Sandwich structures formed by metal atoms intercalated between sp(2)-carbon planes can be found either in metal-graphite-based materials or discrete multinuclear sandwich complexes. Their reactivity, and in particular their dynamic behaviour, has recently attracted interest both from a structural and a practical aspect, for example in catalysis. However, progress in this area has been rather slow, and it remains difficult to elucidate their structure and behaviour at the molecular level. Here, we report two sandwich complexes--in which four palladium centres are incorporated between two π-conjugated ligands--which exhibit two modes of redox-switchable structural changes. In the first complex, the tetrapalladium chain is split by oxidation into two well-separated dipalladium units. This motion is reversed on reduction. In the second complex, reversible carbon-carbon coupling occurs between the ligands during the redox process.
Hold the mayo! Sandwich complexes containing the arch‐shaped Pd4 chain (upper structure; C blue, Pd orange) or the V‐shaped Pd5 chain (lower) were synthesized and structurally characterized. The bending angles of the Pd chains reflect the p π‐conjugated geometry of the template ligands.
Metal clusters are effectively stabilized by bridging π-coordination of planar π-conjugated unsaturated hydrocarbons. However, the mechanism of π-envelopment of a metal cluster has been elusive. By employing 1,2-bis(4-aryl-1,3-butadienyl)benzene as the π-conjugated ligand, we found that the π-envelopment of a Pd4 cluster proceeded in a stepwise manner, where the sp(2)-carbon ligands initially envelop the Pd4 cluster through a bent binding mode, and then isomerized to a thermodynamically more stable planar mode under mild heating or visible light irradiation. The involvement of a bent binding mode indicates the kinetically preferred coordination at the axial coordination site trans to a metal-metal bond.
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