Conjugated Nanohoops with Dibenzo[a,e]pentalenes as Non-alternant and Antiaromatic π-Systems

Conjugated nanohoops are excellent candidates to study structure-property relationships, as optoelectronic materials and as hosts for supramolecular chemistry. While carbon nanohoops containing aromatics are well studied, antiaromatic units had not been incorporated until recently by our group using dibenzo[a,e]pentalene (DBP). The non-alternant electronic character of the DBP units significantly influences the optoelectronic properties of such nanohoops. We herein summarize our synthetic strategies to DBP-containing nanohoops, their structural and electronic properties, chirality and host-guest chemistry. We demonstrate how incorporating antiaromatic units leads to unique properties and opens new synthetic avenues, making such nanohoops attractive as potential electronic materials.

Coordination Chemistry of Phosphinocarbonyls with Platinum

<p>This thesis reports the coordination chemistry of phosphinocarbonyl ligands with platinum and describes the influence of phosphine substituents on the mechanism of chelation and the coordination mode of the carbonyl moiety. The ligands synthesised were 2-diphenylphosphinobenzaldehyde (1), 2-diphenylphosphinoacetophenone (2), 2-bis(pentafluorophenyl)phosphinobenzaldehyde (3), and 2-di-tert-butylphosphinobenzaldehyde (4). Compounds 1, 3, and 4 were selected on the basis of their steric bulk and extent to which they donate electron density to the metal. Compound 2 contained the same phosphine substituents to 1, but is the methyl ketone analogue and therefore does not contain the CHO moiety. The cone angle and electronic parameter of compounds 1–4 were compared to the reported values of PPh3, PPh(C6F5)2, and PPhtBu2. Compounds 3 and 4 were similarly bulky, and had larger cone angles than 1. The electron donating capacity of compound 4 was greater than that of 1, and compound 3 was the least electron donating. A new synthetic method for the preparation of 4 is also reported. The coordination chemistry of ligands 1–4 was investigated with platinum(II) and platinum(0) starting materials to assess the influence of the steric and electronic parameters of the phosphine on the chelation of the ligand through the carbonyl to platinum. Coordination of the ligand went through the initial coordination of the phosphine and, depending on the identity of that phosphine, may be followed by chelation of the carbonyl moiety to form a P,C chelate. However, the site of the platinum–carbon bond in the P,C metallacycle depends on the ligand employed. Coordination of the phosphinoaldehyde ligands 1, 3, and 4 produced Pt-C bonds via the C-H activation of the aldehyde CHO group whereas for ketophosphine 2, C-H activation occurred at the α-methyl group. The rate at which C-H activation occurred increased with increasing electron donation from the phosphorus to platinum. Compound 4 chelates to platinum more rapidly than compound 1, while 3 did not undergo chelation at room temperature. Although chelation was only observed to occur via C-H activation, the final products of the coordination reactions of 1–4 with platinum starting materials differed depending on the identity of the ligand. The C-H activation of two molecules of 1 with platinum(II) or platinum(0) produced a platina-β-diketone, cis-[Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4CO)2] (21), which is capable of coordinating to H+, Li+, BF2 +, and [Rh(1,5-cyclooctadiene)]+ between the mutually cis carbonyl groups. One carbonyl moiety of 21 can also undergo condensation with primary amines and ammonia to produce platina-β-ketoimine complexes. The ketone moiety of ligand 2 reacted with platinum(II) starting materials through C-H activation of the terminal methyl group to form the six-membered bis-chelate complex analogous to complex 21. The reaction of 2 with platinum(0) starting materials resulted in the formation of a platinum hydride intermediate which mediated chelation through the partial reduction of the ketone group of one ligand, to form the product, [Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4COCH2)(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4C(OH)CH3)] (48) . The reaction of 3 with [PtMe2(1,5-hexadiene)] at elevated temperatures resulted in the formation of [Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4)(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4CO)] (54) – a decarbonylated and ortho-metallated complex containing a four-membered metallacycle. The platinum-phosphorus bond in the four-membered ring of 54 has a bond distance of 2.385(2) Å – the longest Pt–P bond reported to date. Ligand 4 reacted rapidly with platinum(II) starting materials and produced numerous chelation products. Complexes of ligand 4 were only observed to contain mutually trans phosphines, likely due to the steric bulk of the tert-butyl substituents. Comparison of the coordination chemistry of ligands 1–4 suggests that the propensity toward C-H activation of the ligands is predominantly determined by the electronic character of the phosphine (although steric effects cannot be disregarded), and the more electron-rich the phosphine, the more rapidly chelation occurs.</p>

