Heikki M. Tuononen

Dihydrogen Activation by Antiaromatic Pentaarylboroles

Facile metal-free splitting of molecular hydrogen (H(2)) is crucial for the utilization of H(2) without the need for toxic transition-metal-based catalysts. Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) are a new class of hydrogen activators wherein interactions with both a Lewis acid and a Lewis base heterolytically disrupt the hydrogen-hydrogen bond. Here we describe the activation of hydrogen exclusively by a boron-based Lewis acid, perfluoropentaphenylborole. This antiaromatic compound reacts extremely rapidly with H(2) in both solution and the solid state to yield boracyclopent-3-ene products resulting from addition of hydrogen atoms to the carbons alpha to boron in the starting borole. The disruption of antiaromaticity upon reaction of the borole with H(2) provides a significant thermodynamic driving force for this new metal-free hydrogen-splitting reaction.

Isolation of a stable, acyclic, two-coordinate silylene.

The synthesis and characterization of a stable, acyclic two-coordinate silylene, Si(SAr(Me(6)))(2) [Ar(Me(6)) = C(6)H(3)-2,6(C(6)H(2)-2,4,6-Me(3))(2)], by reduction of Br(2)Si(SAr(Me(6)))(2) with a magnesium(I) reductant is described. It features a V-shaped silicon coordination with a S-Si-S angle of 90.52(2)° and an average Si-S distance of 2.158(3) Å. Although it reacts readily with an alkyl halide, it does not react with hydrogen under ambient conditions, probably as a result of the ca. 4.3 eV energy difference between the frontier silicon lone pair and 3p orbitals.

Characterization of β-B-Agostic Isomers in Zirconocene Amidoborane Complexes

The reaction of Cp(x)(2)ZrCl(2) (Cp(x) = Cp, Cp*) with ammonia borane in presence of n-butyllithium yielded Cp(2)Zr(Cl)NH(2)BH(3) and Cp(x)(2)Zr(H)NH(2)BH(3). These derivatives are isoelectronic with the ethyl zirconocene chloride and hydride, respectively, and feature a chelating amidoborane ligand coordinating through a Zr-N bond and a Zr-H-B bridge. In solution, each of the complexes consists of an equilibrium mixture of two isomers differing in the orientation of the amidoborane ligand with respect to the Zr-X bond (X = H, Cl), while in the solid state, only one isomer was observed. Such isomers have not been characterized for any metal complexes containing the isoelectronic beta-agostic ethyl ligand or any other agostic alkyl group.

Dispersion Forces and Counterintuitive Steric Effects in Main Group Molecules: Heavier Group 14 (Si–Pb) Dichalcogenolate Carbene Analogues with Sub-90° Interligand Bond Angles

The synthesis and spectroscopic and structural characterization of an extensive series of acyclic, monomeric tetrylene dichalcogenolates of formula M(ChAr)2 (M = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb; Ch = O, S, or Se; Ar = bulky m-terphenyl ligand, including two new acyclic silylenes) are described. They were found to possess several unusual features-the most notable of which is their strong tendency to display acute interligand, Ch-M-Ch, bond angles that are often well below 90°. Furthermore, and contrary to normal steric expectations, the interligand angles were found to become narrower as the size of the ligand was increased. Experimental and structural data in conjunction with high-level DFT calculations, including corrections for dispersion effects, led to the conclusion that dispersion forces play an important role in stabilizing their acute interligand angles.

New tetraphosphane ligands {(X2P)2NC6H4N(PX2)2} (X = Cl, F,OMe, OC6H4OMe-o): synthesis, derivatization, group 10 and 11 metal complexes and catalytic investigations. DFT calculations on intermolecular P...P interactions in halo-phosphines.

The reaction of p-phenylenediamine with excess PCl 3 in the presence of pyridine affords p-C 6H 4[N(PCl 2) 2] 2 ( 1) in good yield. Fluorination of 1 with SbF 3 produces p-C 6H 4[N(PF 2) 2] 2 ( 2). The aminotetra(phosphonites) p-C 6H 4[N{P(OC 6H 4OMe- o) 2} 2] 2 ( 3) and p-C 6H 4[N{P(OMe) 2} 2] 2 ( 4) have been prepared by reacting 1 with appropriate amount of 2-(methoxy)phenol or methanol, respectively, in the presence of triethylamine. The reactions of 3 and 4 with H 2O 2, elemental sulfur, or selenium afforded the tetrachalcogenides, p-C 6H 4[N{P(O)(OC 6H 4OMe- o) 2} 2] 2 ( 5), p-C 6H 4[N{P(S)(OMe) 2} 2] 2 ( 6), and p-C 6H 4[N{P(Se)(OMe) 2} 2] 2 ( 7) in good yield. Reactions of 3 with [M(COD)Cl 2] (M = Pd or Pt) (COD = cycloocta-1,5-diene) resulted in the formation of the chelate complexes, [M 2Cl 4- p-C 6H 4{N{P(OC 6H 4OMe- o) 2} 2} 2] ( 8, M = Pd and 9, M = Pt). The reactions of 3 with 4 equiv of CuX (X = Br and I) produce the tetranuclear complexes, [Cu 4(mu 2-X) 4(NCCH 3) 4- p-C 6H 4{N(P(OC 6H 4OMe- o) 2) 2} 2] ( 10, X = Br; 11, X = I). The molecular structures of 1- 3, 6, 7, and 9- 11 are confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The weak intermolecular P...P interactions observed in 1 leads to the formation of a 2D sheetlike structure, which is also examined by DFT calculations. The catalytic activity of the Pd(II) 8 has been investigated in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions.

