Four-electron oxidative formation of aryl diazenes using a tantalum redox-active ligand complex

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/anie.200800812

(Chemical Equation Presented) The active ingredient: The bis(μ-imido) tantalum dimer {[ONO^red]Ta(μ-N-p-tolyl)(py)}₂ releases the aryl diazene (p-tolyl) N=N (p-tolyl) upon four-electron oxidation with PhICl₂ (see scheme; py = pyridine). Studies suggest that the redox-active [ONO^red]^3- ligands act to collect single-electron oxidation equivalents for the multielectron reaction.

Full text of DOI:10.1002/anie.200800812

Angewandte
Chemie
DOI: 10.1002/anie.200800812
Redox-Active Ligands
Four-Electron Oxidative Formation of Aryl Diazenes Using a Tantalum
Redox-Active Ligand Complex**
Ryan A. Zarkesh, Joseph W. Ziller, and Alan F. Heyduk*
Transition-metal complexes capable of mediating multielec-
tron transformations are critical components for a variety of
small-molecule transformations. For example, the oxidation
from pentane. The 1H and 13C NMR spectra of 1 showed
3À
diagnostic resonances for the [ONOred
]
ligand. The methyl
ligands of 1 resonated at d = 0.77 and 59.7 ppm in the 1H and
of C H bonds[1] and the reduction of protons to H2[2] are both
13C NMR spectra, respectively.
À
two-electron transformations. The oxidation of water to O2 is
a four-electron process[3] and the reduction of nitrogen to
ammonia is an overall six-electron process.[4] The design of
metal complexes to promote or catalyze these multielectron
reactions usually relies on one or more transition-metal ions
capable of two-electron changes in a formal oxidation state.
An alternative strategy is to incorporate redox-active ligands
into the metal coordination sphere to supply reducing or
oxidizing equivalents during a multielectron transforma-
tion.[5]
The methyl ligands of 1 are susceptible to protonolysis by
anilines, which results in the formation of bimetallic com-
plexes with two bridging imido ligands. As shown in
Scheme 1, benzene solutions of 1 heated to reflux with two
equivalents of NH2(p-tolyl) resulted in the formation of
Herein, we report the use of a tridentate redox-active
ligand,
N,N-bis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-phenoxide)amide
([ONOred
]
3À),[6] coordinated to tantalum, to effect the four-
electron oxidative formation of aryl diazenes. In its reduced
3À
form, [ONOred
]
is a planar, tridentate ligand that coordi-
nates to transition metals in a meridional geometry. The
organometallic synthon TaMe3Cl2[7] has been used to prepare
[ONOred]TaMe2 (1), which was then converted into the
bridging imido dimer {[ONOred]Ta[m-N(p-tolyl)]L}2 (2a, L =
NH2(p-tolyl); 2b, L = pyridine (py); Scheme 1). Oxidation of
=
2b resulted in the quantitative elimination of (p-tolyl)N N(p-
tolyl). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of
=
N N double bond formation and organic diazene elimination
from a tantalum(V) bridging imido dimer. Oxidation studies
of the related complex [ONOred]TaCl2 (4) with PhICl2 suggest
that the redox-active ligand plays the pivotal role of collecting
oxidizing equivalents within the tantalum coordination
sphere. The work presented herein highlights a new strategy
for the design of metal complexes capable of multielectron
oxidation reactions.
The bridging imido complexes 2a and 2b were prepared
via dimethyl complex 1 (Scheme 1). Double deprotonation of
H3[ONOred] with nBuLi (2equiv) followed by treatment with
TaCl2Me3 afforded 1 in 49% yield following recrystallization
[*] R. A. Zarkesh, J. W. Ziller, Prof. A. F. Heyduk
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-2025 (USA)
Fax: (+1)949-824-2210
E-mail: aheyduk@uci.edu
Homepage: http://chem.ps.uci.edu/~aheyduk/groupweb/
[**] This work was funded by the NSF-CAREER program (CHE-0645685)
and the UCI Physical Sciences Center for Solar Energy. A.F.H. is an
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow.
Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW
under http://www.angewandte.org or from the author.
Scheme 1. Synthesis and oxidation chemistry of {[ONOred]Ta[m-N(p-
tolyl)]L}2 (2).
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{[ONOred]Ta[m-N(p-tolyl)][NH2(p-tolyl)]}2 (2a), which was
red as the reaction went to completion overnight.[14] After
removal of the solvent, a H NMR spectrum of the crude
1
characterized both in solution and in the solid state. The
1H NMR spectrum of 2a showed separate resonances for the
bridging imido ligands and the neutral toluidine ligands, thus
indicating that there is no exchange on the NMR timescale.
