Influential role of ethereal solvent on organolithium compounds: the case of carboranyllithium.

The influence of ethereal solvents (diethyl ether (Et(2)O), tetrahydrofuran (THF) or dimethoxyethane (DME)) on the formation of organolithiated compounds has been studied on the 1,2-C(2)B(10)H(12) platform. This platform is very attractive because it contains two C(c)-H adjacent units ready to be lithiated. On would expect that the closeness of both C(c)-H units would induce a higher resistance of the second C(c)-H unit being lithiated following the first lithiation. However, this is not the case, which makes 1,2-C(2)B(10)H(12) attractive to get a better understanding of the ethereal solvent influence on the lithiation process. The formation of carboranyl disubstituted species has been attributed to the existence of an equilibrium in which the carboranyl monolithiated species disproportionates into dilithium carborane and pristine carborane. The way Li(+) binds to C(c) in the carboranyl fragment and how the solvent stabilizes such a binding is paramount to drive the reaction to the generation of mono- and disubstituted carboranes. In fact, the proportion of mono- and disubstituted species is a consequence of the formation of contact ion pairs and, to a lesser extent, of separated ion pairs in ethereal solvents. All ethereal solvents generate contact ion pairs in which a large degree of covalent C(c)-Li(solvent) bonding can be assumed, according to experimental and theoretical data. Furthermore, Et(2)O tends to produce carboranyllitium ion pairs with a higher degree of contact ion pairs than THF or DME. It has been determined that for a high-yield preparation of monosubstituted 1-R-1,2-C(2)B(10)H(11), in C(c)-R (R=C, S or P) coupling reactions, the reagent type defines which is the most appropriate ethereal solvent. In reactions in which a halide is generated, as with ClPPh(2) or BrCH(2) CH=CH(2), Et(2)O appears to produce the highest degree of monosubstitution. In other situations, such as with S(8), or when no halide is generated, THF or DME facilitate the largest degree of monosubstitution. It has been shown that upon the self reaction of Li[1,2-C(2)B(10)H(11)] to produce [LiC(4)B(20)H(22)](-) the nucleophilicity of the carboranyllithium can even be further enhanced, beyond the ethereal solvent, by synergism with halide salts. The mediation of Li(+) in producing isomerizations on allyl substituents has also been demonstrated, as Et(2)O does not tend to induce isomerization, whereas THF or DME produces the propenyl isomer. The results presented here most probably can be extended to other molecular types to interpret the Li(+) mediation in C-C or other C-X coupling reactions.

Uncommon coordination behaviour of P(S) and P(Se) units when bonded to carboranyl clusters: experimental and computational studies on the oxidation of carboranyl phosphine ligands.

Oxidation of closo-carboranyl diphosphines 1,2-(PR(2))(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) (R=Ph, iPr) and closo-carboranyl monophosphines 1-PR(2)-2-R'-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) (R=Ph, iPr, Cy; R'=Me, Ph) with hydrogen peroxide, sulfur and elemental black selenium evidences the unique capacity of the closo-carborane cluster to produce uncommon or unprecedented P/P(E) (E=S, Se) and P=O/P=S chelating ligands. When H(2)O(2) reacts with 1,2-(PR(2))(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) (R=Ph, iPr), they are oxidized to 1,2-(OPR(2))(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) (R=Ph, iPr). However, when S and Se are used, different reactivity is found for 1,2-(PPh(2))(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) and 1,2-(PiPr(2))(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10). The reaction with sulfur produces mono- and dioxidation products for R=Ph, whereas Se produces the mono-oxidation product only. For R=iPr, only monooxidation takes place with S, and the second C(c)-PiPr(2) bond breaks to yield 1-SPiPr(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(11). When Se is used, only 1-SePiPr(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(11) is formed. The potential of the mono-chalcogenide carboranyl diphosphines 1-EPPh(2)-2-PPh(2)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) (E=S, 9; Se, 15) to behave as unsymmetric chelating bidentate ligands was studied for different metal complexes, different solvents and in the solid state. Dechalcogenation takes place in each case. Computational studies provided information on the P=E (E=S, Se) bonds. Steric effects block the bonding ability of the P=E group due to interactions between the chalcogen and the neighbouring hydrogen atoms (three from the phenyl rings and one from the carborane cluster). The electronic effects originate from the strongly electron-withdrawing character of the closo carborane cluster, which polarizes the P=E (E=S, Se) bond towards the phosphorus atom. As a consequence, the E atom is the electron-poor site and the P atom the electron-rich site in the P=E bond.

Design of dinuclear copper species with carboranylcarboxylate ligands: study of their steric and electronic effects.

A series of new mononuclear and carboranylcarboxylate-bridged dinuclear copper(II) compounds containing the 1-CH(3)-2-CO(2)H-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(10) carborane ligand (LH) has been synthesized. Reaction of different copper salts with LH at room temperature leads to dinuclear compounds of the general formula [Cu(2)(µ-L)(4)(L(t))(2)] (L(t) = thf (1), L(t) = H(2)O (1')). The reaction of 1 and 1' with different terminal pyridyl (py) ligands leads to the formation of a series of structurally analogous complexes by substitution of the terminal ligand thf or H(2)O (L(t) = py (2), p-CF(3)-py (3), p-CH(3)-py (4), pz (6), and 4,4'-bpy (7)), which maintain the structural Cu(2)(µ-O(2)CR)(4) core in the majority of the cases except for o-(CH(3))(2)-py, where a mononuclear compound (5) is exclusively obtained. These compounds have been characterized through analytical, spectroscopic (NMR, IR, UV-visible, ESI-MS) and magnetic techniques. X-ray structural analysis revealed a paddle-wheel structure for the dinuclear compounds, with a square-pyramidal geometry around each copper ion and the carboranylcarboxylate ions bridging two copper atoms in syn-syn mode. The mononuclear complex obtained with the o-(CH(3))(2)-py ligand presents a square-planar structure, in which the carboranylcarboxylate ligand adopts a monodentate coordination mode. The magnetic properties of the dinuclear compounds 1, 3, 4, and 6 show a strong antiferromagnetic coupling in all cases (J = -261 (1), -255 (3), -241 (4), -249 cm(-1) (6)). Computational studies based on hybrid density functional methods have been used to study the magnetic properties of the complexes and also to evaluate their relative stability on the basis of the strength of the bond between each Cu(II) and the terminal ligand.