Mononuclear homoleptic allyl complexes of the first row transition metals: species with unusual metal electronic configurations.

A number of evanescent unsubstituted homoleptic allyl derivatives M(C(3)H(5))(n) of the first row transition metals have been reported in the literature. In addition, the much more thermally stable silylated derivatives MC(3)H(3)(SiMe(3))(2) (M = Cr, Fe, Co, Ni) are reported to survive vacuum sublimation without significant decomposition. In this connection, the complete series of homoleptic allyl derivatives M(C(3)H(5))(n) (n = 2, 3; M = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) have been studied theoretically using density functional theory. In most of the lowest energy predicted M(C(3)H(5))(n) structures all of the allyl groups are bonded as trihapto η(3)-C(3)H(5) ligands and the metals have considerably less than the normally favored 18-electron configuration. Such ligands can be considered formally as bidentate ligands with the metal atom connected to the centers of the two C-C bonds of the η(3)-C(3)H(5) group. The later transition metal diallyls M(C(3)H(5))(2) (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) form two stereoisomers of similar relative energies, namely the C(2h) staggered isomer and the C(2v) eclipsed isomer with the orientation of the η(3)-C(3)H(5) groups corresponding to square planar metal coordination of the bidentate η(3)-C(3)H(5) ligands. The staggered and eclipsed Ni(C(3)H(5))(2) isomers have been observed experimentally by NMR. Less symmetrical M(C(3)H(5))(2) structures are found for the earlier transition metals Sc, Ti, and V in which the orientation of the allyl groups corresponds to tetrahedral metal coordination. The triallylmetal derivatives M(C(3)H(5))(3) are predicted to be thermodynamically viable with respect to allyl loss to give the corresponding diallylmetal derivatives, except for triallylnickel. The lowest energy Ni(C(3)H(5))(3) structure has two trihaptoallyl ligands and one monohaptoallyl ligand, whereas the lowest energy Mn(C(3)H(5))(3) structures have only one trihaptoallyl ligand and two monohaptoallyl ligands. Otherwise, the M(C(3)H(5))(3) complexes have structures with three trihaptoallyl ligands corresponding formally to octahedral metal coordination. The M(C(3)H(5))(3) complexes (M = Cr, Co) thus correspond to a well-known series of "classical" octahedral coordination complexes, namely, those of the d(3) Cr(III) and the d(6) Co(III), respectively.