Versatile coordination of 2-pyridinetetramethyldisilazane at ruthenium: Ru(II) vs Ru(IV) as evidenced by NMR, X-ray, neutron, and DFT studies.

The novel disilazane compound 2-pyridinetetramethyldisilazane (1) has been synthesized. The competition between N-pyridine coordination and Si-H bond activation was studied through its reactivity with two ruthenium complexes. The reaction between 1 and RuH(2)(H(2))(2)(PCy(3))(2) led to the isolation of the new complex RuH(2){(eta(2)-HSiMe(2))N(kappaN-C(5)H(4)N)(SiMe(2)H)}(PCy(3))(2) (2) resulting from the loss of two dihydrogen ligands and coordination of 1 to the ruthenium center via a kappa(2)N,(eta(2)-Si-H) mode. Complex 2 has been characterized by multinuclear NMR experiments ((1)H, (31)P, (13)C, (29)Si), X-ray diffraction and DFT studies. In particular, the HMBC (29)Si-(1)H spectrum supports the presence of two different silicon environments: one Si-H bond is dangling, whereas the other one is eta(2)-coordinated to the ruthenium with a J(SiH) value of 50 Hz. DFT calculations (B3PW91) were also carried out to evaluate the stability of the agostic species versus a formulation corresponding to a bis(sigma-Si-H) isomer and confirmed that N-coordination overcomes any stabilization that could be gained by the establishment of SISHA interactions. There is no exchange between the two Si-H bonds present in 2, as demonstrated by deuterium-labeling experiments. Heating 2 at 70 degrees C under vacuum for 24 h, leads to the formal loss of one equivalent of H(2) from 2 and formation of the 16-electron complex RuH{(SiMe(2))N(kappaN-C(5)H(4)N)(SiMe(2)H)}(PCy(3))(2) (3) formulated as a hydrido(silyl) species on the basis of multinuclear NMR experiments. The dehydrogenation reaction is fully reversible under dihydrogen atmosphere. Reaction of Ru(COD)(COT) with 3 equiv of 1 under a H(2) pressure led to the isolation of the new complex RuH{(SiMe(2))N(kappaN-C(5)H(4)N)(SiMe(2)H)}(3) (4) characterized as a hydridotrisilyl complex by multinuclear NMR techniques, X-ray and neutron diffractions, as well as DFT calculations. The (29)Si HMBC experiments confirm the presence of two different silicon atoms in 4, with a signal at -14.64 ppm for three dangling Si-Me(2)H fragments and a signal at 64.94 ppm (correlating with the hydride signal) assigned to three Si-Me(2)N groups bound to Ru. Comparison of DFT and neutron parameters involving the hydride clearly indicates an excellent correlation. The Si-H distance of approximately 2.15 A is much shorter than the sum of the van der Waals radii and typically in the range of a significant interaction between a silicon and a hydrogen atom (SISHA interactions). In 4, three dangling Si-H groups remain accessible for further functionalization.

Theoretical study of specific hydrogen-bonding effects on the bridging P-OR bond strength of phosphate monoester dianions.

It has been proposed that the driving force for the initial phosphoryl transfer step of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) could be activation of the substrate ROPO32- by means of an enforced hydrogen-bonding interaction between an aspartic general acid and the bridging oxygen atom O (Zhang et al. Biochemistry 1995, 34, 16088-16096). The potential catalytic effect of this type of interaction, with regard to P-OR bond cleavage, was investigated computationally through simple model systems in which an efficient intramolecular hydrogen bond can take place between a H-bond donor group and the bridging oxygen atom of the dianionic phosphate. The dielectric effect of the environment (epsilon = 1, 4, and 78) was also explored. The results indicate that this interaction causes significant lengthenings of the scissile P-OR bond in all media but with more extreme effects observed in the low dielectric fields epsilon = 1 and epsilon = 4. It is interesting that, in all cases examined, this interaction actually contributes to stabilize the reactant state while causing its P-OR bond to lengthen. Overall, our results support the idea that this specific hydrogen-bonding situation might well be used by PTPases as an important driving force for promoting phosphoryl transfer reactions through highly dissociative transition states.

Synthesis, structure and coordination of the ambiphilic ligand (2-picolyl)BCy2.

The new pyridine-borane compound (2-picolyl)BCy2, readily prepared from 2-picolyllithium and ClBCy2, adopts a head-to-tail dimeric structure in the solid state as indicated by X-ray diffraction analysis and according to NMR and DFT studies, the dimeric form equilibrates in solution with a strained monomeric structure; the ambiphilic behavior of the new compound is illustrated by its bridging coordination to the (p-cymene)RuCl2 unit.

