Mechanistic study of ligand substitution processes in TpIr(III) complexes

The synthesis of the cationic hydridotris(pyrazolyl)borate iridium(III) complex [Tp(PMe3)IrMe(ClCH2Cl)][BArf] (2-CH2Cl2) is reported. Spectroscopic characterization of 2-CH2Cl2 in CH2Cl2 solution indicates that exchange of bound CH2Cl2 with free CH2Cl2 is slow on the NMR time scale. Under 50 atm (1 atm = 101.325 kPa) of N2, the CH2Cl2 in 2-CH2Cl2 is displaced by N2 to yield [Tp(PMe3)IrMe(N2)][BArf] (2-N2). The stronger nucleophile CH3CN reacts rapidly with 2-CH2Cl2 to produce [Tp(PMe3)IrMe(NCCH3)][BArf] (4). A kinetic study was performed on CH2Cl2 substitution in 2-CH2Cl2 by CD3CN. The data are most consistent with dissociative loss of CH2Cl2 to generate the unsaturated species ([Tp(PMe3)IrMe][BArf]) which then reacts with CD3CN to generate [Tp(PMe3)IrMe(NCCD3)][BArf]. Further evidence for a dissociative mechanism was obtained by comparison of ligand substitution rates for the Tp complexes with the analogous TpMe2 complexes (TpMe2 = hydridotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate). The relevance of these substitution experiments to C—H activation by cationic iridium(III) complexes is discussed.Key words: iridium, hydridotris(pyrazolyl)borate, methylene chloride and dinitrogen complexes, dissociative substitution.