Large vs. Small NHC Ligands in Nickel(0) Complexes: The Coordination of Olefins, Ketones and Aldehydes at [Ni(NHC)2

Abstract

Investigations concerning the reactivity of Ni(0) complexes [Ni(NHC)2] of NHCs (N‐heterocyclic carbene) of different steric demand, Mes2Im (= 1,3‐dimesitylimidazoline‐2‐ylidene) and iPr2Im (= 1,3‐diisopropyl‐imidazoline‐2‐ylidene), with olefins, ketones and aldehydes are reported. The reaction of [Ni(Mes2Im)2] 1 with ethylene or methyl acrylate afforded the complexes [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐C2H4)] 3 and [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐(C,C)‐H2C=CHCOOMe)] 4, as it was previously reported for [Ni2(iPr2Im)4(µ‐(η2:η2)‐COD)] 2 as a source for [Ni(iPr2Im)2]. In contrast to 2, complex 1 does not react with sterically more demanding olefins such as tetramethylethylene, 1,1‐diphenylethylene and cyclohexene. The reaction of [Ni(NHC)2] with more π‐acidic ketones or aldehydes led to formation of complexes with side‐on η2‐(C,O)‐coordinating ligands: [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=CHtBu)] 5, [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=CHPh)] 6, [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=CMePh)] 7, [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=CPh2)] 8, [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=C(4‐F‐C6H4)2)] 9, [Ni(iPr2Im)2(η2‐O=C(OMe)(CF3))] 10 and [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=CHPh)] 11, [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=CH(CH(CH3)2))] 12, [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=CH(4‐NMe2‐C6H4))] 13, [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=CH(4‐OMe‐C6H4))] 14, [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=CPh2)] 15 and [Ni(Mes2Im)2(η2‐O=C(4‐F‐C6H4)2)] 16. The reaction of 1 and 2 with these simple aldehydes and ketones does not lead to a significantly different outcome, but NHC ligand rotation is hindered for the Mes2Im complexes 3, 4 and 11–16 according to NMR spectroscopy. The solid‐state structures of 3, 4, 11 and 12 reveal significantly larger CNHC‐Ni‐CNHC angles in the Mes2Im complexes compared to the iPr2Im complexes. As electron transfer in d8‐ (or d10‐) ML2 complexes to π‐acidic ligands depends on the L–M–L bite angle, the different NHCs lead thus to a different degree of electron transfer and activation of the olefin, aldehyde or ketone ligand, i.e., [Ni(iPr2Im)2] is the better donor to these π‐acidic ligands. Furthermore, we identified two different side products from the reaction of 1 with benzaldehyde, trans‐[Ni(Mes2Im)2H(OOCPh)] 17 and [Ni2(Mes2Im)2(µ2‐CO)(µ2‐η2‐C,O‐PhCOCOPh)] 18, which indicate that radical intermediates and electron transfer processes might be of importance in the reaction of 1 with aldehydes and ketones.