Combining NMR of dynamic and paramagnetic molecules: fluxional high-spin nickel(II) complexes bearing bisguanidine ligands.

A detailed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study was carried out on a series of paramagnetic, tetrahedrally coordinated nickel(II) dihalide complexes featuring chelating guanidine ligands. A complete assignment of the NMR signals for all complexes was achieved by sophisticated NMR experiments, including correlation spectra. The effects of halide exchange, as well as the variation in the guanidine-metal bite angles on the paramagnetic shifts, were assessed. The paramagnetic shift was derived with the aid of the diamagnetic NMR spectra of the analogous Zn complexes, which were synthesized for this purpose. The experimentally derived paramagnetic shift was then compared with the values obtained from quantum chemical (DFT) calculations. Furthermore, variable-temperature NMR studies were recorded for all complexes. It is demonstrated that NMR spectroscopy can be applied to evaluate the rate constants of fast fluxional processes within paramagnetic and catalytically active metal complexes.

On the electronic structure of Ni(II) complexes that feature chelating bisguanidine ligands.

In this work we report on the syntheses and properties of several new Ni complexes featuring the chelating bisguanidines bis(tetramethylguanidino)benzene (btmgb), bis(tetramethylguanidino)naphthalene (btmgn), and bis(tetramethylguanidino)biphenyl (btmgbp) as ligands. All complexes were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and quantum chemical calculations. A detailed inspection of the magnetic susceptibility of [(btmgb)NiX(2)] and [(btmgbp)NiX(2)] (X=Cl, Br) revealed a linear temperature dependence of chi(-1)(T) above 50 K, which was in agreement with a Curie-Weiss-type behavior and a triplet ground state. Below approximately 25 K, however, magnetic susceptibility studies of the paramagnetic d(8) Ni complexes revealed the presence of a significant zero-field splitting (ZFS) that results from spin-orbit mixing of excited states into the triplet ground state. The electronic consequences that might arise from the mixing of states as well as from a possible non-innocent behavior of the ligand have been explored by an experimental charge density study of [(btmgb)NiCl(2)] at low temperatures (7 K). Here, the presence of ZFS was identified as one potential reason for the flat angle-spherical Cl-Ni-Cl deformation potential and the distinct differences between the angle-spherical X-Ni-X valence angles observed by experiment and predicted by DFT. An analysis of the topology of the experimentally and theoretically derived electron-density distributions of [(btmgb)NiCl(2)] confirmed the strong donor character of the bisguanidine ligand but clearly ruled out any significant non-innocent ligand (NIL) behavior. Hence, [(btmgb)NiCl(2)] provides an experimental reference system to study the mixing of certain excited states into the ground state unbiased from any competing NIL behavior.