LNL-Carbazole Pincer Ligand: More than the Sum of Its Parts.

The utility of carbazole in photo-, electro-, and medicinal applications has ensured its widespread use also as the backbone in tridentate pincer ligands. In this review, the aim is to identify and illustrate the key features of the LNL-carbazolide binding to transition metal centers (with L = flanking donor moieties, e.g., C, N, P, and O-groups) in a systematic bottom-up progression to illustrate the marked benefits attainable from (i) the rigid aromatic carbazole scaffold (modulable in both the 1,8- and 3,6-positions), (ii) the significant electronic effect of central carbazole-amido binding to a metal, and the tunable sterics and electronics of both the (iii) flanking donor L-moieties and (iv) the wingtip R-groups on the L-donors, with their corresponding influence on metal coordination geometry, d-electron configuration, and resultant reactivity. Systematic implementation of the ligand design strategies not in isolation, but in a combinatorial approach, is showcased to demonstrate the potential for functional molecules that are not only modulable but also adaptable for wide-ranging applications (e.g., stereoselective (photo)catalysis, challenging small molecule activation, SET and redox applications, and even applications in chemotherapeutics) as an indication of future research efforts anticipated to stem from this versatile pincer assembly, not only for the transition metals but also for s-, p-, and f-block elements.

Mercury- and cadmium-assisted [2 + 2] cyclodimerization of tert-butylselenium diimide.

The complexes [MCl2{N,N'-(t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu}] [M = Cd (1), Hg (2)] were obtained in high yields by the reaction of tert-butylselenium diimide Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2 with CdCl2 or HgCl2 in tetrahydrofuran. Recrystallization of 1 and 2 from acetonitrile (MeCN) afforded yellow crystals of 1·MeCN and 2·MeCN, respectively. Isomorphic 1·MeCN and 2·MeCN contain an unprecedented dimeric selenium diimide ligand, which is N,N'-chelated to the metal through exocyclic imido groups. In addition to the complexes 1 and 2, the (77)Se NMR spectra of acetonitrile solutions of 1·MeCN and 2·MeCN indicated the presence of the dimeric (t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu, monomeric Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2, and cyclic selenium imides. Density functional theory calculations at the PBE0/def2-TZVPP level of theory were used to assign the (77)Se resonances of the dimer. A comparison of Gibbs energies of formation of some metal dichloride complexes [MCl2{N,N'-Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2}] and [MCl2{N,N'-(t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu}] (M = Zn, Cd, Hg) indicated that the formation of complexes containing a dimeric selenium diimide ligand is favored over those containing a monomeric ligand for the group 12 metals. In the case of the group 10 metal halogenides (M = Ni, Pd, Pt), the Gibbs energies of the complexes with monomeric Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2 ligands are close to those containing dimeric (t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu ligands. A plausible reaction pathway with a low activation energy involves the initial formation of [MCl2{N,N'-Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2}] (M = Zn, Cd, Hg), which then reacts with another molecule of Se(N(t)Bu)2, leading to the final [MCl2{N,N'-(t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu}] complex. Without the presence of group 12 metal halogenides, the [2 + 2] cyclodimerization of Se(IV)(N(t)Bu)2 is virtually thermoneutral, but the activation energy is relatively high, which accounts for the kinetic stability of (t)BuNSe(µ-N(t)Bu)2SeN(t)Bu in solution. A minor byproduct, [Cd7Cl14{N,N'-Se(II)(NH(t)Bu)2}6]·4CH2Cl2, was identified by X-ray crystallography as a heptanuclear cluster with selenium(II) diamide ligands N,N'-chelated to the cadmium centers.

Experimental and Computational (77)Se NMR Investigations of the Cyclic Eight-Membered Selenium Imides 1,3,5,7-Se4(NR)4 (R = Me, (t)Bu) and 1,5-Se6(NMe)2.

The cyclocondensation reaction of equimolar amounts of SeCl2 and (Me3Si)2NMe in THF affords 1,3,5,7-Se4(NMe)4 (5b) [δ((77)Se) = 1585 ppm] in excellent yield. An X-ray structural determination showed that 5b consists of cyclic, puckered crown-shaped molecules with a mean Se-N bond length of 1.841 Å typical of single bonds. A minor product of this reaction was isolated as unstable orange-red crystals, which were identified by X-ray analysis as the adduct 1,5-Se6(NMe)2·(1)/2Se8 (1b·(1)/2Se8), composed of cyclic 1,5-Se6(NMe)2 and disordered cyclo-Se8 molecules. A detailed reinvestigation of the cyclocondensation reaction of SeCl2 and (t)BuNH2 as a function of molar ratio and time by multinuclear ((1)H, (13)C, and (77)Se) NMR spectroscopy revealed that the final product exhibits one (77)Se resonance at 1486 ppm and equivalent N(t)Bu groups. The shielding tensors of 28 selenium-containing molecules, for which the (77)Se chemical shifts are unambiguously known, were calculated at the PBE0/def2-TZVPP level of theory to assist the spectral assignment of new cyclic selenium imides. The good agreement between the observed and calculated chemical shifts enabled the assignment of the resonance at 1486 ppm to 1,3,5,7-Se4(N(t)Bu)4 (5a). Those at 1028 and 399 ppm (intensity ratio 2:1) could be attributed to 1,5-Se6(NMe)2 (1b).

The role of imidoselenium(II) chlorides in the formation of cyclic selenium imides via cyclocondensation.

The third member of the series of imidoselenium(II) chlorides ClSe[N(tBu)Se]nCl (n = 3) (9) has been isolated from the cyclocondensation reaction of tBuNH2 and SeCl2 in THF in a molar ratio of ca. 3:1 and characterized in the form of two polymorphs 9a and 9b by single crystal X-ray analysis. The unusual structural features of this nine-atom chain are explained satisfactorily in terms of a bonding model that invokes intra-molecular secondary bonding interactions and hyperconjugation. The reaction of the bifunctional reagent ClSe[N(tBu)Se]2Cl (8) with tBuNH2 in THF occurs via concurrent pathways to give 1,3,5-Se3(NtBu)3 (1) and 1,3-Se3(NtBu)2 (3a). The energetics of the reactions of tBuNH2 and SeCl2 in THF have been calculated at the PBE0/def2-TZVPP level of theory in order to assess the feasibility of ClSe[N(tBu)Se]nCl (7­9, n = 1­3) as intermediates in the formation of known cyclic selenium imides. DFT calculations were also employed to explore the energy profile of the pathway of the formation of the first member of the series ClSeN(tBu)SeCl (7) from tBuNH2 and SeCl2 in THF at 298 K. The neutral ligand ClSeN(tBu)SeCl (7) is Se,Se'-coordinated to the metal centre in the unusual adduct [PdCl2{Se,Se'-(SeCl)2N(tBu)}]·[PdCl2{Se,Se'-Se4(NtBu)3}]·MeCN (10·MeCN), which is the first metal complex of an imidoselenium(II) chloride.