Selective and catalytic carbon dioxide and heteroallene activation mediated by cerium N-heterocyclic carbene complexes.

A series of rare earth complexes of the form Ln(LR)3 supported by bidentate ortho-aryloxide-NHC ligands are reported (LR = 2-O-3,5-tBu2-C6H2(1-C{N(CH)2N(R)})); R = iPr, tBu, Mes; Ln = Ce, Sm, Eu). The cerium complexes cleanly and quantitatively insert carbon dioxide exclusively into all three cerium carbene bonds, forming Ce(LR·CO2)3. The insertion is reversible only for the mesityl-substituted complex Ce(LMes)3. Analysis of the capacity of Ce(LR)3 to insert a range of heteroallenes that are isoelectronic with CO2 reveals the solvent and ligand size dependence of the selectivity. This is important because only the complexes capable of reversible CO2-insertion are competent catalysts for catalytic conversions of CO2. Preliminary studies show that only Ce(LMes·CO2)3 catalyses the formation of propylene carbonate from propylene oxide under 1 atm of CO2 pressure. The mono-ligand complexes can be isolated from reactions using LiCe(NiPr2)4 as a starting material; LiBr adducts [Ce(LR)(NiPr2)Br·LiBr(THF)]2 (R = Me, iPr) are reported, along with a hexanuclear N-heterocyclic dicarbene [Li2Ce3(OArCMe-H)3(NiPr2)5(THF)2]2 by-product. The analogous para-aryloxide-NHC proligand (p-LMes = 4-O-2,6-tBu2-C6H2(1-C{N(CH)2NMes}))) has been made for comparison, but the rare earth tris-ligand complexes Ln(p-LMes)3(THF)2 (Ln = Y, Ce) are too reactive for straightforward Lewis pair separated chemistry to be usefully carried out.

C-H bond activation by f-block complexes.

Most homogeneous catalysis relies on the design of metal complexes to trap and convert substrates or small molecules to value-added products. Organometallic lanthanide compounds first gave a tantalizing glimpse of their potential for catalytic C-H bond transformations with the selective cleavage of one C-H bond in methane by bis(permethylcyclopentadienyl)lanthanide methyl [(η(5) -C5 Me5 )2 Ln(CH3 )] complexes some 25 years ago. Since then, numerous metal complexes from across the periodic table have been shown to selectively activate hydrocarbon C-H bonds, but the challenges of closing catalytic cycles still remain; many f-block complexes show great potential in this important area of chemistry.

Mechanistic and cytotoxicity studies of group IV ß-diketonate complexes.

Group IV metal complexes have previously shown promise as novel anticancer agents. Here, we discuss the mechanistic and cytotoxic nature of a series of group IV ß-diketonate coordination complexes. Clear evidence that the ligands are exchangeable on the metal centre and that the ß-diketonate ligands can act as potential drug delivery vehicles of the group IV metal ions was obtained. When evaluated for the cytotoxicity against human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines, a general trend of decreasing potency down the group IV metals was observed. The most promising results obtained were for the hafnium complexes, with the tris diphenyl ß-diketonate hafnium complex exhibiting IC50 values of 4.9 ± 0.9 µM and 3.2 ± 0.3 µM against HT-29 and MCF-7, respectively, which are comparable with the activity of cisplatin against the same cell lines. This tri ß-diketonate hafnium complex is the first to show potent in vitro cytotoxic activity. The results reported show that ligand design has a significant effect on the cytotoxic potential of the complexes, and that these group IV complexes warrant further evaluation as novel metal-containing anticancer agents.