Bonding, activation, and protonation of dinitrogen on a molybdenum pentaphosphine complex — Comparison to trans-bis(dinitrogen) and -nitrile – dinitrogen complexes with tetraphosphine coordination

Abstract

The molybdenum-N2 pentaphosphine complex [Mo(N2)(dpepp)(dppm)] (1) containing a bi- and a tridentate phosphine ligand (dpepp = PhP(CH2CH2PPh2)2, dppm = Ph2PCH2PPh2) has been prepared and characterized. By protonation of 1 with triflic acid the NNH2 complex [Mo(NNH2)(dpepp)(dppm)](CF3SO3)2 (2) is formed without loss of the pentaphosphine coordination. The electronic properties of 1 and 2 and their 15N and (or) 2H counterparts are investigated by NMR, IR, and Raman spectroscopy coupled to DFT frequency and NMR shift calculations. Force constants are evaluated from experimental frequencies and isotope shifts by the quantum chemistry based normal coordinate analysis procedure (QCB-NCA). The results for the N2 complex 1 are compared with those obtained earlier for bis(dinitrogen) and trans-nitrile dinitrogen systems. Importantly, the N2 in the pentaphosphine complex is more strongly activated compared to corresponding bis(dinitrogen) compounds and more weakly activated compared to trans-nitrile N2 systems. The activation of the NNH2 ligand in complex 2 is similar to trans-nitrile systems and weaker compared to corresponding NNH2 complexes with coordinated anions like [MoF(NNH2)(dppe)2](BF4). These results are discussed based on the relative donor–acceptor properties of the respective trans ligands, demonstrating the influence of σ donation and π acceptance on the activation of N2 in transition metal complexes.Key words: nitrogen fixation, phosphine complexes, NMR shifts, DFT calculations, normal coordinate analysis.