Synthesis, reactivity, and X-ray crystallographic characterization of mono-, di-, and tetranuclear palladium(II)-metalated species.

The reactivity of the tetranuclear metallated palladium compound (Pd[mu 2-(C6H4)PPh2]Br)4 (1) with different ligands has been investigated with the aim of evaluating the influence of the entering ligand on the nature of the reaction products. The results confirmed the ability of the ligand [(C6H4)PPh2]- to expand a bridging [mu 2-] or a chelating [eta 2-] coordination mode, depending on the auxiliary ligands present in the complex. Bulky phosphines stabilize mononuclear species of formula (Pd[eta 2-(C6H4)PPh2]Br[P]), with a four-atom metallocycle, while small phosphines give dinuclear compounds. The molecular structures of three different metalated palladium compounds have been determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography; the tetranuclear (Pd[mu 2-(C6H4)PPh2]Cl)4 (2), the dinuclear(Pd[mu 2-(C6H4)PPh2]Br[PMe3])2 (3), and the mononuclear (Pd[eta 2-(C6H4)PPh2]Br[PCBr]), (PCBr = P(o-BrC6H4)Ph2) (9) were obtained, the first one by halogen exchange reaction and the others by frame degradation of 1.