Comparison of the electronic properties of diarylamido-based PNZ pincer ligands: redox activity at the ligand and donor ability toward the metal.

This paper presents the synthesis and characterization of a series of pincer ligands and their Ni, Pd, Pt, and Rh complexes. The ligands under examination are based on a diarylamine which is modified either by two phosphino (-PR2) substituents in the ortho-positions (PNP ligands) or by a combination of a phosphino and an iminyl (-CH═NX) substituent (PNN ligands). The ligands can be broken down into three groups: (a) C2v-symmetric PNP ligands with identical side -PR2 donors, (b) Cs-symmetric PNP' ligands with different -PR2 side donors, and (c) PNN ligands containing a -P(i)Pr2 side donor. All of the ligands under study readily formed square-planar complexes of the types (PNZ)PdCl, (PNZ)Pd(OAc), and (PNZ)RhCO, where PNZ is the corresponding anionic tridentate pincer ligand. For select PNP ligands, (PNP)NiCl and (PNP)PtCl were also studied. The (PNZ)MCl complexes (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) underwent quasireversible oxidation in cyclic voltammetry experiments. Based on the close similarity of formal potentials for Ni, Pd, and Pt analogs, and based on the previous literature evidence, these oxidation events are ascribed primarily to the PNZ ligand, and the E1/2 values can be used to compare the ease of oxidation of different ligands. A (PNP)PdCl complex containing methoxy substituents para- to the central nitrogen underwent two quasireversible oxidations. Two mono-oxidized complexes were isolated and structurally characterized in comparison to their neutral analog, revealing minimal changes in the bond distances and angles. Several other neutral complexes were also structurally characterized. The carbonyl stretching frequency in (PNZ)RhCO complexes was used to gauge the donating ability of the various pincer ligands toward the metal. Comparison of E1/2 values for (PNZ)PdCl and νCO values for (PNZ)RhCO revealed that the two are not consistently correlated across all the studied ligands and can be tuned to different degrees through judicious ligand alteration.

Understanding Pd-Pd bond length variation in (PNP)Pd-Pd(PNP) dimers.

Analysis of the structures of three (PNP)Pd-Pd(PNP) dimers [where PNP stands for anionic diarylamido/bis(phosphine) pincer ligands] has been carried out with the help of single-crystal X-ray diffractometry and density functional theory (DFT) calculations on isolated molecules. The three dimers under study possess analogous ancillary ligands; two of them differ only by an F versus Me substituent in a remote (five bonds away from Pd) position of the pincer ligand. Despite these close similarities, X-ray structural determinations revealed two distinct structural motifs: a highly symmetric molecule with a long Pd-Pd bond or a highly distorted molecule with Pd-Pd bonds ca. 0.14 Å shorter. DFT calculations on a series of (PNP)Pd-Pd(PNP) dimers (as molecules in the gas phase) confirmed the existence of these distinct minima for dimers carrying large isopropyl substituents on the P-donor atoms (as in the experimental structure). These minima are nearly isoergic conformers. Evidently, the electronically preferred symmetric structure for the dimer (with a square-planar environment about Pd and a linear N-Pd-Pd-N vector) is not sterically possible with the preferred Pd-Pd distance. Thus, the minima correspond to either a symmetric structure with a long Pd-Pd bond distance or a structure with a short Pd-Pd distance but with substantial distortions in the Pd coordination environment to alleviate steric conflict. This notion is supported by finding only a single minimum (symmetric and with short Pd-Pd bonds) for each of the dimers carrying smaller substituents (H or Me) on the P atoms, regardless of the remote substitution.

Net heterolytic cleavage of B-H and B-B bonds across the N-Pd bond in a cationic (PNP)Pd fragment.

The use of weakly coordinating anions BAr(F)(4) (where Ar(F) = 3,5-(CF(3))(2)C(6)H(3)) and CB(11)H(12) allows one to access clean reactions of the [(PNP)Pd](+) fragment (PNP = bis(2-(i)Pr(2)P4-Me-phenyl)amido) with the B-H bond in catecholborane (CatBH) and catecholdiboron (CatBBCat). In both cases, a net heterolytic cleavage of B-H or B-B takes place, with the nitrogen atom of PNP being a recipient of a boryl fragment. The resultant products [(PN(BCat)P)PdH](+) (2) and [(PN(BCat)P)PdBCat](+) (3) were isolated as either BAr(F)(4) or CB(11)H(12) salts and fully characterized. They are susceptible to hydrolysis, with the B-N bond hydrolyzing selectively and rapidly at RT to give [(PN(H)P)PdH](+) (1) and [(PN(H)P)PdBCat](+) (4). Notably, 4 and 2 are isomers, but they do not interconvert even under thermolysis at 90 °C. The Pd-B bond in 4 can be further hydrolyzed more slowly, to give 1. On the other hand, a Pd-B bond was formed from the Pd-H bond in 2 by reaction with excess CatBH (and evolution of H(2)), producing 3.

Catalysis of Kumada-Tamao-Corriu coupling by a (POCOP)Rh pincer complex.

A pincer-based (P(O)C(O)P)Rh catalyst is demonstrated to be an active and well-defined catalyst for the coupling of select aryl and alkyl Grignards with aryl iodides. The proposed intermediacy of oxidative addition of aryl halides to (P(O)C(O)P)Rh(I) is supported by the isolation of the oxidative addition product.

Reactivity of a Pd(I)-Pd(I) dimer with O2: monohapto Pd superoxide and dipalladium peroxide in equilibrium.

The Pd(I)-Pd(I) dimer [((F)PNP)Pd-](2) reacts with O(2) upon exposure to light to produce either the superoxide ((F)PNP)PdO(2) or the peroxide [((F)PNP)PdO-](2), which exist in equilibrium with free O(2). Both complexes contain square-planar Pd(II) centers. The unpaired electron density in ((F)PNP)PdO(2) is localized on the superoxide ligand.

Heterolytic splitting of H-X bonds at a cationic (PNP)Pd center.

The (PNP)PdOTf complex is a suitable synthetic equivalent of the [(PNP)Pd](+) fragment in reactions with various HX substrates. The [(PNP)Pd](+) fragment either simply binds HX molecules as L-type ligands (X = NH(2), PCy(2), imidazolyl) or heterolytically splits the H-X bond to produce [(PN(H)P)Pd-X](+) (X = H, CCR, SR). DFT calculations analyze the relative energetics of the two outcomes and agree with the experimental data. Calculations also allow to assess the unobserved Pd(IV) isomer [(PNP)Pd(H)(2)](+) and validate its unfavourability with respect to the Pd(II) isomer [(PN(H)P)PdH](+).

Covalent palladium-zinc bonds and their reactivity.

Photolysis of ((F)PNP)Pd-Et in the presence of Et(2)Zn leads to the formation of ((F)PNP)Pd-Zn-Pd(PNP(F)), the first example of a compound with a covalent Pd-Zn bond.