford tricarbonyl-[1,4,5,6,8,10-hexamethyl-η{su6}-(10a, 1–5)heptalene]-chromium (6) as the only mononuclear complex. Under more drastic conditions (Raush's reaction, 80 °C),1 ↔ 2 interconversion proceeds faster than the reaction of individual bond isomers with coordinatively unsaturated “hot” particles (solv){inn}Cr(CO){in3}. In this case, all of the four possible isomeric mononuclear complexes (6–9) and two binuclear complexes (10 and 11) are formed. The structures of complexes 6–11 have been studied by NMR and mass spectrometry, the structure of6 has been established by X-ray diffraction analysis. Heating a solution of6 in octane at 115 °C results in the isomerization of6 into complex7 through the intracycle 1,2-shift of the Cr(CO){in3} group and also in its conversion into complex8, which is the first example of interring η{su6}→η{su6}-haptotropic rearrangement in nonplanar seven-membered π-systems.