A case of alkylidyne-imine metathesis.

Reactions between imines and tungsten alkylidyne complexes are studied. The trianionic pincer ligand supported alkylidyne [BuOCO]WCC(CH)(THF) (1) reacts with -(R)-1-phenylmethanimine (PMI-R, R = Me, Ph, Bn, and TMS) yielding [BuOC(H)O]W(ηBuCCPh)N(R) (4-R), products from metathesis reaction. In contrast, the non-pincer alkylidyne (BuO)WCC(CH) does not react with PMI-R imines.