The reaction of the low valent metallocene(II) sources Cp'(2)Ti(η(2)-Me(3)SiC(2)SiMe(3)) (Cp' = η(5)-cyclopentadienyl, 1a or η(5)-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl, 1b) with different carbodiimide substrates RN═C═NR' 2-R-R' (R = t-Bu; R' = Et; R = R' = i-Pr; t-Bu; SiMe(3); 2,4,6-Me-C(6)H(2) and 2,6-i-Pr-C(6)H(3)) was investigated to explore the frontiers of ring strained, unusual four-membered heterometallacycles 5-R. The product complexes show dismantlement, isomerization, or C-C coupling of the applied carbodiimide substrates, respectively, to form unusual mono-, di-, and tetranuclear titanium(III) complexes. A detailed theoretical study revealed that the formation of the unusual complexes can be attributed to the biradicaloid nature of the unusual four-membered heterometallacycles 5-R, which presents an intriguing situation of M-C bonding. The combined experimental and theoretical study highlights the delicate interplay of electronic and steric effects in the stabilization of strained four-membered heterometallacycles, accounting for the isolation of the obtained complexes.

The reaction of the low-valent metallocene(II) sources Cp(2)Ti(η(2)-Me(3)SiC(2)SiMe(3)) (7) and Cp(2)Zr(py)(η(2)-Me(3)SiC(2)SiMe(3)) (11, Cp = η(5)-cyclopentadienyl, py = pyridine) with carbodiimides RN═C═NR (R = Cy, i-Pr, p-Tol) leads to the formation of five membered hetero-metallacycloallenes Cp(2)M{Me(3)SiC═C═C[N(SiMe(3))(R)]-N(R)} (9M-R) (M = Ti, R = i-Pr; M = Zr, R = Cy, i-Pr, p-Tol). Elimination of the alkyne (as the hitherto known reactivity of titanocene and zirconocene alkyne complexes would suggest) was not observed. The molecular structures of the obtained complexes were confirmed by X-ray studies. Moreover, the structure and bonding of the complexes 9Zr-Cy and 9Zr-p-Tol was investigated by DFT calculations.

In this paper, we compare the electronic structure of the hafnacycloallene complex Cp2HfC4RR′2R′′ (5Hf), which was previously described by Erker et al., with those of the titanium, zirconium, and hafnium complexes Cp2M(η4-RHC4HR) (3M; i.e. metallacyclopent-2,3,4-trienes, metallacyclocumulenes) and Cp2M(η4-R2C4R2) (4M; i.e. 1-metallacyclopent-3-ynes) using density functional theory (BP86/LANL2DZ) calculations. Moreover, the η3-phenylallenyl zirconocene complex 7Zr, which was synthesized by Wojcicki et al., is included for the comparison. These calculations and extended Hückel calculations show that the bonding in complex 5Hf is remarkably similar to that of complexes 4M and 7Zr. An analysis of the structural parameters and bonding reveals that the unique interaction of the internal carbon atoms along with the terminal carbon atoms with the bent-metallocene moiety is the reason for the unusual stability of these metallacycles. The molecular orbital analysis further suggests that complex 5Hf can react with another metal fragment to give the bimetallic complexes 9 and 10. The electronic structures of complexes 3M, 4M, 5Hf, and 7Zr have been comparatively studied to get a general understanding of the bonding in these metallacycles.