Reactivity of Tp(Me2) -supported yttrium alkyl complexes toward aromatic N-heterocycles: ring-opening or C-C bond formation directed by C-H activation.

Unusual chemical transformations such as three-component combination and ring-opening of N-heterocycles or formation of a carbon-carbon double bond through multiple C-H activation were observed in the reactions of Tp(Me2) -supported yttrium alkyl complexes with aromatic N-heterocycles. The scorpionate-anchored yttrium dialkyl complex [Tp(Me2) Y(CH2 Ph)2 (THF)] reacted with 1-methylimidazole in 1:2 molar ratio to give a rare hexanuclear 24-membered rare-earth metallomacrocyclic compound [Tp(Me2) Y(μ-N,C-Im)(η(2) -N,C-Im)]6 (1; Im=1-methylimidazolyl) through two kinds of C-H activations at the C2- and C5-positions of the imidazole ring. However, [Tp(Me2) Y(CH2 Ph)2 (THF)] reacted with two equivalents of 1-methylbenzimidazole to afford a C-C coupling/ring-opening/C-C coupling product [Tp(Me2) Y{η(3) -(N,N,N)-N(CH3 )C6 H4 NHCHC(Ph)CN(CH3 )C6 H4 NH}] (2). Further investigations indicated that [Tp(Me2) Y(CH2 Ph)2 (THF)] reacted with benzothiazole in 1:1 or 1:2 molar ratio to produce a C-C coupling/ring-opening product {(Tp(Me2) )Yμ-η(2) :η(1) -SC6 H4 N(CHCHPh)}2 (3). Moreover, the mixed Tp(Me2) /Cp yttrium monoalkyl complex [(Tp(Me2) )CpYCH2 Ph(THF)] reacted with two equivalents of 1-methylimidazole in THF at room temperature to afford a trinuclear yttrium complex [Tp(Me2) CpY(μ-N,C-Im)]3 (5), whereas when the above reaction was carried out at 55 °C for two days, two structurally characterized metal complexes [Tp(Me2) Y(Im-Tp(Me2) )] (7; Im-Tp(Me2) =1-methyl-imidazolyl-Tp(Me2) ) and [Cp3 Y(HIm)] (8; HIm=1-methylimidazole) were obtained in 26 and 17 % isolated yields, respectively, accompanied by some unidentified materials. The formation of 7 reveals an uncommon example of construction of a CC bond through multiple C-H activations.