The N-H protons of the coordinated toluidine were observed
=
residue revealed the formation of (p-tolyl)N N(p-tolyl),
which was confirmed by GC–MS analysis. The metal-con-
taining product, [ONOred]TaCl2(py) (3), was isolated as a red
solid by recrystallization from toluene at À358C. As shown in
Scheme 1, complex 3 was prepared independently by addition
of pyridine to the five-coordinate tantalum dichloride com-
plex [ONOred]TaCl2 (4).
1
as a sharp singlet at d = 4.48 ppm in the H NMR spectrum.
The addition of pyridine to 2a resulted in displacement of the
coordinated toluidine and formation of the pyridine adduct,
1
{[ONOred]Ta[m-N(p-tolyl)](py)}2 (2b). The H and 13C NMR
Monitoring of the oxidation reactions of 2b by GC–MS
revealed the formation of one equivalent of aryl diazene per
equivalent of bridging imido dimer 2b. These oxidation
reactions required two equivalents of PhICl2, which corre-
sponded to an overall four-electron oxidation of 2b. Attempts
to isolate and characterize oxidation intermediates from the
reaction of 2b with one equivalent of PhICl2 were not
successful; however, in such reactions the formation of
substoichiometric aryl diazene was always observed.
A key aspect to evaluate for the oxidation of 2b is the role
data for 2b are congruent with the data for 2a, which
indicates similar metal coordination environments.
X-ray diffraction studies of 2a revealed an edge-sharing
bioctahedral structure (Figure 1).[8a] Dimeric tantalum com-
plexes with bridging imido ligands are rare, and often contain
of the redox-active [ONOred 3À ligand. As shown in Scheme 2,
]
Figure 1. ORTEP diagram for {[ONOred]Ta[m-N(p-tolyl)][NH2(p-tolyl)]}2
(2a). Thermal ellipsoids are shown at 50% probability. Solvent
molecules and hydrogen atoms have been omitted for clarity.
Scheme 2. Oxidation states of the [ONO] ligand platform.
the [ONOred 3À ligand can be oxidized by one electron to give
]
the dianionic, semi-quinonate ligand [ONOsq]2À, or by two
electrons to give the monoanionic, quinonate ligand
[ONOq]À.[15] These ligand oxidation states could store
single-electron oxidizing equivalents prior to the elimination
of the aryl diazene.
TaIV centers and a formal metal–metal bond.[9] For d0 TaV
complexes, although dimers with bridging imido ligands are
known,[10] terminal imido ligands are often observed.[11,12]
In 2a, one [ONOred
]
ligand coordinates in a meridional
3À
fashion to each tantalum(V) center. The two bridging imido
ligands occupy cis coordination sites on each metal leaving
the sixth coordination site for the neutral toluidene donor
Tantalum complexes of both [ONOsq]2À and [ONOq]À
were prepared by halogen oxidation of 4. According to
Scheme 3, complex 4 reacted rapidly with 0.5 equivalents of
PhICl2 to afford the open-shell, radical product [ONOsq]TaCl3
(5) as a blue microcrystalline solid. The presence of an
unpaired electron in 5 was confirmed by solution EPR
À
ligand. There is a slight asymmetry in the imide Ta N bond
lengths, which are 2.0164(17) and 2.0349(16) Š. The shorter
À
distance corresponds to the Ta N(imide) bond trans to the
toluidene ligand, whereas the longer distance corresponds to
spectroscopy. A multiple-line EPR signal at g = 1.979
À
the Ta N(imide) bond trans to the amide nitrogen atom of the
(3522 G) was observed for solutions of 5 in diethyl ether at
298 K, consistent with the ligand-centered radical interacting
with the tantalum nucleus (I = 7/2). Similar EPR features
were observed for an octahedral CoIII complex with a single
[ONOsq]2À ligand.[16] X-ray-quality crystalline blocks of 5 were
obtained from cold diethyl ether; the structure of 5 is
presented as an ORTEP diagram in Figure 2.[8b]
When a 1:1 ratio of PhICl2 to 4 was used, a two-electron
oxidation resulted in the formation of [ONOq]TaCl4 (6) as a
dark green microcrystalline solid. As indicated in Scheme 3,
complex 6 is a closed-shell, diamagnetic compound that was
characterized readily by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Four tert-
[ONOred
]
3À ligand. The separation between the bridging imide
À
nitrogen atoms is 2.6 Š, which is outside of the normal N N
bonding distance but within the van der Waals radii (2” rvdW
=
3.1 Š). The Ta–Ta distance is 3.0947(3) Š, which is outside of
the normal metal–metal distance for a TaIV TaIV bond (2.80–
À
2.90 Š),[13] thus suggesting that 2a is best described as a TaV
dimer with no metal–metal bond.
