Aminoxyl Radicals of B/P Frustrated Lewis Pairs: Refinement of the Spin-Hamiltonian Parameters by Field- and Temperature-Dependent Pulsed EPR Spectroscopy.

Q-band and X-band pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopic methods (EPR) in the solid state were employed to refine the parameters characterizing the anisotropic interactions present in six nitroxide radicals prepared by N,N addition of NO to various borane-phosphane frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs). The EPR spectra are characterized by the g-anisotropy as well as by nuclear hyperfine coupling between the unpaired electron and the 11B/10B, 14N and 31P nuclear magnetic moments. It was previously shown that continuous-wave spectra measured at X-band frequency (9.5 GHz) are dominated by the magnetic hyperfine coupling to 14N and 31P, whereas the g-tensor values and the 11B hyperfine coupling parameters cannot be refined with high precision from lineshape fitting. On the other hand, the X-band electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) and hyperfine sublevel correlation (HYSCORE) spectra are completely dominated by the nuclear hyperfine coupling to the 11B nuclei, allowing a selective determination of their interaction parameters. In the present work this analysis has been further validated by temperature dependent ESEEM measurements. In addition, pulsed EPR data measured in the Q-band (34 GHz) are reported, which present an entirely different situation: the g-tensor components can be measured with much higher precision, and the ESEEM and HYSCORE spectra contain information about all of the 10B, 11B, 14N and 31P hyperfine interaction parameters. Based on these new results, we report here high-accuracy and precision data of the EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters measured on six FLP-NO radical species embedded in their corresponding hydroxylamine host structures. While the ESEEM spectra at Q-band frequency turn out to be very complex (due to the multinuclear contribution to the overall signal) in the HYSCORE experiment the extension over two dimensions renders a better discrimination between the different nuclear species, and the signals arising from hyperfine coupling to 10B, 11B, 14N and 31P nuclei can be individually analyzed.

Synthesis of new asymmetric substituted boron amidines - reactions with CO and transfer hydrogenations of phenylacetylene.

The syntheses of the new asymmetric substituted boron amidines [N'-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-N-(pentafluorophenyl)acetimidamide]bis(pentafluorophenyl)borate () and [N'-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-N-(4-cyanophenyl)acetimidamide]bis(pentafluorophenyl)borate () were achieved by reaction of one equivalent of HB(C6F5)2 and the respective amidines and . These adducts, bearing electron withdrawing groups, showed thermally induced H2 elimination forming the four-membered cyclic diazaborate derivatives and . These new species were characterized by spectroscopic methods. X-ray diffraction studies have been carried out on , and . To prevent undesired reactions at the nitrile group, one equivalent of B(C6F5)3 was added to yielding the -B(C6F5)3 nitrile adduct . Compound underwent thermally induced dehydrogenation to give the four-membered cyclic diazaborate derivative . CO was inserted into the ring systems of and forming the five-membered diazaborolone derivatives and . Phenylacetylene reacted stoichiometrically with the asymmetric substituted boron amidines , and to give styrene by double H transfer.

Solid-state EPR strategies for the structural characterization of paramagnetic NO adducts of frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs).

Anisotropic interactions present in three new nitroxide radicals prepared by N,N addition of NO to various borane-phosphane frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) have been characterized by continuous-wave (cw) and pulsed X-band EPR spectroscopies in solid FLP-hydroxylamine matrices at 100 K. Anisotropic g-tensor values and (11)B, (14)N, and (31)P hyperfine coupling tensor components have been extracted from continuous-wave lineshape analyses, electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM), and hyperfine sublevel correlation spectroscopy (HYSCORE) experiments with the help of computer simulation techniques. Suitable fitting constraints are developed on the basis of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These calculations reveal that different from the situation in standard nitroxide radicals (TEMPO), the g-tensors are non-coincident with any of the nuclear hyperfine interaction tensors. The determination of these interaction parameters turns out to be successful, as the cw- and pulse EPR experiments are highly complementary in informational content. While the continuous-wave lineshape is largely influenced by the anisotropic hyperfine coupling to (14)N and (31)P, the ESEEM and HYSCORE spectra contain important information about the (11)B hyperfine coupling and nuclear electric quadrupolar interaction. The set of cw- and pulsed EPR experiments, with fitting constraints developed by DFT calculations, defines an efficient strategy for the structural analysis of paramagnetic FLP adducts.

Synthesis of [(π-cyano-P-nacnac)Cp] and [(π-cyano-nacnac)Cp]-zirconium complexes, and their remote activation for ethylene polymerization.

In this contribution the synthesis and characterization of two distinct, yet similar, zirconium complexes, [(π-P-nacnac-CN)Cp] and [(π-nacnac-CN)Cp] zirconium dichloride were discussed. In addition to the complexes, Lewis acid adducts [B(C(6)F(5))(3)] of the complexes were isolated and characterized as well. It was found that while structurally similar, the complexes behave distinctly upon adduct formation and in their ethylene polymerizations.