title: Bis(allyl)zinc revisited: sigma versus pi bonding of allyl coordination.
abstract: The reinvestigation of two allyl zinc compounds, parent bis(allyl)zinc [Zn(C(3)H(5))(2)] (1) and 2-methallyl chloro zinc [Zn(C(4)H(7))Cl] (2), revealed two new coordination modes in the solid state for the allyl ligand, viz cis- and trans-μ(2)-η(1):η(1). These results call for modification of the conventional interpretation of zinc-allyl interactions. Computational results indicate that the classical η(3)-bonding mode of the allyl ligand is not favored in zinc compounds. A rare case of a zinc-olefin interaction in the dimer of [Zn(η(1)-C(3)H(5))(OC(C(3)H(5))Ph(2))] was found in the monoinsertion product of 1 with benzophenone.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, RWTH Aachen, Landoltweg 1, 52056 Aachen, Germany.
authors.forename: Crispin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lichtenberg
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Spaniol
authors.forename: Ulli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Englert
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Raabe
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Okuda