Synthesis and Characterization of Cobalt(II) N,N'-Diphenylazodioxide Complexes

Removal of chloride from CoCl₂ with TlPF₆ in acetonitrile, followed by addition of excess nitrosobenzene, yielded the eight-coordinate cobalt(II) complex salt [Co{Ph(O)NN(O)Ph}₄](PF₆)₂, shown by single-crystal X-ray analysis to have a distorted tetragonal geometry. The analogous treatment of the bipyridyl complex Co(bpy)Cl₂ yielded the mixed-ligand cobalt(II) complex salt [Co(bpy){Ph(O)NN(O)Ph}₂](PF₆)₂, whose single-crystal X-ray structure displays a trigonal prismatic geometry, similar to that of the iron(II) cation in the previously known complex salt [Fe{Ph(O)NN(O)Ph}₃](FeCl₄)₂. The use of TlPF₆ to generate solvated metal complex cations from chloride salts or chlorido complexes, followed by the addition of nitrosobenzene, is shown to be a useful synthetic strategy for the preparation of azodioxide complex cations with the noncoordinating, diamagnetic PF₆ ^- counteranion. Coordination number appears to be more important than d electron count in determining the geometry and metal-ligand bond distances of diphenylazodioxide complexes.

Polyoxopalladates encapsulating 8-coordinated metal ions, [MO8Pd(II)12L8]n- (M = Sc3+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Lu3+; L = PhAsO3(2-), PhPO3(2-), SeO3(2-))

A total of 16 discrete polyoxopalladates(II) [MO(8)Pd(II)(12)L(8)](n-), with a metal ion M encapsulated in a cuboid-shaped {Pd(12)O(8)L(8)} cage, have been synthesized: the phenylarsonate-capped series (1) L = PhAsO(3)(2-), M = Sc(3+) (ScPhAs), Mn(2+) (MnPhAs), Fe(3+) (FePhAs), Co(2+) (CoPhAs), Ni(2+) (NiPhAs), Cu(2+) (CuPhAs), Zn(2+) (ZnPhAs); the phenylphosphonate-capped series: (2) L = PhPO(3)(2-), M = Cu(2+) (CuPhP), Zn(2+) (ZnPhP); and the selenite-capped series (3) L = SeO(3)(2-), M = Mn(2+) (MnSe), Fe(3+) (FeSe), Co(2+) (CoSe), Ni(2+) (NiSe), Cu(2+), (CuSe), Zn(2+) (ZnSe), Lu(3+) (LuSe)). The polyanions were prepared in one-pot reactions in aqueous solution of [Pd(3)(CH(3)COO)(6)] with an appropriate salt of the metal ion M, as well as PhAsO(3)H(2), PhPO(3)H(2), and SeO(2), respectively, and then isolated as hydrated sodium salts Na(n)[MO(8)Pd(II)(12)L(8)]·yH(2)O (y = 10-37). The compounds were characterized in the solid state by IR spectroscopy, single-crystal XRD, elemental and thermogravimetric analyses. The solution stability of the diamagnetic polyanions ScPhAs, ZnPhAs, ZnPhP, ZnSe, and LuSe was confirmed by multinuclear ((77)Se, (31)P, (13)C, and (1)H) NMR spectroscopy. The polyoxopalladates ScPhAs, MnPhAs, CoPhAs, and CuPhAs were investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Electrochemical studies on the manganese- and iron-containing derivatives demonstrated that the redox properties of the Mn(2+), Fe(3+), and Pd(2+) centers in the polyanions are strikingly influenced by the nature of the capping group. These results have subsequently been verified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Interestingly, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements suggest that the coordination geometry around Mn(2+) is dynamically distorted on the EPR time scale (∼10(-11) s), whereas it appears as a static ensemble with cubic symmetry on the X-ray diffraction (XRD) time-scale (10(-15) s). The octacoordinated Cu(2+) cuboid is similarly distorted, in good agreement with DFT calculations. Interestingly, g(∥) is smaller than g(⊥), which is quite unusual, needing further theoretical development.

3 d metal ions in highly unusual eight-coordination: the phosphate-capped dodecapalladate(II) nanocube

Trapped in a noble cube: A novel family of noble metalates has been discovered in which a 3d metal ion M (M = Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Cu(II), Zn(II)) is encapsulated by a 12 palladium-oxo cage {Pd(12)O(32)}, which is capped by eight phosphate groups. Such discrete nanocubes were further investigated by EPR spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and in homogeneous hydrogenation catalysis.

[N.1.1]-(2,6)-Pyridinophanes: a new ligand type imposing unusual metal coordination geometries

A series of new ligands with three pyridines linked into a macrocycle by various CH(2), CMe(2), and CH(2)CH(2) groups at all sites ortho to the pyridine nitrogen have been synthesized and attached to PdCl(2) or PtMe(2). The ligands bind to them through only two nitrogens, and the third pyridine is constrained in close proximity to the planar complex with a filled d(z)2 orbital. Rapid reversible migration of PdCl(2) or PtMe(2) to the unused pyridine nitrogen is observed at 20 degrees C in the case of the CH(2)-bridged macrocycle and does not occur in the case of the CMe(2)-bridged analogue, and the mechanism of this fluxionality has been established by NMR and computational techniques.