Alkali metal complexes of a phosphine-borane-stabilised carbanion: influence of co-ligands on structure.

The adducts [(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C]K(L)(n) [L = THF, n = 0.5, m = infinity (2a); L = tmeda (2b), pmdeta (2c), n = 1, m = 2] may be synthesised by treatment of solvent-free [(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C]K (2) with the corresponding Lewis base (tmeda = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine; pmdeta = N,N,N',N'',N''-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine). X-Ray crystallography reveals that, whereas 2 crystallises with a complex 2-dimensional sheet structure, 2a crystallises as a ribbon-type one-dimensional polymer and both 2b and 2c crystallise as dimers. The corresponding complex with 12-crown-4, [K(12-crown-4)(2)][(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C] (2d) crystallises as a separated ion pair. The complexes [(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C]M(pmdeta) [M = Na, n = 1 (6); M = Rb, n = 2 (7)] may be synthesised by treatment of [(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C]M with pmdeta. Whereas crystallises as a discrete monomer, compound 7 crystallises as a dimer. Compounds 2, 2a-2d, 6, 7 and the corresponding caesium derivative [(Me(3)Si)(2){Me(2)P(BH(3))}C]Cs(pmdeta) () provide an opportunity to consider the influence of the ionic radius of the metal and the nature of the co-ligands on the structures of alkali metal complexes of a phosphine-borane-stabilised carbanion.