Oxidation of 2b with PhICl2 resulted in the elimination of
the azo product (p-tolyl)N N(p-tolyl). Addition of two
equivalents of PhICl2 to a solution of 2b in diethyl ether at
room temperature caused a color change from dark purple to
=
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consistent with oxidation of the ligand: notably, the Ta–N
distance in 5 is long at 2.222(13) Š.
The tantalum center of 6 is seven-coordinate in the solid
state with approximate pentagonal bipyramidal geometry
(Figure 2). The formation of 6 requires two-electron oxida-
tion of the redox-active ligand, and bond lengths within the
[ONOq]À ligand are consistent with a symmetric, oxidized
ligand. Both rings of the [ONOq]À ligand of 6 have similar
bond lengths, which suggests that the two rings of the ligand
are equivalent; however, this proposal is inconsistent with
1
both the H NMR data discussed above and the 13C NMR
À
=
data, which show distinct C O and C O carbon resonances at
d = 155 and 182ppm, respectively. In a structural study of lead
complexes with the [ONOq]À ligand, the quinone character
was localized, giving a localized quinone–phenol structure for
À
À
the ligand, which was discernable in the ligand C C and C O
bond lengths.[17] We suspect that the bond lengths observed
for the [ONOq]À ligand of 6 reflect averaged values resulting
from both orientations of the [ONOq]À ligand in the solid
state.[18]
Strategies for storing multiple oxidizing or reducing
equivalents in a single coordination complex are not well
developed, despite the importance of such strategies in small-
molecule oxidation and reduction reactions. The oxidation-
Scheme 3. Oxidation reactions of [ONOred]TaCl2 (4) with PhICl2.
=
induced elimination of (p-tolyl)N N(p-tolyl) from 2b is an
overall four-electron process that results in the formation of
=
an N N double bond. We believe that two factors facilitate
this reaction. First, the Ta2N2 core of 2b may play a key role in
organizing the nitrogen atoms for bond formation upon
oxidation.[19] Second, the redox-active [ONOred 3À ligand of 2b
]
can collect single-electron oxidation equivalents until the
four-electron elimination of the diazene can occur. The
halogen reactions resulting in the formation of 5 and 6 from
3À
4 support the idea that the [ONOred
]
ligand platform can
participate in such oxidation reactions when coordinated to
tantalum(V).[20] In a similar manner, one- and two-electron
oxidations of complexes related to 2b may lead to insight into
À
À
the nature of N N bond formation and by extension O O
bond formation. Further studies are required to probe the
nature of these intermediate oxidation states. Nevertheless,
the structure and reactivity of 2b represent a new paradigm
for tackling multielectron reactions in which oxidation leads
to bond formation.
Figure 2. ORTEP diagrams for [ONOsq]TaCl3 (5) and [ONOq]TaCl4 (6).
Thermal ellipsoids are shown at 50% probability. Solvent molecules
and hydrogen atoms have been omitted for clarity.
Received: February 19, 2008
Published online: May 16, 2008
butyl resonances and four aromatic resonances were observed
in the spectrum, which suggests distinct quinone and phenol
portions of the [ONOq]À ligand as shown in Scheme 1.
Crystalline 6 for X-ray diffraction studies was obtained
from diethyl ether; the solid-state structure of 6 is presented
in Figure 2.[8c]
Radical complex 5 is a six-coordinate, pseudo-octahedral
tantalum(V) complex in the solid state. The tantalum atom of
5 sits in a special position and as a result, only half of the
[ONOsq]2À ligand is unique. The one-electron-oxidized
[ONOsq]2À ligand is planar leaving three meridional coordi-
Keywords: azo compounds · imido complexes · oxidation ·
.
redox-active ligands · tantalum
À
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À
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[18] In other words, the quinone and phenol portions of the ligand in
6 pack similarly resulting in arbitrary “up” or “down” orienta-
tion of the molecule at each site.
[19] Crossover experiments in which mixtures of 2b and phenylimido
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dimer and a putative tantalum imide monomer.
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,
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