The synthesis and structure of the beta-diketiminato Ni(I) lutidine adducts [MexNN]Ni(2,4-lutidine) (x = 2 (2); x = 3 (3)) are described which serve as synthons to the "naked" 13-electron [MexNN]Ni fragments in reactions with N3Ad to give Ni-imido complexes. The singly bridged imide {[Me2NN]Ni}2(mu-NAd) (4) possesses short Ni-Ni (2.506(1) A) and Ni-N(imido) distances (1.732(4)-1.752(4) A). Steric modification of the beta-diketiminate ligand to include an additional methyl group in the N-aryl 4-position affords the Ni(III) terminal imide [Me3NN]Ni=NAd (8) isolated in 52% yield. The X-ray structure of terminal imide 8 reveals a contracted Ni-N(imido) bond distance (1.662(2) A) and an only somewhat bent imido linkage (Ni-N-C = 164.5(2) degrees ) consistent with a significant degree of multiple bond character. Frozen glass EPR studies of 5 indicate a rhombic environment in which one of the signals exhibits strong hyperfine coupling (A = 22 G) to the imido 14N (I = 1) nucleus. The terminal imide 5 undergoes complete imido group transfer to CO and CNBut to give AdNCO and AdNCNBut, respectively, as well as with PMe3 to afford AdN=PMe3. Exemplifying the radical character at the imido N atom, 5 adds to cobaltocene and abstracts a H atom from 1,4-cyclohexadiene to give the Ni(II)-amides [Me3NN]Ni-NAd(eta4-C5H5)CoCp (7) and [Me3NN]Ni-NHAd (8).

The synthesis and structure of a novel beta-diketiminato Co(I) arene adduct [Me2NN]Co(eta6-toluene) (2) are described, that serves as a synthon to the reactive, "naked" 12-electron [Me2NN]Co fragment via loss of toluene in its reactions with dioxygen, organoazides, and a nitrosobenzene. Exposure of 2 to dioxygen in ether leads to {[Me2NN]Co}2(mu-O)2 (3), a rare example of a cobalt-oxo complex thermally stable at room temperature. The X-ray structure of 3 reveals a short Co-Co separation of 2.716(4) A and exhibits positional disorder for the bridging oxo groups; the predominant configuration contains oxygen atoms in square-planar sites with short Co-O distances (1.784(3) and 1.793(4) A). Reaction of 2 with organoazides N3R (R = 3,5-Me2C6H3 (Ar) or 1-adamantyl (Ad)) results in the formation of imido complexes whose structure depends on the nature of the azido substituent. The synthesis and structures of both {Me2NN]Co}2(mu-NAr)2 (4) with arylimido groups in tetrahedral bridging sites or the three-coordinate, 16-electron [Me2NN]CoNAd (5) are described. The X-ray structure of terminal imide 5 reveals a short Co-N bond distance (1.624(4) A) and only somewhat bent imido linkage (Co-N-C = 161.5(3) degrees ) consistent with a significant degree of multiple bond character. Complex 2 cleaves the O=N bond of the nitrosobenzene O=NAr (Ar = 3,5-Me2C6H3) to form the binuclear oxo-imido complex {[Me2NN]Co}2(mu-O)(mu-NAr) (6) that possesses a structure intermediate between square-planar 3 and tetrahedral 4 in which the [Me2NN]Co fragments are mutually orthogonal.

No abstract

Covalent metal–ligand interactions can lead to Cu K pre-edge transitions that result from metal-to-ligand charge transfer, instead of 1s → 3d, character.