We report the syntheses
of 2-pyridylimido complexes of tantalum and niobium by NN
bond cleavage of 2,2′-azopyridine. Reaction of MCl5 (M = Ta and Nb) with 2,2′-azopyridine in the presence of
0.5 equiv of 1-methyl-3,6-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1,4-cyclohexadiene (abbreviated Si-Me-CHD) afforded a dark red solution (for Ta) and a dark
blue solution (for Nb) with some insoluble precipitates. After removing
the solids, another 0.5 equiv of Si-Me-CHD was added
to each solution, giving [M(Npy)Cl3]
n
(1a: M = Ta; 1b: M = Nb)
through reductive cleavage of the NN bond of 2,2′-azopyridine.
The initial products of the above reactions were determined to be
2,2′-azopyridine-bridged dinuclear complexes, [(MCl4)2(μ-pyNNpy)] (2a: M = Ta; 2b: M = Nb), which were isolated by treating MCl5 with 2,2′-azopyridine
and Si-Me-CHD in a 2:1:1 molar ratio. In 2a and 2b, the NN bond was reduced to a single
bond via two-electron reduction. Further reduction of complexes 2a and 2b with 1 equiv of Si-Me-CHD afforded complexes 1a and 1b. An
anionic doubly μ-imido-bridged ditantalum complex, [
n
Bu4N][Ta2(μ-Npy)2Cl7] (3a), was generated upon addition
of
n
Bu4NCl to complex 1a, while addition of
n
Bu4NCl to niobium complex 1b gave a polymeric terminal
imido complex, [
n
Bu4N]
n/2[{Nb(Npy)Cl3}2(μ-Cl)]
n/2 (3b). Complexations
of 1a and 1b with 1 equiv of 2,2′-bipyridine
resulted in the formation of mononuclear 2-pyridylimido complexes,
M(Npy)Cl3(bipy) (4a: M = Ta; 4b: M = Nb), whose main structural feature is intramolecular
hydrogen bonding between the ortho hydrogen atom of 2,2′-bipyridine
and the nitrogen atom of the pyridyl group on the imido ligand. Isolated
2-pyridylimido complexes 4a and 4b reacted
with [RhCl(cod)]2 to produce the corresponding early–late
heterobimetallic complexes, (bipy)MCl3(μ-Npy)RhCl(cod)
(5a: M = Ta; 5b: M = Nb).