Structural trends in a series of bulky dialkylbiarylphosphane complexes of CuI.

Abstract

CuI complexes containing the bulky dialkylbiarylphosphane 2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl (tBuXPhos, L) and an ancillary ligand (Cl-, Br-, I-, MeCN, ClO4- or SCN-) have been structurally characterized, namely, chlorido[2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP]copper(I), [CuCl(C29H45P)], 1, bromido[2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP]copper(I), [CuBr(C29H45P)], 2, [2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP]iodidocopper(I), [CuI(C29H45P)], 3, (acetonitrile-κN)[2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP]copper(I) hexafluoridophosphate, [Cu(CH3CN)(C29H45P)]PF6, 4, [2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP](perchlorato-κO)copper(I), [Cu(ClO4)(C29H45P)], 5, and di-μ-thiocyanato-κ2S:N;κ2N:S-bis{[2-(di-tert-butylphosphanyl)-2',4',6'-triisopropylbiphenyl-κP]copper(I)}, [Cu2(NCS)2(C29H45P)2], 6. Iodide complex 3 shows significant CuI-arene interactions, in contrast to its chloride 1 and bromide 2 counterparts, which is attributed to the weaker interaction between the iodide ion and the CuI centre. When replacing iodide with an acetonitrile (in 4) or perchlorate (in 5) ligand, the reduced interaction between the CuI atom and the ancillary ligand results in stronger CuI-arene interactions. No CuI-arene interactions are observed in dimer 6, due to the tricoordinated CuI centre having sufficient electron density from the coordinated ligands.