2-Imino-2,3-dihydrobenzoxazole-a useful platform for designing rare- and alkaline earth complexes with variable di- and trianionic O,N,N, ligands.

The reactions of 2-imino-2,3-dihydrobenzoxazole LH with M[N(SiMe3)2]2(THF)2 (M = Yb and Ca) and Y(CH2SiMe3)3(THF)2 proceed with the opening of the dihydrobenzoxazole ring and the elimination of HN(SiMe3)2 or SiMe4. Besides, in the case of Yb[N(SiMe3)2]2(THF)2, an electron transfer from Yb(II) to L takes place and Yb(III) complex 1 is coordinated by a dianionic phenolate ligand containing a pendant radical-anionic diazabutadiene fragment form. When LH is reacted with Ca[N(SiMe3)2]2(THF)2, C-H bond activation of a methyl fragment by imino nitrogen occurs and affords a dimeric calcium complex 2. In 2, the phenolate ligand is dianionic due to the presence of the amido-imino fragment [R-NC(CH3)-C(CH2)-NR']- (R = 2,4-tBu2-C6H2O; R' = 2,6-iPr2C6H3). In situ generated ate-complex {Na(Et2O)n}{Ca[N(SiMe3)2]3} also enables C-H bond activation, however the dianionic phenolate ligand in the resulting complex 3 contains an amido-imino fragment [R-N-C(CH2)-C(CH3)NR']- featuring the sequence of N-C and NC bonds opposite to that in 2. The reaction of Y(CH2SiMe3)3(THF)2 with LH affords mono(alkyl) yttrium complex 4. 4 contains a dianionic amido-imino phenolate ligand resulting from the migration of one alkyl group to the CN bond [R-N-C(Me)(CH2SiMe3)-C(Me)NR']. 4 undergoes slow intramolecular C-H bond activation of the residual CH3 group to afford a yttrium complex coordinated by a trianionic diamido-phenolate ligand [R-N-C(Me)(CH2SiMe3)-C(CH2)NR'].

Supramolecular D⋯A-layered structures based on germanium complexes with 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene and N,N'-bidentate ligands.

The concept of using redox-active ligands, which has become extremely widespread in organometallic chemistry, is often considered from 'their effect on the metal center properties' point of view and 'how to modify the ligands'. In this paper, we present the reverse side of this effective approach - a dramatic change of redox properties of ligands under the influence of a redox-inert metal. Germanium derivatives based on 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (1) and N,N'-bidentate ligands, namely 2,2'-bipyridine (2) and 1,10-phenanthroline (3), were obtained and characterized by CV, UV-vis spectroscopy, DFT calculations and in the case of 3 X-ray diffraction. It was shown that the HOMO of the complexes is almost completely located on the naphthalene fragment while the LUMO is on the N,N-ligands. At the same time, there are no boundary molecular orbitals on the germanium atom, but it forms the axial part of the molecule holding two opposite motifs together. Moreover, it sharply affects the level of HOMO and LUMO. Derivatives 2 and 3 are more easily oxidized compared to 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene by 0.31-0.34 V (7-8 kcal mol-1) and are more easily reduced compared to N,N-donors by 1.08-1.15 V (25-26.5 kcal mol-1). All this together makes it possible to form a system with a narrow HOMO/LUMO gap (∼2 eV). The crystal structure of 3 consists of alternating monomolecular easily oxidizing and easily reducing layers formed due to intermolecular interactions, in particular π-stacking. In addition, in contrast to 1 that starts to decompose noticeably at the temperatures from 200 °C, 2 and 3 have an extremely high thermal stability. They remain stable with no signs of decomposition and melting up to 400 °Ð¡. We believe that this approach to the formation of the supramolecular structure may present prospects for obtaining new functional materials.

Halogen-free GeO2 conversion: electrochemical reduction vs. complexation in (DTBC)2Ge[Py(CN)n] (n = 0 2) complexes.

3,5-di-tert-Butylcatecholate (DTBC) germanium complexes (DTBC)2Ge[Py(CN)n]2 (n = 0…2) have been synthesized from GeO2, 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol and cyano-substituted pyridines Py(CN)n and characterized by elemental analysis, NMR, IR and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The structure of 1 (with 4-cyanopyridine) has been determined by X-ray single crystal analysis. UV-VIS spectra have shown that these complexes are stable in CH3CN, toluene and CH2Cl2 solutions; in contrast, they are rapidly decomposed by dimethylformamide and tetrahydrofuran. Complexes 1 and 2 (with 4-cyano and 3-cyanopyridine) are electrochemically reducible in toluene/1 M Bu4NPF6 at E = -1.3…-1.7 V vs. AgCl. The quantum-chemical study of these complexes is in accordance with the unsuccessful attempts to obtain analogous derivatives with 2-cyanopyridine and 2,6-dicyanopyridine.