Agostic Si-H bond coordination assists C-H bond activation at ruthenium in bis(phosphinobenzylsilane) complexes.

Reaction of a phosphinobenzylsilane compound with ruthenium complexes leads to C-H and/or Si-H activation. The new complex Ru{eta(2)-H-SiMe2CH(o-C(6)H(4))PPh2}2 (5) was isolated and X-ray, NMR and DFT studies reveal that 5 displays two agostic Si-H interactions and two carbon-metallated bonds.

Theoretical evaluation of the substrate-assisted catalysis mechanism for the hydrolysis of phosphate monoester dianions.

Quantum chemistry methods coupled with a continuum solvation model have been applied to evaluate the substrate-assisted catalysis (SAC) mechanism recently proposed for the hydrolysis of phosphate monoester dianions. The SAC mechanism, in which a proton from the nucleophile is transferred to a nonbridging phosphoryl oxygen atom of the substrate prior to attack, has been proposed in opposition to the widely accepted mechanism of direct nucleophilic reaction. We have assessed the SAC proposal for the hydrolysis of three representative phosphate monoester dianions (2,4-dinitrophenyl phosphate, phenyl phosphate, and methyl phosphate) by considering the reactivity of the hydroxide ion toward the phosphorus center of the corresponding singly protonated monoesters. The reliability of the calculations was verified by comparing the calculated and the observed values of the activation free energies for the analogous S(N)2(P) reactions of F- with the monoanion of the monoester 2,4-dinitrophenyl phosphate and its diester analogue, methyl 2,4-dinitrophenyl phosphate. It was found that the orientation of the phosphate hydrogen atom has important implications with regard to the nature of the transition state. Hard nucleophiles such as OH- and F- can attack the phosphorus atom of a singly protonated phosphate monoester only if the phosphate hydrogen atom is oriented toward the leaving-group oxygen atom. As a result of this proton orientation, the SAC mechanism in solution is characterized by a small Brønsted coefficient value (beta(lg)=-0.25). This mechanism is unlikely to apply to aryl phosphates, but becomes a likely possibility for alkyl phosphate esters. If oxyanionic nucleophiles of pK(a)<11 are involved, as in alkaline phosphatase, then the S(N)2(P) reaction may proceed with the phosphate hydrogen atom oriented toward the nucleophile. In this situation, a large negative value of beta(lg) (-0.95) is predicted for the substrate-assisted catalysis mechanism.

Synthesis and theoretical study of a series of dipalladium(I) complexes containing the Pd2(mu-CO)2 core.

The complex [PBu4]2[Pd2(mu-CO)2Cl4] has been prepared in high yields by carbonylation of [PBu4]2[Pd2Cl6]. Methanol, potassium acetate, or CO readily reacted under ambient conditions to quantitatively afford a series of dipalladium(I) complexes, namely [Pd2(mu-CO)2Cl3(OCH3)]2-, [Pd2(mu-CO)2Cl3(OC(O)CH3)]2-, [Pd2(mu-CO)2Cl3(CO)]-, and [Pd2(mu-CO)2Cl2(OCH3)(CO)]-, all of which have the Pd2(mu-CO)2 core preserved. All these complexes have been characterized by infrared and NMR spectroscopies; the high nu(CO) stretching wavenumbers observed and the diamagnetic character of these complexes prompted us to perform theoretical calculations to describe the electronic structure of the Pd2(mu-CO)2 core and to gain an intimate description of the Pd-CO bonds. The pairing of the two lonely electrons of the Pd d9 atoms is due to the delocalization along the CO bridging ligands.

Theoretical studies of the hydroxide-catalyzed P-O cleavage reactions of neutral phosphate triesters and diesters in aqueous solution: examination of the changes induced by H/Me substitution.

DFT calculations and dielectric continuum methods have been employed to map out the lowest activation free-energy profiles for the alkaline hydrolysis of representative phosphate triesters and diesters, including trimethyl phosphate (TMP), dimethyl 4-nitrophenyl phosphate (DMNPP), dimethyl hydrogen phosphate (DMHP), and the dimethyl phosphate anion (DMP-). The reliability of the calculations is supported by the excellent agreement observed between the calculated and the experimentally determined activation enthalpies for phosphate triesters with poor (TMP) and good (DMNPP) leaving groups. The results obtained for the OH- + DMHP and OH- + DMP- reactions are also consistent with all the available experimental information concerning the hydrolysis reaction of dimethyl phosphate anion at pH > 5. By performing geometry optimizations in the dielectric field (epsilon = 78.39), we found that OH- can attack the phosphorus atom of DMHP without capturing its proton only if the O-H bond of DMHP is oriented opposite the attacking OH- group. In these conditions, the rate for OH- attack on DMHP was found to be approximately 10(3)-fold faster than that for OH- attack on TMP. The calculated rate acceleration induced by the phosphoryl proton corresponds to the maximum rate effect expected from kinetic studies. Overall, our calculations performed on the dimethyl phosphate ester predict that, contrary to what is generally observed for RNA and aryl phosphodiesters, the water-promoted P-O cleavage reaction of DNA should dominate the base-catalyzed reaction at pH 7. These results are suggestive that nucleases may be less proficient as catalysts than has recently been suspected.

