AbstractFollowing a procedure developed for H3CC[CH2P(Ph)2]3 (1a) as the starting compound, various tripod ligands RCH2C[CH2P(Ar)2]3 (1) have been transformed into the trilithiotriphosphides RCH2C[CH2P(Ar)(Li)]3 with various electrophiles R′ — Hal leads to the two diastereomers of RCH2C[CH2P‐(Ar)(R)]3 (6) with an (RRR/SSS : RRS/SSR) ratio close to the statistical value of 1:3, except when ArPh and R′Bzl, where the RRS/SSR diastereomer is obtained almost exclusively. In contrast, the reaction of [RCH2C[CH2P(Ar)(Li)[3]‐Mo(CO)3 (4) with electrophiles R′ — Hal tends to favour the formation of the homochiral RRR/SSS diastereomers. The triphosphide coordination compounds 4 are available by two different routes: either the complexes (RCH2C[CH2P‐(Ar)(H)]3Mo(CO)3, obtained from 2 and (CH3CN)3Mo(CO)3, are deprotonated by MeLi, or the trilithiotriphosphides RCH2C[CH2P(Ar)(Li)]3 are reacted with (CH3CN)3Mo(CO)3 to produce 4 in high yields. The ration in which the two diastereomeric forms of 5 are obtained depends on the nature of the electrophile: the greatest diastereomeric discrimination is obtained for ArPh, RPh, R′Bzl, where the homochiral relative to the RRS/SSR pair. Two‐dimensional NMR spectra and simulations of one‐dimensional spectra are used to ascertain the diastereomeric excess in each case. X‐ray analyses of three compounds of type 5 (5d, ArPh, RH, R′Ph, R′Bzl) indicate the remarkable conformational stability of the tripod metal scaffolding, with the conformations observed for these three compounds in three different solid‐state environments being closely similar, even with respect to the torsional arrangement of the phosphorus‐bound benzyl groups.
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