Marco Bortoluzzi

Tribenzylamine C-H activation and intermolecular hydrogen transfer promoted by WCl6.

The 1:1 molar reaction of WCl6 with tribenzylamine (tba), in dichloromethane, selectively afforded the iminium salt [(PhCH2)2N═CHPh][WCl6], 1, and the ammonium one [tbaH][WCl6], 2, in equimolar amounts. The products were fully characterized by means of spectroscopic methods, analytical methods, and X-ray diffractometry. Density functional theory calculations were carried out with the aim of comprehending the mechanistic aspects.

A structurally-characterized NbCl5–NHC adduct

The selective reactions of niobium pentachloride with two bulky NHC carbenes afforded NbCl5(NHC) complexes, bearing the highest oxidation state ever found for a metal centre in a transition metal halide-NHC adduct. The X-ray structure of 2a is the first one reported for a monodentate NHC-niobium species, and exhibits an abnormally long Nb-C bond.

Coordination complexes of NbX5 (X = F, Cl) with (N,O)- and (O,O)-donor ligands and the first X-ray characterization of a neutral NbF5 adduct

A variety of fairly air-stable complexes were prepared by straightforward reactions of NbX5 (X = F, Cl) with a series of potential bidentate (N,O)- and (O,O)-donor ligands in CH2Cl2. NbF5 reacted with equimolar amounts of 2-[(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)iminomethyl]phenol (dpimpH) and 2-benzoyl-6-hydroxy-6-phenylpentafulvene (bhpfH) to afford the mononuclear complexes NbF5[κ(1)(O)-OC6H4CH=NHC6H3(CHMe2)2], 2, and NbF5[κ(1)(O)-bhpfH], 7, respectively. The 1:1 reactions of NbF5 with salicylaldehyde oxime (saoH2) and 2-phenylaminoethanol gave the hexafluoroniobato salts [NbF4{κ(1)(O)-ON(H)=CHC6H4OH}2][NbF6], 3, and [NbF4{κ(1)(O)-OCH2CH2NH2Ph}2][NbF6], 6, respectively. The syntheses of 2, 3 and 6 are accompanied by oxygen to nitrogen intramolecular H migration, leading to the formation of metal-alkoxide moieties. The parallel chemistry of NbCl5 is characterised by HCl release. The 1:1 reactions with dpimpH, saoH2 and bhpfH yielded, respectively, the ionic complex [NbCl2{κ(1)(N):κ(1)(O)-dpimp}2][NbCl6], 4a, the neutral-dinuclear Nb2Cl7[κ(1)(O)-saoH][κ(2)(O)-sao], 5, and the mononuclear NbCl4[κ(2)(O)-bhpf], 8. The tantalum species [TaCl2{κ(1)(N):κ(1)(O)-dpimp}2][TaCl6], 4b, was prepared from TaCl5/dpimpH. The new products 2-8 were fully characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. Moreover the solid state structures of 2 and 8 were ascertained by X-ray diffraction studies; the structure of 2 exhibits an intramolecular bifurcated N-H···(O,F) hydrogen bond. DFT calculations were carried out in order to predict the lowest energy structures in the distinct cases, showing generally good agreement with the experimental data.

Synthesis and cytotoxic activities of group 3 metal complexes having monoanionic tridentate ligands

Complexes of scandium, yttrium, samarium and neodymium bearing monoanionic tridentate ancillary ligands have been synthesized and characterized. The cytotoxic activities of novel compounds, as well as that of similar compounds previously reported have been evaluated on rat glioma (C6), murine fibrosarcoma (WHEI-164) and human embryonic kidney (HEK-293) cell lines. Scandium complex with quinolinephenoxyamine (NNHO) ligand showed very interesting activity against C6 cell line.

Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl Half-Sandwich Diazoalkane Complexes of Ruthenium: Preparation and Reactivity.

The diazoalkane complexes [Ru(η(5)-C5Me5)(N2CAr1Ar2){P(OR)3}L]BPh4 (1-4) [R = Me, L = P(OMe)3 (1); R = Et, L = P(OEt)3 (2); R = Me, L = PPh3 (3); R = Et, L = PPh3 (4); Ar1 = Ar2 = Ph (a); Ar1 = Ph, Ar2 = p-tolyl (b); Ar1Ar2 = C12H8 (c); Ar1 = Ph, Ar2 = PhC(O) (d)] and [Ru(η(5)-C5Me5){N2C(C12H8)}{PPh(OEt)2}(PPh3)]BPh4 (5c) were prepared by allowing chloro-compounds RuCl(η(5)-C5Me5)[P(OR)3]L to react with the diazoalkane Ar1Ar2CN2 in the presence of NaBPh4. Treatment of complexes 1-4 with H2O afforded 1,2-diazene derivatives [Ru(η(5)-C5Me5)(η(2)-NH═NH){P(OR)3}L]BPh4 (6-9) and ketone Ar1Ar2CO. A reaction path involving nucleophilic attack by H2O on the coordinated diazoalkane is proposed and supported by density functional theory calculations. The complexes were characterized spectroscopically (IR and (1)H, (31)P, (13)C, (15)N NMR) and by X-ray crystal structure determination of [Ru(η(5)-C5Me5)(N2CC12H8){P(OEt)3}2]BPh4 (2c) and [Ru(η(5)-C5Me5)(η(2)-NH═NH){P(OEt)3}2]BPh4 (7).

