Chemistry of soluble β-diketiminatoalkaline-earth metal complexes with M-X bonds (M=Mg, Ca, Sr; X=OH, Halides, H).

Victor Grignard's Nobel Prize-winning preparation of organomagnesium halides (Grignard reagents) marked the formal beginning of organometallic chemistry with alkaline earth metals. Further development of this invaluable synthetic route, RX+Mg→RMgX, with the heavier alkaline earth metals (Ca and Sr) was hampered by limitations in synthetic methodologies. Moreover, the lack of suitable ligands for stabilizing the reactive target molecules, particularly with the more electropositive Ca and Sr, was another obstacle. The absence in the literature, until just recently, of fundamental alkaline earth metal complexes with M-H, M-F, and M-OH (where M is the Group 2 metal Mg, Ca, or Sr) bonds amenable for organometallic reactions is remarkable. The progress in isolating various unstable compounds of p-block elements with β-diketiminate ligands was recently applied to Group 2 chemistry. The monoanionic β-diketiminate ligands are versatile tools for addressing synthetic challenges, as amply demonstrated with alkaline earth complexes: the synthesis and structural characterization of soluble β-diketiminatocalcium hydroxide, β-diketiminatostrontium hydroxide, and β-diketiminatocalcium fluoride are just a few examples of our contribution to this area of research. To advance the chemistry beyond synthesis, we have investigated the reactivity and potential for applications of these species, for example, through the demonstration of dip coating surfaces with CaCO(3) and CaF(2) with solutions of the calcium hydroxide and calcium fluoride complexes, respectively. In this Account, we summarize some recent developments in alkaline earth metal complex chemistry, particularly of Mg, Ca, and Sr, through the utilization of β-diketiminate ligands. We focus on results generated in our laboratory but give due mention to work from other groups as well. We also highlight the closely related chemistry of the Group 12 element Zn, as well as the important chemistry developed by other groups using the complexes we have reported. Although Mg and Ca are more abundant in living organisms, no other metal has as many biological functions as Zn. Thus Zn, the nontoxic alternative to the heavier Group 12 elements Cd and Hg, occupies a unique position ripe for further exploration.