A series of heterometallic coordination clusters (CCs) [Ni(II)2Ln(III)2(L1)4Cl2(CH3CN)2] 2CH3CN [Ln = Y (1Y), Sm (1Sm), Eu (1Eu), Gd (1Gd), or Tb (1Tb)] were synthesized by the reaction of (E)-2-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene-amino)phenol) (H2L1) with NiCl2·6(H2O) and LnCl3·x(H2O) in the presence of Et3N at room temperature. These air-stable CCs can be obtained in very high yields from commercially available materials and are efficient catalysts for the room-temperature domino ring-opening electrocyclization synthesis of trans-4,5-diaminocyclopent-2-enones from 2-furaldehyde and primary or secondary amines under a non-inert atmosphere. Structural modification of the catalyst to achieve immobilization or photosensitivity is possible without deterioration in catalytic activity.

The lability of B=B, B−P, and B–halide bonds is combined in the syntheses of the first diiododiborenes. In a series of reactivity tests, these diiododiborenes undergo cleavage of all six of their central bonds in different ways, leading to products of B=B hydrogenation and dihalogenation as well as halide exchange.

Cyclic diboranes(4) based on a chelating monoanionic benzylphosphine linker were prepared through boron-silicon exchange between arylsilanes and B Br . Coordination of Lewis bases to the remaining sp boron atom yielded unsymmetrical sp -sp diboranes, which were reduced with KC to their corresponding trans-diborenes. These compounds were studied with a combination of spectroscopic methods, X-ray diffraction, and DFT calculations. PMe -stabilized diborene 6 was found to undergo thermal rearrangement to gem-diborene 8. DFT calculations on 8 reveal a polar boron-boron bond, and indicate that the compound is best described as a borylborylene.

Metallocenes with bridged cyclopentadienyl ligands, commonly named ansa metallocenes or metallocenophanes, have emerged as a class of organometallic compounds with an exceptionally wide and diverse range of applications.[1] Among other applications, ansa metallocenes are employed as catalyst precursors in the industrial production of polyolefins [2] and as monomers for ring-opening polymerization to form functional metallopolymers.[3] Their versatility and usefulness stems largely from the fact that their physical properties, and hence reactivity, can be tuned through structural modifications of the ligand framework. For instance, unsaturated two-atom bridges have been developed to increase the configurational rigidity [4] as well as the molecular strain of metallocenophanes, but also to add additional functionality to the metallocene fragment. In part due to difficulties encountered in their synthesis, these types of bridges are relatively rare and only a handful of these have been successfully incorporated into the ferrocene structure, as shown in Figure 1 (I-V). The first examples involved bridging aromatic rings, such as an ortho-phenylene (I), [5,6] a cyclobutadiene cobalt (II) [6] and a ruthenacyclopentadiene fragment (III). [7] Whereas the focus of the initial studies was on synthesis and structural features, the vinylene-bridged dicarba[2]ferrocenophanes IV and V have been developed as candidates for ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to produce conjugated metal-containing polymers. [8][9][10] As shown by the groups of Tilley and Manners, such strained ferrocenophanes can indeed undergo ROMP with Schrock-and Grubbs-type catalysts to form conjugated metallopolymers. [9,10] Although homo-and heteronuclear multiple bonding is common for other p-block elements, especially the second-period elements, [11] unsaturated ansa bridges in metallocenophanes are to date restricted to carbon. By capitalizing on the isoelectronic relationship between Lewis base-stabilized diborenes, [(L)RB=BR(L)] (L = Lewis base), [12,13] and olefins, R2C=CR2, we sought to prepare the first ansa metallocene with a heteroatomcontaining multiple bond in the bridge. Herein, we describe the successful synthesis of a strained dibora[2]ferrocenophane (VI), in which the bridging diborene moiety is forced to adopt a cis rather than the prevailing trans configuration. The effects of changing the regiochemistry, as well as the interrelationship between the strain and properties of the diborene are addressed.[a]Prof.

Herein are reported the first π-complexes of compounds with boron-boron triple bonds with transition metals, in this case Cu. Three different compounds were isolated that differ in the number of copper atoms bound to the BB unit. Metalation of the B-B triple bonds causes lengthening of the B-B and B-C bonds, as well as large upfield shifts of the B NMR signals, suggesting greater orbital interactions between the boron and transition metal atoms than those observed with recently published diboryne/alkali metal cation complexes. In contrast to previously reported fluorescent copper(I) π-complexes of boron-boron double bonds, the Cu-π-diboryne compounds (n = 2, 3) show intense phosphorescence in the red to near-IR region from their triplet excited states, according to their microsecond lifetimes, with quantum yields of up to 58%. While the Cu diborene bond is dominated by electrostatic interactions, giving rise to S and T states of pure IL(π-π*) nature, DFT studies show that the Cu π-complexes of diborynes reported herein exhibit enhanced metal d orbital contributions to HOMO and HOMO-1, which results in S and T having significant MLCT character, enabling strong spin-orbit coupling for highly efficient intersystem-crossing S → T and phosphorescence T → S.

The diborene 1 was synthesized by reduction of a mixture of 1,2-di-9-anthryl-1,2-dibromodiborane(4) (6) and trimethylphosphine with potassium graphite. The X-ray structure of 1 shows the two anthryl rings to be parallel and their π(C ) systems perpendicular to the diborene π(B=B) system. This twisted conformation allows for intercalation of the relatively high-lying π(B=B) orbital and the low-lying π* orbital of the anthryl moiety with no significant conjugation, resulting in a small HOMO-LUMO gap (HLG) and ultimately a C-H borylation of the anthryl unit. The HLG of 1 was estimated to be 1.57 eV from the onset of the long wavelength band in its UV/Vis absorption spectrum (THF, λ =788 nm). The oxidation of 1 with elemental selenium afforded diboraselenirane 8 in quantitative yield. By oxidative abstraction of one phosphine ligand by another equivalent of elemental selenium, the B-B and C -H bonds of 8 were cleaved to give the cyclic 1,9-diborylanthracene 9.

A doubly base-stabilised diborane based on a benzylphosphine linker was prepared by a salt elimination reaction between 2-LiC H CH PCy ⋅Et O and B Br . This compound was reduced with KC to its corresponding diborene, with the benzylphosphine forming a five-membered chelate. The diborene reacts with butadiene, 2-trimethylsiloxy-1,3-butadiene, and isoprene to form 4,5-diboracyclohexenes, which interconvert between their 1,1- (geminal) and 1,2- (vicinal) chelated isomers. The 1,1-chelated diborene undergoes a halide-catalysed isomerisation into its thermodynamically favoured 1,2-isomer, which undergoes Diels-Alder reactions more slowly than the kinetic product.

The two-fold reduction of (cAAC)BHX (cAAC = 1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-3,3,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidin-2-ylidene; X = Cl, Br) provides a facile, high-yielding route to the dihydrodiborene (cAAC)BH. The (chloro)hydroboryl anion reduction intermediate was successfully isolated using a crown ether. Overreduction of the diborene to its dianion [(cAAC)BH] causes a decrease in the B-B bond order whereas the B-C bond orders increase.