The bottom-up approach to functional materials and the development of molecular-sized analogues of mechanical devices, such as shuttles, [1] rotors, [2] brakes, [3] ratchets,

Addition of external weak nucleophiles to a chloroform solution of the cationic complex ion [Pt(Me)(dmphen)(PPh(3))](+) (1) accelerates the fluxional motion of the symmetric chelating ligand 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) between nonequivalent exchanging sites. The rates of the dynamic process can be measured by line-shape analysis of the (1)H NMR spectra. Concentration-dependent measurements were carried out with the ligands SOMe(2), SO(CH(2))(4), SO(n-Bu)(2), SO(sec-Bu)(2), SO(i-Pr)(2), SOEt(Ph), SOPr(Ph), SO(Bz)(2), SO(p-MeC(6)H(4))(2), SOPh(2), SO(p-ClC(6)H(4))(2), SOMe(p-MeOC(6)H(4)), SOMe(p-MeC(6)H(4)), SOMe(Ph), SOMe(p-BrC(6)H(4)), and SOMe(p-ClC(6)H(4)). The rate constants k(obsd), when plotted against the concentration of the added ligands SOR(R'), give a family of straight lines with a common intercept, indicating that the two-term rate law k(obsd) = k(1) + k(2)[SOR(R')] is obeyed. The same rate law applies to the displacement of SOMe(2) from [Pt(Me)(phen)(SOMe(2))](+) (2) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) by sulfoxides (SOMe(2), SO(i-Pr)(2), SOMe(p-MeOC(6)H(4)), SO(p-MeC(6)H(4))(2), SOPh(2), SO(p-ClC(6)H(4))(2), and SO(sec-Bu)(2)). The fluxional rates in 1 are 6-7 orders of magnitude higher than the substitution rates in 2. The values of the rate constants for the two processes were resolved quantitatively into steric and electronic contributions by use of quantitative analysis of ligand effects (QALE). Inhibitory steric effects are linearly operative for the entire set of ligands, the rates of the reactions are enhanced with increasing electron donor capacity of the sulfoxides, and there is a small but significant E(ar) effect that enhances the reactivity of the aryl sulfoxides. The strict similarity of the patterns of the two processes and of their dependence upon the stereoelectronic properties of the ligands, combined with the intrinsic lability of the platinum-nitrogen bonds, would suggest the operation of stereospecific consecutive ring-opening and ring-closure steps for the fluxional motion of dmphen in 1. However, the available evidence does not allow alternative mechanisms involving intramolecular rearrangements of the five-coordinate intermediate to be ruled out.

A dynamic 1H NMR study has been carried out on the fluxional motion of the symmetric chelating ligand 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Me2-phen) between nonequivalent exchanging sites in a variety of square-planar complexes of the type [Pt(Me)(Me2-phen)(PR3)]BArf, 1-14, (BArf = B[3,5-(CF3)2C6H3]4). In these compounds, the P-donor ligands PR3 encompass a wide range of steric and electronic characteristics [PR3 = P(4-XC6H4)3, X = H 1, F, 2, Cl 3, CF3 4, MeO 5, Me 6; PR3 = PMe(C6H5)2 7, PMe2(C6H5) 8, PMe3 9, PEt3 10, P(i-Pr)3 11, PCy(C6H5)2 12, PCy2(C6H5) 13, PCy3 14]. All complexes have been synthesized and fully characterized through elemental analysis, 1H and 31P{1H} NMR. X-ray crystal structures are reported for the compounds 8, 11, 14, and for [Pt(Me)(phen)(P(C6H5)3)]PF6 (15), all but the last showing loss of planarity and a significant rotation of the Me2-phen moiety around the N1-N2 vector. Steric congestion brought about by the P-donor ligands is responsible for tetrahedral distortion of the coordination plane and significant lengthening of the Pt-N2 (cis to phosphane) bond distances. Application of standard quantitative analysis of ligand effects (QALE) methodology enabled a quantitative separation of steric and electronic contributions of P-donor ligands to the values of the platinum-phosphorus 1J(PtP) coupling constants and of the free activation energies DeltaG++ of the fluxional motion of Me2-phen in 1-14. The steric profiles for both 1J(PtP) and DeltaG++ show the onset of steric thresholds (at cone angle values of 150 degrees and 148 degrees , respectively), that are associated with an overload of steric congestion already evidenced by the crystal structures of 11 and 14. The sharp increase of the fluxional rate of Me2-phen can be assumed as a perceptive kinetic tool for revealing ground-state destabilization produced by the P-donor ligands. The mechanism involves initial breaking of a metal-nitrogen bond, fast interconversion between two 14-electron three-coordinate T-shaped intermediates containing eta1-coordinated Me2-phen, and final ring closure. By use of the results from QALE regression analysis, a free-energy surface has been constructed that represents the way in which any single P-donor ligand can affect the energy of the transition state in the absence of aryl or pi-acidity effects.

The bottom-up approach to functional materials and the development of molecular-sized analogues of mechanical devices, such as shuttles, [1] rotors, [2] brakes, [3] ratchets,

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