Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University , College Station, Texas 77843-3255, United States.
Acc Chem Res. 2016 May 17;49(5):857-67. doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.5b00543. Epub 2016 Apr 19.
Stimulated by applications in catalysis, the chemistry of ambiphilic ligands featuring both donor and acceptor functionalities has experienced substantial growth in the past several years. The unique opportunities in catalysis offered by ambiphilic ligands stem from the ability of their acceptor functionalities to play key roles via metal-ligand cooperation or modulation of the reactivity of the metal center. Ligands featuring group 13 centers, most notably boranes, as their acceptor functionalities have undoubtedly spearheaded these developments, with remarkable results having been achieved in catalytic hydrogenation and hydrosilylation. Motivated by these developments as well as by our fundamental interest in the chemistry of heavy group 15 elements, we became fascinated by the possibility of employing antimony centers as Lewis acids within ambiphilic ligands. The chemistry of antimony-based ligands, most often encountered as trivalent stibines, has historically been considered to mirror that of their lighter phosphorus-based congeners. There is growing evidence, however, that antimony-based ligands may display unique coordination behavior and reactivity. Additionally, despite the diverse Lewis acid and redox chemistry that antimony exhibits, there have been only limited efforts to explore this chemistry within the coordination sphere of a transition metal. By incorporation of antimony into the framework of polydentate ligands in order to enforce the main group metal-transition metal interaction, the effect of redox and coordination events at the antimony center on the structure, electronics, and reactivity of the metal complex may be investigated. This Account describes our group's continuing efforts to probe the coordination behavior, reactivity, and application of ambiphilic ligands incorporating antimony centers. Structural and theoretical studies have established that both Sb(III) and Sb(V) centers in polydentate ligands may act as Z-type ligands toward late transition metals. Although coordinated to a metal, the antimony centers in these complexes retain residual Lewis acidity, as evidenced by their ability to participate in anion binding. Anion binding events at the antimony center have been shown by structural, spectroscopic, and theoretical studies to perturb the antimony-transition metal interaction and in some cases to trigger reactivity at the metal center. Coordinated Sb(III) centers in polydentate ligands have also been found to readily undergo two-electron oxidation, generating strongly Lewis acidic Sb(V) centers in the coordination sphere of the metal. Theoretical studies suggest that oxidation of the coordinated antimony center induces an umpolung of the antimony-metal bond, resulting in depletion of electron density at the metal center. In addition to elucidating the fundamental coordination and redox chemistry of antimony-containing ambiphilic ligands, our work has demonstrated that these unusual behaviors show promise for use in a variety of applications. The ability of coordinated antimony centers to bind anions has been exploited for sensing applications, in which anion coordination at antimony leads to a colorimetric response via a change in the geometry about the metal center. In addition, the capacity of antimony Lewis acids to modulate the electron density of coordinated metals has proved to be key in facilitating photochemical activation of M-X bonds as well as antimony-centered redox-controlled catalysis.
受催化应用的推动,同时具有给体和受体功能的两亲配体的化学在过去几年中得到了极大的发展。两亲配体在催化中提供的独特机会源于其受体功能通过金属-配体配合或调节金属中心的反应性来发挥关键作用的能力。以硼烷为特征的具有第 13 族中心的配体无疑引领了这些发展,在催化氢化和硅氢化方面取得了显著的成果。受这些发展以及我们对重第 15 族元素化学的基本兴趣的推动,我们对将锑中心作为路易斯酸纳入两亲配体的可能性产生了兴趣。基于锑的配体的化学,最常见的是三价锑化合物,其历史上被认为与较轻的磷同族元素的化学性质相似。然而,越来越多的证据表明,基于锑的配体可能表现出独特的配位行为和反应性。此外,尽管锑表现出多种路易斯酸和氧化还原化学性质,但在过渡金属的配位球中探索这种化学性质的努力有限。通过将锑纳入多齿配体的框架中以加强主族金属-过渡金属相互作用,可以研究锑中心的氧化还原和配位事件对金属配合物的结构、电子和反应性的影响。本报告描述了我们小组继续努力探索包含锑中心的两亲配体的配位行为、反应性和应用。结构和理论研究已经确定,多齿配体中的 Sb(III)和 Sb(V)中心都可以作为 Z 型配体与后过渡金属配位。尽管与金属配位,但这些配合物中的锑中心仍保留残留的路易斯酸度,这可通过它们参与阴离子结合的能力得到证明。通过结构、光谱和理论研究表明,锑中心的阴离子结合事件会扰乱锑-金属相互作用,并在某些情况下触发金属中心的反应。多齿配体中配位的 Sb(III)中心也很容易发生两电子氧化,在金属的配位球中生成强路易斯酸性 Sb(V)中心。理论研究表明,配位锑中心的氧化诱导了锑-金属键的反转,导致金属中心的电子密度耗尽。除了阐明含锑两亲配体的基本配位和氧化还原化学外,我们的工作还表明,这些不寻常的行为有望在各种应用中得到应用。配位的锑中心与阴离子结合的能力已被用于传感应用,其中阴离子与锑的配位通过金属中心的几何形状变化导致比色响应。此外,证明了锑路易斯酸调节配位金属的电子密度的能力对于促进 M-X 键的光化学活化以及锑中心的氧化还原控制催化至关重要。