Despite growing interest in the potential applications
of p-block
hydroperoxo complexes, the chemistry of inorganic hydroperoxides remains
largely unexplored. For instance, single-crystal structures of antimony
hydroperoxo complexes have not been reported to date. Herein, we present
the synthesis of six triaryl and trialkylantimony dihydroperoxides
[Me3Sb(OOH)2, Me3Sb(OOH)2·H2O, Ph3Sb(OOH)2·0.75(C4H8O), Ph3Sb(OOH)2·2CH3OH, pTol3Sb(OOH)2, pTol3Sb(OOH)2·2(C4H8O)], obtained by the reaction of the corresponding dibromide
antimony(V) complexes with an excess of highly concentrated hydrogen
peroxide in the presence of ammonia. The obtained compounds were characterized
by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform
infrared and Raman spectroscopies, and thermal analysis. The crystal
structures of all six compounds reveal hydrogen-bonded networks formed
by hydroperoxo ligands. In addition to the previously reported double
hydrogen bonding, new types of hydrogen-bonded motifs formed by hydroperoxo
ligands were found, including infinite hydroperoxo chains. Solid-state
density functional theory calculation of Me3Sb(OOH)2 revealed reasonably strong hydrogen bonding between OOH ligands
with an energy of 35 kJ/mol. Additionally, the potential application
of Ph3Sb(OOH)2·0.75(C4H8O) as a two-electron oxidant for the enantioselective epoxidation
of olefins was investigated in comparison with Ph3SiOOH,
Ph3PbOOH, t-BuOOH, and H2O2.