K. Yuvaraj

Reaction of the 1,2-disilylenes {(DipArAm)Si}2 (DipArAm = [(NDip)2CAr]-, Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, Ar = 4-C6H4But (Ar’) 1a or Ph 1b) and two abnormal N-heterocyclic silylenes, (DipArAm)SiOCSi{(NDip)2CAr} (Ar = Ar’ 3a or Ph 3b) with N2O led to formation of unprecedented examples of uncoordinated silicon analogues of carboxylic acid anhydrides, (DipArAm)(O=)SiOSi(=O)(DipArAm) (Ar = Ar’ 2a or Ph 2b). Both compounds have been fully characterized, and the mechanism of formation of one explored using DFT calculations. Reduction of sila-acid anhydride 2a with a dimagnesium(I) compound, [{(MesNacnac)Mg}2] (MesNacnac = [(MesNCMe)2CH]-, Mes = mesityl), led to the one-electron reduction of the anydride and formation of a magnesium complex of a sila-acid anhydride radical anion [(MesNacnac)Mg{(OSi(DipAr’Am)}2O]· 5. A combination of EPR spectroscopic studies and DFT calculations reveal the unpaired electron to largely reside on one of the amidinate ligands of the complex.

Reduction of a range of amido- and aryloxy-aluminum dihydride complexes, e.g. [AlH2(NR3){N(SiMe3)2}] (NR3 = NMe3 or N-methylpiperidine (NMP)), with -diketiminato dimagnesium(I) reagents, [{(ArNacnac)Mg}2] (ArNacnac = [HC(MeCNAr)2]-, Ar = mesityl (Mes) or 2,6-xylyl (Xyl)), have afforded deep red mixed valence aluminum hydride cluster compounds, [Al6H8(NR3)2{Mg(ArNacnac)}4], which have an average Al oxidation state of +0.66, the lowest for any well-defined aluminum hydride compound. In the solid-state, the clusters are shown to have distorted octahedral Al6 cores, having zero-valent Al axial sites and mono-valent AlH2- equatorial units. Several novel by-products were isolated from the reactions that gave the clusters, including the Mg‒Al bonded magnesio-aluminate complexes, [(ArNacnac)(Me3N)Mg‒Al(-H)3[{Mg(ArNacnac)}2(-H)]]. Computational analyses of one aluminum hydride cluster revealed its Al6 core to be electronically delocalized, and to possess one unoccupied, and six occupied, skeletal molecular orbitals.

Reactions of a dimagnesium(I) compound, [{(DipNacnac)Mg}2] (DipNacnac = [HC(MeCNDip)2]-, Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl), pre-activated by coordination with simple Lewis bases (4-dimethylaminopyridine, DMAP; or TMC, :C(MeNCMe)2), with 1 atmosphere of CO in the presence of one equivalent of Mo(CO)6 at room temperature, led to the reductive tetramerisation of the diatomic molecule. When the reactions were carried out at room temperature, there is an apparent competition between the formation of magnesium squarate, [{(DipNacnac)Mg}(C4O4){-Mg(DipNacnac)}]2, and magnesium metallo-ketene products, [{(DipNacnac)Mg}{-(C4O4)Mo(CO)5}{Mg(D)(DipNacnac)}], which are not inter-convertible. Repeating the reactions at 80 °C led to the selective formation of the magnesium squarate, implying that this is the thermodynamic product. In an analogous reaction, in which THF is the Lewis base, only the metallo-ketene complex, [{(DipNacnac)Mg}{-(C4O4)Mo(CO)5}{Mg(THF)(DipNacnac)}] is formed at room temperature, while a complex product mixture is obtained at elevated temperature. In contrast, treatment of a 1:1 mixture of the guanidinato magnesium(I) complex, [(Priso)Mg‒Mg(Priso)] (Priso = [Pri2NC(NDip)2]-), and Mo(CO)6, with CO gas in a benzene/THF solution, gave a low yield of the squarate complex, [{(Priso)(THF)Mg}(C4O4){-Mg(THF)(Priso)}]2, at 80 °C. Computational analyses of the electronic structure of squarate and metallo-ketene product types corroborate the bonding proposed, from experimental data, for the C4O4 fragments of these systems.