Coordination Chemistry of Phosphinocarbonyls with Platinum

<p>This thesis reports the coordination chemistry of phosphinocarbonyl ligands with platinum and describes the influence of phosphine substituents on the mechanism of chelation and the coordination mode of the carbonyl moiety. The ligands synthesised were 2-diphenylphosphinobenzaldehyde (1), 2-diphenylphosphinoacetophenone (2), 2-bis(pentafluorophenyl)phosphinobenzaldehyde (3), and 2-di-tert-butylphosphinobenzaldehyde (4). Compounds 1, 3, and 4 were selected on the basis of their steric bulk and extent to which they donate electron density to the metal. Compound 2 contained the same phosphine substituents to 1, but is the methyl ketone analogue and therefore does not contain the CHO moiety. The cone angle and electronic parameter of compounds 1–4 were compared to the reported values of PPh3, PPh(C6F5)2, and PPhtBu2. Compounds 3 and 4 were similarly bulky, and had larger cone angles than 1. The electron donating capacity of compound 4 was greater than that of 1, and compound 3 was the least electron donating. A new synthetic method for the preparation of 4 is also reported. The coordination chemistry of ligands 1–4 was investigated with platinum(II) and platinum(0) starting materials to assess the influence of the steric and electronic parameters of the phosphine on the chelation of the ligand through the carbonyl to platinum. Coordination of the ligand went through the initial coordination of the phosphine and, depending on the identity of that phosphine, may be followed by chelation of the carbonyl moiety to form a P,C chelate. However, the site of the platinum–carbon bond in the P,C metallacycle depends on the ligand employed. Coordination of the phosphinoaldehyde ligands 1, 3, and 4 produced Pt-C bonds via the C-H activation of the aldehyde CHO group whereas for ketophosphine 2, C-H activation occurred at the α-methyl group. The rate at which C-H activation occurred increased with increasing electron donation from the phosphorus to platinum. Compound 4 chelates to platinum more rapidly than compound 1, while 3 did not undergo chelation at room temperature. Although chelation was only observed to occur via C-H activation, the final products of the coordination reactions of 1–4 with platinum starting materials differed depending on the identity of the ligand. The C-H activation of two molecules of 1 with platinum(II) or platinum(0) produced a platina-β-diketone, cis-[Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4CO)2] (21), which is capable of coordinating to H+, Li+, BF2 +, and [Rh(1,5-cyclooctadiene)]+ between the mutually cis carbonyl groups. One carbonyl moiety of 21 can also undergo condensation with primary amines and ammonia to produce platina-β-ketoimine complexes. The ketone moiety of ligand 2 reacted with platinum(II) starting materials through C-H activation of the terminal methyl group to form the six-membered bis-chelate complex analogous to complex 21. The reaction of 2 with platinum(0) starting materials resulted in the formation of a platinum hydride intermediate which mediated chelation through the partial reduction of the ketone group of one ligand, to form the product, [Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4COCH2)(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4C(OH)CH3)] (48) . The reaction of 3 with [PtMe2(1,5-hexadiene)] at elevated temperatures resulted in the formation of [Pt(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4)(P,C-2-PPh2C6H4CO)] (54) – a decarbonylated and ortho-metallated complex containing a four-membered metallacycle. The platinum-phosphorus bond in the four-membered ring of 54 has a bond distance of 2.385(2) Å – the longest Pt–P bond reported to date. Ligand 4 reacted rapidly with platinum(II) starting materials and produced numerous chelation products. Complexes of ligand 4 were only observed to contain mutually trans phosphines, likely due to the steric bulk of the tert-butyl substituents. Comparison of the coordination chemistry of ligands 1–4 suggests that the propensity toward C-H activation of the ligands is predominantly determined by the electronic character of the phosphine (although steric effects cannot be disregarded), and the more electron-rich the phosphine, the more rapidly chelation occurs.</p>

FeI Intermediates in N2O2 Schiff Base Complexes: Effect of Electronic Character of the Ligand and of the Proton Donor on the Reactivity with Carbon Dioxide