Group 3 and lanthanide triflate-complexes with [N,N,O]-donor ligands: synthesis, characterization, and cytotoxic activity

Group 3 and rare-earth triflate-complexes M(OTf)2(bdmpza) {M = Sc (1Sc ), Y (1Y ), La (1La ), Sm (1Sm ), Eu (1Eu ) OTf = SO3CF3} bearing the heteroscorpionate ligand bdmpza {bdmpza = bis(3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-1-yl)acetate} have been synthesized and characterized, together with the yttrium and europium complexes M(OTf)(bdmpza)2 {M = Y (2Y ), Eu (2Eu )}. The photoluminescent behavior of 2Eu has been investigated. The coordination mode of the [N,N,O]-donor in these complexes has been elucidated by DFT calculations. The cytotoxic effect of selected complexes and of the free ligand toward HeLa cells has been evaluated.

Homoleptic and heteroleptic Au(I) complexes containing the new [Co5C(CO)12](-) cluster as ligand.

The new [{Co5C(CO)12}Au{Co(CO)4}](-), , cluster has been obtained from the reaction of [Co6C(CO)15](2-) with two equivalents of [AuCl4](-). reacts with an excess of HBF4 resulting in the formation of [{Co5C(CO)12}2Au](-), . The new derivatives [Co5C(CO)12(AuPPh3)], , and [Co5C(CO)11(AuPPh3)3], , have been obtained by reacting with two and four equivalents of [Au(PPh3)Cl], respectively. All the new species have been structurally characterised by means of X-ray crystallography as their [NEt4][], [NEt4][], [NMe3(CH2Ph)][], and thf·0.5C6H14 salts and solvates. may be viewed as a homoleptic Au(i) complex containing two [Co5C(CO)12](-) clusters as ligands. Similarly, and are heteroleptic Au(i) complexes containing one [Co5C(CO)12](-) cluster ligand as well as [Co(CO)4](-) or PPh3. Conversely, contains the [Co5C(CO)11](3-) cluster stabilized by three [AuPPh3](+) fragments. and have been investigated in solution by means of electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical methods, revealing a very rich redox propensity to form the closely related (n = 1-3) and (n = 0-3) species.

Coordination Compounds of Niobium(IV) Oxide Dihalides Including the Synthesis and the Crystallographic Characterization of NHC Complexes

The 1:1 molar reactions of NbOX3 with SnBu3H, in toluene at 0 °C in the presence of oxygen/nitrogen donors, resulted in the formation of NbOX2L2 (X = Cl, L2 = dme, 2a; X = Br, L2 = dme, 2b; X = Cl, L = thf, 2c; X = Cl, L = NCMe, 2d; dme = 1,2-dimethoxyethane, thf = tetrahydrofuran), in good yields. The 1:2 reactions of freshly prepared 2d and 2b with the bulky NHC ligands 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene, Imes, and 1,3-bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene, Ixyl, respectively, afforded the complexes NbOCl2(Imes)2, 3, and NbOBr2(Ixyl)2, 4, in 50-60% yields. The reactions of 2b with NaOR, in tetrahydrofuran, gave NbOCl(OR) (R = Ph, 5; R = Me, 6) in about 60% yields. All the products were characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques; moreover DFT calculations were carried out in order to shed light on synthetic and structural features. Compounds 3 and 4, whose molecular structures have been ascertained by X-ray diffraction, represent very rare examples of crystallographically characterized niobium-NHC systems.

Structural characterization of α-amino acid complexes of molybdates: a spectroscopic and DFT study

The reactions of L-enantiopure α-amino acids (aaH) with Na2MoO4 led to the high-yield isolation of Mo(VI) complexes of general formula Mo2O4(OH)4(aaH). A similar outcome was achieved by using (NH4)6Mo7O24 in the place of Na2MoO4. Solid-state IR and NMR spectroscopy indicated the presence of cis-MoO2 units linked by a zwitterionic amino acid ligand, via a bidentate bridging coordination through the carboxylate group. Thus possible dinuclear and polynuclear structures are proposed on the basis of DFT calculations.

Synthesis of di- and tetranuclear oxido-molybdenum(V) complexes containing p-toluenesulfonates as ligands: a joint spectroscopic, crystallographic and computational study.

The 1 : 1 reaction of MoCl5 with 1,4-Me(SO3Me)C6H4 led to the isolation of crystalline Mo2O2Cl6[μ-κ(2)-1,4-Me(SO3Me)C6H4], 1, in low yields. Attempts to reproduce the synthesis of 1 from MoOCl3/1,4-Me(SO3Me)C6H4 resulted in the good-yield formation of [MoOCl2(μ-Cl)(κ(1)-1,4-Me(SO3Me)C6H4)]2, 2. The 1 : 1 reaction of MoCl5 with 1,4-Me(SO3H)C6H4·H2O selectively yielded Mo4O4Cl8[μ3-1,4-Me(SO3)C6H4]4, 3. Compounds 1 and 3 were characterized by X-ray diffractometry; moreover DFT calculations were carried out on 1-3 in order to shed light on their thermodynamic and structural features.