In this work we report the transfer of alkyl bis and tris(pyrazolyl)aluminates metalloligands to an electron rich organotransition metal center. The 16-electron heterobimetallic complexes of rhodium [Rh(COD){Al(Ph2pz)2Me2}] (3) and [Rh(COD){Al(Ph2pz)3Me}] (4) were obtained by metathesis reaction of the sodium bis (1) and tris(pyrazolyl)aluminate (2) with [RhCl(COD)]2. For 3, 1 H and 13 C NMR in solution along with DFT calculations are consistent with a  2 -coordination mode of the bis(pyrazolyl)aluminate to a square-planar Rh(I) center. The X-ray structure of 4 shows a similar  2 -coordination mode of the tris(pyrazolyl)aluminate to Rh(I) with a pendant pyrazolyl moiety. The attempted synthesis of aluminate-rhodium complexes with R = CF3, t Bu on the pyrazolate ring afforded [Rh(R2pz)(COD)]2 and [R2pzAlMe2]2. Complexes 3 and 4 were investigated as homogenous catalysts in the polymerization of phenylacetylene (PA). Both complexes showed enhanced catalytic activity compared to analogous rhodium poly(pyrazolyl)borates. Optimized gas phase DFT geometries of 3, 4, [Rh(COD){B(Ph2pz)2Me2}], and [Rh(COD){B(Ph2pz)3Me}] were used to compare bite angles, while DFT geometries of 3-CO, 4-CO, [Rh(CO)2{B(Ph2pz)2Me2}], and [Rh(CO)2{B(Ph2pz)3Me}] were employed to probe the electronic situation of rhodium center through IR CO stretching modes. The wider bite angles and the less electron-rich rhodium center of the poly(pyrazolyl)aluminates compared with their borate analogs could be implicated in the better performance of the active catalytic species during polymerization of PA.

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