A General Strategy for Increasing the Air Stability of Phosphines Including Primary Phosphines.

A general approach for increasing the air-stability of various primary phosphines in the absence of kinetic stabilization is presented that contrasts with previous interpretations, which were limited to specific phosphines. This contribution shows the synthesis of a series of air-stable primary phosphines Fc(CH ) PH , where n=0,1,2,3; and Fc=ferrocenyl, and their corresponding isolable primary phosphine oxides. It was demonstrated that the ferrocene moiety exerts an antioxidant effect on the primary phosphine group, which is intermolecular, solvent dependent and increases with the electron density on the ferrocene moiety.

Synthesis of Hybrid Ligands with Nitrile and Cage Phosphane Donor Groups and their Applications in Gold-Mediated Reactions.

Altering the donor properties of phosphane ligands through substituent variation is an established tool in coordination chemistry and catalysis. This contribution describes the synthesis of two new hybrid donors (L) combining 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-2,4,6-trioxa-8-phosphaadamantane-8-yl (PCg) and nitrile donor groups at different molecular scaffolds, viz. ferrocene-1,1'-diyl (fc) and 1,2-phenylene.

Synthesis of functionalised isochromans: epoxides as aldehyde surrogates in hexafluoroisopropanol.

The oxa-Pictet-Spengler reaction is arguably the most straightforward and modular way to construct the privileged isochroman motif, but its scope is largely limited to benzaldehyde derivatives and to electron-rich β-phenylethanols that lack substitution along the aliphatic chain. Here we describe a variant of this reaction starting from an epoxide, rather than an aldehyde, that greatly expands the scope and rate of the reaction (<1 h, 20 °C). Besides facilitating the initial Meinwald rearrangement, the use of hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) as a solvent expands the electrophile scope to include partners equivalent to ketones, aliphatic aldehydes, and phenylacetyl aldehydes, and the nucleophile scope to include modestly electronically deactivated and highly substituted β-phenylethanols.

A Stable Primary Phosphane Oxide and Its Heavier Congeners.

(Ferrocenylmethyl)phosphane (1) oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, elemental sulfur and grey selenium produced (ferrocenylmethyl)phosphane oxide 1O, sulfide 1S and selenide 1Se, respectively, as the first isolable primary phosphane chalcogenides lacking steric protection. At elevated temperatures, compound 1O disproportionated into 1 and (ferrocenylmethyl)phosphinic acid. In reactions with [(η -mes)RuCl ] , 1O underwent tautomerization into a phosphane complex [(η -mes)RuCl {FcCH PH(OH)-κP}], whereas 1S and 1Se lost their P-bound chalcogen atoms, giving rise to the phosphane complex [(η -mes)RuCl (FcCH PH -κP)] (Fc=ferrocenyl, mes=mesitylene).

Versatile coordination and C-H activation of a multi-donor phosphinoferrocene carboxamide ligand in Pd(ii) complexes.

A multi-donor phosphinoferrocene carboxamide, FcCONHCHCHPPh (1, Fc = ferrocenyl), was prepared, converted into the corresponding phosphine oxide 1O and phosphine selenide 1Se and, mainly, studied as a ligand in Pd(ii) complexes. In its native form, amide 1 preferentially coordinated soft Pd(ii) as a simple phosphine, giving rise to mixtures of cis and trans-[PdX(1-κP)] (2; X = Cl (a), Br (b), and I (c)), wherein the isomer ratios depended on the auxiliary halide ligand or, alternatively, to the complex [(L)PdCl(1-κP)] (6, L = 2-[(dimethylamino)methyl-κN]phenyl-κC). This coordination mode was nevertheless easily changed when creating a vacant coordination site at the palladium.

Facile activation of alkynes with a boraguanidinato-stabilized germylene: a combined experimental and theoretical study.

A boraguanidinato-stabilized germylene, [(i-Pr)NB(N-2,6-MeCH)]Ge, reacts with alkynes RC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CR selectively in a 2 : 1 molar ratio to afford 3,4-R,R'-1,2-digermacyclobut-3-enes 1a-e as the products of formal [2 + 2 + 2] cyclization [R/R' = Me/Me (1a), Ph/Ph (1b), Ph/H (1c), t-Bu/H (1d) and Cy/H (1e)]. Ferrocenyl-substituted alkynes react similarly, yielding the corresponding ferrocenylated 3,4-R,R'-1,2-digermacyclobut-3-enes 2a-d [where R/R' = Fc/H (2a), Fc/Me (2b), Fc/Ph (2c), and Fc/Fc (2d); Fc = ferrocenyl]. By contrast, only one of the triple bonds available in conjugated diynes RC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CR is activated with the germylene, while the second one remains intact even in the presence of an excess of the germylene.

Catalytic Activity of Gold(I) Complexes with Hemilabile P,N Ligands.

Two new cationic dinuclear gold(I) complexes, [Au {μ(P,N)-5} ]X -in which X=NTf (7; Tf=trifluoromethanesulfonate) or SbF (8) and 2-(diphenylphosphanyl)benzonitrile (5) is a P,N-bridging donor-have been synthesized and structurally characterized. These air-stable species and their dimeric and polymeric analogues possessing 1'-(diphenylphosphanyl)-1-cyanoferrocene (1) as the bridging ligand, [Au {μ(P,N)-1} ](NTf ) and [Au{μ(P,N)-1}] [SbF ] , were used as precatalysts in various Au-mediated C-C and C-O bond-forming reactions. The reactivity of these complexes revealed the hemilabile nature of their P,N ligands.