A synthesis has been developed that allows the isolation of four-coordinate [(tpy)Ni-Br] (1, tpy = terpyridine) in high yield. Complex 1 has been structurally characterized, and the X-ray data reveal a square-planar geometry, unlike the known [(tpy')Ni-I] (tpy' = 4,4',4''-tri-tert-butyl-terpyridine) but similar to [(tpy)Ni-CH(3)]. In the solid-state, EPR spectroscopy indicates, however, that unlike [(tpy)Ni-CH(3)], the electronic structure of 1 is a metal-centered, not a ligand-centered radical. Density functional theory (DFT) analyses support this assignment. The preparation of 1 also facilitated the analysis of the redox potentials of a series of terpyridine nickel derivatives. It was found that the overall ligand sphere (one vs two coordinated terpyridine ligands) plays more of a role in determining the redox potentials of these derivatives than do the formal oxidation states of the nickel ions in the solution phase.

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A variety of nickel and copper complexes bearing the trifluoromethyl ligand have been prepared in order to quantify by electrochemical methods the redox potentials relative to their chloro and methyl counterparts. The effects of coordination number and geometry, as well as the oxidation state of the metal, on the relative ease with which trifluoromethyl complexes can be oxidized have for the first time been identified. In the d10 system [(NHC)Cu(X)] (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene, X = methyl or trifluoromethyl), a single substitution of methyl for trifluoromethyl raised the oxidation potential of the organometallic complex by approximately +0.6 V versus the ferrocene/ferrocenium (Fc/Fc+) couple, a testament to the extreme electron-withdrawing properties of the trifluoromethyl ligand. The ΔE ox (methyl vs trifluoromethyl) for d8 nickel complexes were of similar magnitude; however the absolute oxidation potentials were dramatically dependent on the ligand (dippe = 1,2-bis(diisopropylphosphino)ethane vs BOXAM = bis(4-isopropyl-4,5-dihydrooxazol-2-yl)phenyl)amine).

The electochemical oxidation of palladium acetate or palladium perfluoroacetate in the presence of 2phenylpyridine promotes catalytic ortho C−H substitution reactions. As possible intermediates, Pd(II) metallacycles with Pd-bound acetate, perfluoroacetate, and perfluoroheptanoate substituents have been isolated and characterized: binuclear [(PhPy)Pd(μ-OAc)] 2 and [(PhPy)Pd(μ-TFA)] 2 and mononuclear [(PhPy)Pd(TFA)](CH 3 CN), [(PhPy)Pd(TFA)]-(PhPy), and [(PhPy)Pd(PFH)](PhPy). The fluorinated derivatives were found to exist in solvent-dependent equilibria between mononuclear and binuclear forms. Cyclic voltammetry was used to elucidate redox properties of the palladacycles and the oxidation route to the final products.

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