N-Heterocyclic Carbenes with Inorganic Backbones: Electronic Structures and Ligand Properties

The electronic structures of known N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) with boron, nitrogen, and phosphorus backbones are examined using quantum chemical methods and compared to the experimental results and to the computational data obtained for a classical carbon analogue, imidazol-2-ylidene. The sigma-donor and pi-acceptor abilities of the studied NHCs in selected transition-metal complexes are evaluated using a variety of approaches such as energy and charge decomposition analysis, as well as calculated acidity constants and carbonyl stretching frequencies. The study shows that the introduction of selected heteroatoms into the NHC backbone generally leads to stronger metal-carbene bonds and therefore improves the ligand properties of these systems. The backdonation of pi-electron density from the metal to the ligand is found to be strong in complexes of the studied NHCs with group 11 metals, where it constitutes up to nearly 35% of the total orbital interaction energy. The ligand properties of the aluminum analogues of some of the reported NHCs with boron backbones are also assessed.

Mechanistic studies on the metal-free activation of dihydrogen by antiaromatic pentarylboroles.

The perfluoro- and perprotiopentaphenylboroles 1 and 2 react with dihydrogen to effect H-H bond cleavage and formation of boracyclopentene products. The mechanism of this reaction has been studied experimentally through evaluation of the kinetic properties of the slower reaction between 2 and H(2). The reaction is first-order in both [borole] and [H(2)] with activation parameters of ΔH(‡) = 34(8) kJ/mol and ΔS(‡) = -146(25) J mol(-1) K(-1). A minimal kinetic isotope effect of 1.10(5) was observed, suggesting an asynchronous geometry for H-H cleavage in the rate-limiting transition state. To explain the stereochemistry of the observed products, a ring-opening/ring-closing mechanism is proposed and supported by the separate synthesis of a proposed intermediate and its observed conversion to product. Furthermore, extensive DFT mapping of the reaction mechanism supports the plausibility of this proposal. The study illustrates a new mechanism for the activation of H(2) by a strong main group Lewis acid in the absence of an external base, a process driven in part by the antiaromaticity of the borole rings in 1 and 2.

Do Extremely Bent Allenes Exist

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New insights into the chemistry of imidodiphosphinates from investigations of tellurium-centered systems.

Dichalcogenido-imidodiphosphinates, [N(PR(2)E)(2)](-) (R = alkyl, aryl), are chelating ligands that readily form cyclic complexes with main group metals, transition metals, lanthanides, and actinides. Since their discovery in the early 1960s, researchers have studied the structural chemistry of the resulting metal complexes (where E = O, S, Se) extensively and identified a variety of potential applications, including as NMR shift reagents, luminescent complexes in photonic devices, or single-source precursors for metal sulfides or selenides. In 2002, a suitable synthesis of the tellurium analogs [N(PR(2)Te)(2)](-) was developed. In this Account, we describe comprehensive investigations of the chemistry of these tellurium-centered anions, and related mixed chalcogen systems, which have revealed unanticipated features of their fundamental structure and reactivity. An exhaustive examination of previously unrecognized redox behavior has uncovered a variety of novel dimeric arrangements of these ligands, as well as an extensive series of cyclic cations. In combination with calculations using density functional theory, these new structural frameworks have provided new insights into the nature of chalcogen-chalcogen bonding. Studies of metal complexes of the ditellurido ligands [N(PR(2)Te)(2)](-) have revealed unprecedented structural and reaction chemistry. The large tellurium donor sites confer greater flexibility, which can lead to unique structures in which the tellurium-centered ligand bridges two metal centers. The relatively weak P-Te bonds facilitate metal-insertion reactions (intramolecular oxidative-addition) to give new metal-tellurium ring systems for some group 11 and 13 metals. Metal tellurides have potential applications as low band gap semiconductor materials in solar cells, thermoelectric devices, and in telecommunications. Practically, some of these telluride ligands could be applied in these industries. For example, certain metal complexes of the isopropyl-substituted anion [N(P(i)Pr(2)Te)(2)](-) serve as suitable single-source precursors for pure metal telluride thin films or novel nanomaterials, for example, CdTe, PbTe, In(2)Te(3), and Sb(2)Te(3).

Weak Interactions between Trivalent Pnictogen Centers: Computational Analysis of Bonding in Dimers X3E ... EX3 (E = Pnictogen, X = Halogen)

The nature of weak interactions in dimers X(3)E...EX(3) (E = N-Bi, X = F-I) was investigated by wave function and density functional theory (DFT)-based methods. Out of the 20 systems studied, 10 are found to be bound at the CP-MP2 and LMP2 levels of theory. Detailed partition of the interaction energy into different components revealed that dispersion is the primary force holding the dimers together but there also exists an important ionic component whose contribution increases with increasing halogen size. As expected, standard density functionals fail to describe bonding in the studied systems. However, the performance of DFT methods can be easily improved via empirical dispersion correction though full agreement with high level ab initio results was not obtained. Total binding energies calculated at the SCS-MP2 and LCCSD(T) levels of theory yield an energy scale of 10-15 kJ mol(-1) which is comparable to a weak hydrogen bond and demonstrates that E...E interactions, and P...P interactions in particular, can be considered relevant for determining supramolecular structure in the solid state. In addition to high-level energy estimates, results from detailed bonding analysis showed that group 13 dimetallenes are structural analogues of the studied dimers, and as such contain a slipped pi-interaction which is antibonding in nature.