Enantioselective Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions of a series of substituted indoles with methyl trifluoropyruvate, catalyzed by a chiral nonracemic C(2)-symmetric 2,2'-bipyridyl copper(II) triflate complex, are described. The corresponding 3,3,3-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-2-indole-3-yl-propionic acid methyl esters were formed in good yield and in high enantiomeric excess (up to 90%). This is the first report of the use of a chiral nonracemic 2,2'-bipyridyl ligand in catalytic and enantioselective Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions. The structural characterization of a copper(II) chloride complex of the chiral 2,2'-bipyridyl ligand by X-ray crystallography is also presented. [reaction: see text]

The first coordination polymer incorporating Hg(CN) 2 units as building blocks is reported. The reaction of the labile transition-metal halide CuCl 2 , the soft Lewis acidic Hg(CN) 2 , and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmeda) formed large single crystals of [(tmeda)Cu-[Hg(CN) 2 ] 2 ][HgCl 4 ] (1). The migration of two labile chloride ligands from harder Cu(II) to softer Hg(II) drives the formation of 1, which self-assembles in high yield from several combinations of reagents. Complex 1 crystallizes in the tetragonal, noncentric P4 h2 1 m space group, Z ) 2, with a ) b ) 10.9576(12) Å and c ) 9.8516(13) Å. The structure is composed of a 2-D cationic layer of [(tmeda)Cu[Hg(CN) 2 ] 2 ] 2+ units in which the six-coordinate Cu(II) centers are bridged by four Hg(CN) 2 groups and capped by a tmeda ligand. This array is interspersed with a layer of [HgCl 4 ] 2anions, which form bridging Hg-Cl bonds with the Hg(CN) 2 units. At 300 K, a-or b-oriented single-crystal plates of 1 are strongly birefringent with a birefringence value of ∆n ) 6.38 × 10 -2 , as measured at λ ) 546.1 nm. The strongly anisotropic crystal structure, including the highly polarizable Hg(II) ions, is responsible for this significant optical birefringence. Upon cooling, the birefringence of 1 decreases slightly to ∆n ) 6.12 × 10 -2 at 90 K.

In the reaction of organic monocationic chlorides or coordinatively saturated metal-ligand complex chlorides with linear, neutral Hg(CN)(2) building blocks, the Lewis-acidic Hg(CN)(2) moieties accept the chloride ligands to form mercury cyanide/chloride double salt anions that in several cases form infinite 1-D and 2-D arrays. Thus, [PPN][Hg(CN)(2)Cl].H(2)O (1), [(n)Bu(4)N][Hg(CN)(2)Cl].0.5 H(2)O (2), and [Ni(terpy)(2)][Hg(CN)(2)Cl](2) (4) contain [Hg(CN)(2)Cl](2)(2-) anionic dimers ([PPN]Cl = bis(triphenylphosphoranylidene)ammonium chloride, [(n)Bu(4)N]Cl = tetrabutylammonium chloride, terpy = 2,2':6',6' '-terpyridine). [Cu(en)(2)][Hg(CN)(2)Cl](2) (5) is composed of alternating 1-D chloride-bridged [Hg(CN)(2)Cl](n)(n-) ladders and cationic columns of [Cu(en)(2)](2+) (en = ethylenediamine). When [Co(en)(3)]Cl(3) is reacted with 3 equiv of Hg(CN)(2), 1-D [[Hg(CN)(2)](2)Cl](n)(n-) ribbons and [Hg(CN)(2)Cl(2)](2-) moieties are formed; both form hydrogen bonds to [Co(en)(3)](3+) cations, yielding [Co(en)(3)][Hg(CN)(2)Cl(2)][[Hg(CN)(2)](2)Cl] (6). In [Co(NH(3))(6)](2)[Hg(CN)(2)](5)Cl(6).2H(2)O (7), [Co(NH(3))(6)](3+) cations and water molecules are sandwiched between chloride-bridged 2-D anionic [[Hg(CN)(2)](5)Cl(6)](n)(6n-) layers, which contain square cavities. The presence (or absence), number, and profile of hydrogen bond donor sites of the transition metal amine ligands were observed to strongly influence the structural motif and dimensionality adopted by the anionic double salt complex anions, while cation shape and cation charge had little effect. (199)Hg chemical shift tensors and (1)J((13)C,(199)Hg) values measured in selected compounds reveal that the NMR properties are dominated by the Hg(CN)(2) moiety, with little influence from the chloride bonding characteristics. delta(iso)((13)CN) values in the isolated dimers are remarkably sensitive to the local geometry.

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