Gao Yafei, Pink Maren, Smith Jeremy M
Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, 800 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, United States.
Inorg Chem. 2020 Dec 7;59(23):17303-17309. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c02575. Epub 2020 Nov 19.
Double deprotonation of the salt [PhB(PMe)][OTf] () provides access to a bis(ylide)diphenylborate ligand that is readily transferred to iron(II). Depending on the reaction stoichiometry, both the "ate" complex [PhB(MePCH)Fe(μ-Cl)Li(THF)] () and the homoleptic complex [PhB(MePCH)]Fe() can be prepared from FeCl(THF). Further reaction of with FeCl(THF) produces the chloride-bridged dimer PhB(MePCH)Fe(μ-Cl)Fe(CHPMe)BPh. Attempts to reduce or alkylate provide as the only isolable product, likely a consequence of the low steric hindrance of the bis(ylide)diphenylborate ligand. On the other hand, reaction of with the strong field ligand CNBu provides the six-coordinate, diamagnetic complex [PhB(MePCH)Fe(CNBu)]Cl. Electronic structure calculations for the bis(ylide)diphenylborate ligand and homoleptic complex suggest that the C(ylide) atoms are strong σ-donors with little π-bonding character. These initial results suggest the potential for this bis(ylide)diphenylborate ligand in coordination chemistry.
