AdN3 (Ad = 1-adamantyl)
reacts with the tetrahedral
TiII complex [(Tp
tBu,Me)TiCl]
(Tp
tBu,Me = hydrotris(3-tert-butyl-5-methylpyrazol-1-yl)borate) to generate a mixture of an imide
complex, [(Tp
tBu,Me)TiCl(NAd)] (4), and an unusual and kinetically stable azide adduct of
the group 4 metal, namely, [(Tp
tBu,Me)TiCl(γ-N3Ad)] (3). In these conversions, the product distribution
is determined by the relative concentration of reactants. In contrast,
the azide adduct 3 forms selectively when a masked TiII complex (N2 or AdNC adduct) reacts with AdN3. Upon heating, 3 extrudes dinitrogen in a unimolecular
process proceeding through a titanatriazete intermediate to form the
imide complex 4, but the observed thermal stability of
the azide adduct (t
1/2 = 61 days at 25
°C) is at odds with the large fraction of imide complex formed
directly in reactions between AdN3 and [(Tp
tBu,Me)TiCl] at room temperature (∼50% imide
with a 1:1 stoichiometry). A combination of theoretical and experimental
studies identified an additional deazotation pathway, proceeding through
a bimetallic complex bridged by a single azide ligand. The electronic
origin of this deazotation mechanism lies in the ability of azide
adduct 3 to serve as a π-backbonding metallaligand
toward free [(Tp
tBu,Me)TiCl]. These findings
unveil a new class of azide-to-imide conversions for transition metals,
highlighting that the mechanisms underlying this common synthetic
methodology may be more complex than conventionally assumed, given
the concentration dependence in the conversion of an azide into an
imide complex. Lastly, we show how significantly different AdN3 reacts when treated with [(Tp
tBu,Me)VCl].