Reactivity of phosphate monoester monoanions in aqueous solution. 1. Quantum mechanical calculations support the existence of "anionic zwitterion" MeO(+)(H)PO(3)(2-) as a key intermediate in the dissociative hydrolysis of the methyl phosphate anion.

The dissociative hydrolysis reaction of the methyl phosphate monoanion has been studied for the reactant species CH(3)OPO(3)H(-) (1) and CH(3)OPO(3)H(-) x H(2)O (1a) in the gas and aqueous phases by density functional theory (B3LYP) calculations. Nonspecific solvation effects were taken into account with the polarizable continuum model PCM either by solvating the gas-phase reaction paths or by performing geometry searches directly in the presence of the solvation correction. In agreement with previous theoretical studies, our gas-phase calculations indicate that proton transfer to the methoxy group of 1 is concerted with P-O bond cleavage. In contrast, optimizations performed with the PCM solvation model establish the existence of the tautomeric form CH(3)O(+)(H)PO(3)(2-) (2) as an intermediate, indicating that proton transfer and P-O bond cleavage become uncoupled in aqueous solution. The dissociative pathway of 1a is energetically favored over the dissociative pathway of 1 only when the added water molecule plays an active catalytic role in the prototropic rearrangement 1 <--> 2. In that case, it is found that the collapse (via P-O bond cleavage) of the hydrated zwitterionic form CH(3)O(+)(H)PO(3)(2-) x H(2)O (2a) is rate-determining. This collapse may occur by a stepwise mechanism through a very short-lived metaphosphate intermediate (PO(3)(-)), or by a concerted S(N)2-like displacement through a loose metaphosphate-like transition state. The present calculations do not allow a distinction to be made between these two alternatives, which are both in excellent agreement with experiment. The present study also reveals that PO(3)(-) reacts selectively with CH(3)OH and H(2)O nucleophiles in aqueous solution. However, the observed selectivity of metaphosphate is governed by solvation effects, not nucleophilicity (water being much more effective than methanol in capturing PO(3)(-)). This arises from a better solvation of the addition product H(2)O(+)PO(3)(2-) as compared to CH(3)O(+)(H)PO(3)(2-).

Fluxionality and Isomerism of the Bis(dihydrogen) Complex RuH(2)(H(2))(2)(PCy(3))(2): INS, NMR, and Theoretical Studies.

To study the fluxionality of the bis(dihydrogen) complex RuH(2)(H(2))(2)(PCy(3))(2) (1), NMR spectra were recorded in Freons (mixture of CDCl(3), CDFCl(2), and CDF(2)Cl). 1 was found to remain fluxional at all temperatures, but the presence of CDCl(3) necessary for its solubilization induces its transformation into, first, RuHCl(H(2))(2)(PCy(3))(2) (3) and the new ruthenium(IV) dihydride RuH(2)Cl(2)(PCy(3))(2) (4). 4 is produced selectively in pure CDCl(3) but reacts further to give a mixture of chloro complexes. 4 was isolated from the reaction of 1 with aqueous HCl in Et(2)O and shows a fluxional process attributed to the interconversion between two symmetrical isomers. The activation parameters of this process were obtained by (1)H NMR line shape analysis, as well as those corresponding to the exchange between 3 and free dihydrogen. The fluxionality of the dihydrogen-hydride system is also evident at a much faster time scale than that of NMR studies in the inelastic neutron scattering observations of the rotation of the dihydrogen ligands. The geometries and relative energies of several isomers of complexes 1, 3, and 4 were studied using density functional theory (DFT) and MP2 methods, together with a few coupled-cluster (CCSD(T)) calculations. In contrast to what might have been expected, the two hydrides and the two H(2) units of 1 lie in the same plane, due to the attractive "cis effect" created by the hydrides. The two H(2) ligands adopt cis positions in the lowest-energy isomer. Rotation of the two dihydrogen ligands has been analyzed using DFT calculations. A slight preference for a C(2) conrotatory pathway has been found with a calculated barrier in good agreement with the experimental INS value. Two low-energy isomers of 4 have been characterized computationally, both of which have C(2)(v)() symmetry, consistent with the solution NMR spectra.