A series of enantiomerically pure
−SiMe2NR2 (R = Me, Et) substituted pentadienyl
ligands were prepared
starting from the natural product (1R)-(−)-myrtenal.
Deprotonation with a Schlosser superbase yields the corresponding
potassium salts, which were characterized by various spectroscopic
techniques. In solution these neutral N-donor-substituted pentadienyl
systems predominantly adopt a U conformation, but
in two cases the rare S conformation was also observed
as a minor component in solution. Addition of 18-crown-6 allowed the
molecular structures of two of these potassium pentadienyls to be
determined by X-ray diffraction. Interestingly, η5 and κN coordination of the pentadienyl system
to the [K(18-crown-6)]+ cation was observed. Furthermore,
these ligand systems also coordinate to transition metals and form
an open titanocene, open vanadocenes, open chromocenes, and half-open
trozircenes with [TiCl3(thf)3], [VCl3(thf)3], CrCl2, and [(η7-C7H7)ZrCl(tmeda)], respectively. These complexes
were characterized by elemental analyses and various spectroscopic
techniques. However, no coordination of the pendant −SiMe2NR2 group to the metal centers was observed. In
addition, significant steric crowding in these open metallocenes prevents
the formation of isolable CO or PMe3 adducts. This was
further corroborated by EPR studies on an open vandadocene, which
showed that no adduct formation occurs at ambient temperature in solution,
but a weak PMe3 adduct was detected at 26 K.