The characterization of competent intermediates of metal complexes, involved in catalytic transformations for the activation of small molecules, is an important target for mechanistic comprehension and catalyst design. Iron complexes deserve particular attention, due to the rich chemistry of iron that allows their application both in oxidation and reduction processes. In particular, iron complexes with tetradentate Schiff base ligands show the possibility to electrochemically generate FeI intermediates, capable of reacting with carbon dioxide. In this work, we investigate the electronic and spectroscopic features of FeI intermediates in five Fe(LN2O2) complexes, and evaluate the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 in the presence of phenol (PhOH) or trifluoroethanol (TFE) as proton donors. The main findings include: (i) a correlation of the potentials of the FeII/I couples with the electronic character of the LN2O2 ligand and the energy of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer absorption of FeI species (determined by spectroelectrochemistry, SEC-UV/Vis); (ii) the reactivity of FeI species with CO2, as proven by cyclic voltammetry and SEC-UV/Vis; (iii) the identification of Fe(salen) as a competent homogeneous electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction to CO, in the presence of phenol or trifluoroethanol proton donors (an overpotential of 0.91 V, a catalytic rate constant estimated at 5 × 104 s−1, and a turnover number of 4); and (iv) the identification of sudden, ligand-assisted decomposition routes for complexes bearing a ketylacetoneimine pendant, likely associated with the protonation under cathodic conditions of the ligands.

Critical charge fluctuations and emergent coherence in a strongly correlated excitonic insulator

Excitonic insulator is a coherent electronic phase that results from the formation of a macroscopic population of bound particle-hole pairs—excitons. With only a few candidate materials known, the collective excitonic behavior is challenging to observe, being obscured by crystalline lattice effects. Here we use polarization-resolved Raman spectroscopy to reveal the quadrupolar excitonic mode in the candidate zero-gap semiconductor Ta2NiSe5 disentangling it from the lattice phonons. The excitonic mode pronouncedly softens close to the phase transition, showing its electronic character, while its coupling to noncritical lattice modes is shown to enhance the transition temperature. On cooling, we observe the gradual emergence of coherent superpositions of band states at the correlated insulator gap edge, with strong departures from mean-field theory predictions. Our results demonstrate the realization of a strongly correlated excitonic state in an equilibrium bulk material.

Ni/Photoredox-Catalyzed Enantioselective Cross-Electrophile Coupling of Styrene Oxides with Aryl Iodides

A Ni/photoredox-catalyzed enantioselective reductive coupling of styrene oxides and aryl iodides is reported. This reaction affords access to enantioenriched 2,2-diarylalcohols from racemic epoxides via a stereoconvergent mechanism. Multivariate linear regression (MVLR) analysis with 29 bioxazoline (BiOx) and biimidazoline (BiIm) ligands revealed that enantioselectivity correlates with electronic properties of the ligands, with more electron-donating ligands affording higher ee’s. Mechanistic studies were conducted, lending support to the hypothesis that the electronic character of the ligands influences the enantioselectivity by altering the position of the transition state structure along the reaction coordinate. This study demonstrates the benefits of utilizing statistical modeling as a platform for mechanistic understanding and provides new insight into an emerging class of chiral ligands for stereoconvergent Ni and Ni/photoredox cross-coupling.

Ni/Photoredox-Catalyzed Enantioselective Cross-Electrophile Coupling of Styrene Oxides with Aryl Iodides

A Ni/photoredox-catalyzed enantioselective reductive coupling of styrene oxides and aryl iodides is reported. This reaction affords access to enantioenriched 2,2-diarylalcohols from racemic epoxides via a stereoconvergent mechanism. Multivariate linear regression (MVLR) analysis with 29 bioxazoline (BiOx) and biimidazoline (BiIm) ligands revealed that enantioselectivity correlates with electronic properties of the ligands, with more electron-donating ligands affording higher ee’s. Mechanistic studies were conducted, lending support to the hypothesis that the electronic character of the ligands influences the enantioselectivity by altering the position of the transition state structure along the reaction coordinate. This study demonstrates the benefits of utilizing statistical modeling as a platform for mechanistic understanding and provides new insight into an emerging class of chiral ligands for stereoconvergent Ni and Ni/photoredox cross-coupling.