Flexible, linear, tetranuclear palladium complexes supported by tetraphosphine ligands with electron-withdrawing groups

Abstract

A linearly ordered tetraphosphine containing electron-withdrawing substituent groups on the outer phosphorus atoms, meso-bis[{di(3,5-difluorophenyl)phosphinomethyl}phenylphosphino]methane (dpmppmF2), was prepared and reacted with [Pd2(RNC)6](PF6)2 and Pd(dba)2 to afford tetranuclear palladium complexes, [Pd4(μ-dpmppmF2)2(RNC)3](PF6)2 (R = 2,6-xylyl (Xyl) (1), 2,4,6-mesityl (2), 2,6-diisopropylphenyl (3) and tert-butyl (4)), which involve an asymmetric {(RNC)Pd4(CNR)2}(2+) core supported by two dpmppmF2 ligands in anti-arrangement. Each terminal of the Pd4 chain was capped by terminal isocyanide and a semi-bridging RNC is introduced into one terminal Pd site. Mechanistic investigation suggested that the dipalladium(I) complex, [Pd2(μ-dpmppmF2)2(RNC)2](PF6)2 (R = Xyl (6)), was a key intermediate to trap Pd(0) species by the uncoordinated outer phosphine pendants with electron-withdrawing groups. Variable-temperature UV-vis and (31)P{(1)H}, (1)H NMR spectroscopic studies demonstrated that the tetrapalladium complexes are quite fluxional in the solution state at high temperature (>20 °C) relating to a symmetric structure of [Pd4(μ-dpmppmF2)2(RNC)2](PF6)2, and the asymmetric solid state structures are retained even in the solution at low temperature (<-60 °C). Theoretical calculations with DFT methods on the asymmetric (R = Xyl (1)) and symmetric (R = Xyl (1')) structures suggested that contribution of Pd(0)→Pd(I)-Pd(0)-Pd(I) with 60 cluster valence electrons (CVEs) would be dominant in 1, while the symmetric structure of 1' can be recognized as Pd(I)-Pd(0)-Pd(0)-Pd(I) with 58 CVEs. The new tetraphosphine dpmppmF2 was proven very effective in organizing dynamically flexible tetrapalladium chains.