title: The insertion reaction of acetonitrile on aryl nickel complexes stabilized by bidentate N,N'-chelating ligands.
abstract: Organometallic complexes to be used as single component precursors in the catalytic dimerization/polymerization of olefins usually must contain a labile ligand that can easily be displaced by the olefin. This is the first step in the activation of the precursor. One commonly used labile ligand is a nitrile. Here we report an example of incompatibility between the nickel or palladium aryl bond and acetonitrile. Neutral [MBr(Mes)NN] complexes in which Mes=2,4,6-Me3C6H2, NN=diazabutadiene (DAD), pyridinylimine (PIM), 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) gave the expected [M(Mes)(3,5-lut)(NN)][BF4] compounds and the unexpected [Ni(Mes){NH=C(Me)(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)}(NN)][BF4] complexes in the presence of TlBF4 and 3,5-lutidine or acetonitrile. The sequence of reactions that leads to the imine ligand must include an initial insertion of the nitrile on the sigma(Ni-Mes) bond. These ionic complexes remain stable under 20 bar of ethylene.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Química Inorgànica, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès, 1-11, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Ceder
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Matías
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ordinas
authors.forename: Juan Ignacio
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Ordinas