Controlled hydrogenative depolymerization of polyesters and polycarbonates catalyzed by ruthenium(II) PNN pincer complexes.

Ruthenium(II) PNN complexes depolymerize many polyesters into diols and polycarbonates into glycols plus methanol via hydrogenation. Notably, polyesters with two methylene units between ester linkages depolymerize to carboxylic acids rather than diols. This methodology represents a new approach for producing useful chemicals from waste plastics.

Characterization of the first N2S(alkylthiolate)lead compound: a model for three-coordinate lead in biological systems.

A new N2S(alkylthiolate)-coordinated Pb2+ compound {2-methyl-1-[methyl(2-pyridin-2-ylethyl)amino]propane-2-thiolatolead perchlorate, [PATH-Pb][ClO4]} has been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction and by 207Pb NMR. [PATH-Pb]+ is the first reported three-coordinate Pb complex with an alkanethiolate ligand and, hence, is a good model for Pb-cysteine interactions in proteins. The Pb center displays distorted trigonal-planar geometry.