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The anodic one-electron oxidation of three members of the half-sandwich family of piano-stool compounds MnCp (gamma)(CO) 3, where Cp (gamma) is a generic cyclopentadienyl ligand, has been studied in a CH 2Cl 2/[NBu 4][TFAB] electrolyte (TFAB = [B(C6F5) 4] (-)). The long-sought 17 e (-) radical cation of the parent complex MnCp(CO) 3 (cymantrene, 1, E 1/2 = 0.92 V vs ferrocene) has been shown to be persistent in solutions that use weakly coordinating anions in place of more nucleophilic traditional electrolyte anions. Spectroscopically characterized for the first time, 1 (+) was shown to absorb in the visible (530 nm), near-IR (2066 nm), and IR (2118, 1934 cm (-1)) regions. It was ESR-active at low temperatures (g parallel = 2.213, g perpendicular = 2.079, A parallel (Mn) = 79.2 G, A perpendicular (Mn) = 50 G) and NMR active at room temperature (delta = 22.4 vs TMS). The radical cations of the Cp-functionalized analogues, Mn(eta (5)-C5H 4NH2)(CO) 3, 2, E 1/2 = 0.62 V, and MnCp*(CO) 3 (Cp*= eta (5)-C 5Me 5, 3), E 1/2 = 0.64 V, were generated electrochemically as well by the chemical oxidant [ReCp(CO) 3] (+). The structures of 2 (+) and 3 (+) were determined by X-ray crystallographic studies of their TFAB salts. Compared to the structures of the corresponding neutral compounds, the cations showed elongated Mn-C(O) bonds and shortened C-O bonds, displaying the effect of diminished metal-to-CO backbonding. The bond-length changes in the Mn(CO) 3 moiety were much larger in 3 (+) (avg changes, Mn-C(O) = + 0.142 A, C-O = -0.063 A) than in 2 (+) (avg changes, Mn-C(O) = + 0.006 A, C-O = -0.003 A). Although there were only minor changes in the metal-to-center ring distances upon oxidation of either 2 or 3, there was decidedly less bending of the C(N) atom out of the cyclopentadienyl plane in 2 (+) compared to 2. The optical, vibrational, and magnetic resonance spectra of radicals 2 (+) and 3 (+) were also observed. The spectral data argue for the SOMOs of the 17-electron species being largely located on the Mn(CO) 3 moiety, having 40-50% Mn d-orbital character, with the ground states of the radicals, most likely (2)A'', lying close in energy (within about 6000 cm (-1)) to excited states that are responsible for their rapid electronic relaxations. The cymantrenyl moiety is proposed as an anodic redox tag (or label) having physical and chemical properties that are significantly different from those of its ferrocenyl analogue.

The anodic electrochemical oxidations of ReCp(CO)3 (1, Cp = eta(5)-C5H5), Re(eta(5)-C5H4NH2)(CO)3 (2), and ReCp*(CO)3 (3, Cp* = eta(5)-C5Me5), have been studied in CH2Cl2 containing [NBu4][TFAB] (TFAB = [B(C6F5)4]-) as supporting electrolyte. One-electron oxidations were observed with E(1/2) = 1.16, 0.79, and 0.91 V vs ferrocene for 1-3, respectively. In each case, rapid dimerization of the radical cation gave the dimer dication, [Re2Cp(gamma)2(CO)6]2+ (where Cp(gamma) represents a generic cyclopentadienyl ligand), which may be itself reduced cathodically back to the original 18-electron neutral complex ReCp(gamma)(CO)3. DFT calculations show that the SOMO of 1+ is highly Re-based and hybridized to point away from the metal, thereby facilitating the dimerization process and other reactions of the Re(II) center. The dimers, isolated in all three cases, have long metal-metal bonds that are unsupported by bridging ligands, the bond lengths being calculated as 3.229 A for [Re2Cp2(CO)6]2+ (1(2)2+) and measured as 3.1097 A for [Re2(C5H4NH2)2(CO)6]2+ (2(2)2+) by X-ray crystallography on [Re2(C5H4NH2)2(CO)6][TFAB]2. The monomer/dimer equilibrium constants are between K(dim) = 10(5) M(-1) and 10(7) M(-1) for these systems, so that partial dissociation of the dimers gives a modest amount of the corresponding monomer that is free to undergo radical cation reactions. The radical 1+ slowly abstracts a chlorine atom from dichloromethane to give the 18-electron complex [ReCp(CO)3Cl]+ as a side product. The radical cation 1+ acts as a powerful one-electron oxidant capable of effectively driving outer-sphere electron-transfer reactions with reagents having potentials of up to 0.9 V vs ferrocene.

The syntheses of the new compounds Fe(3-Me3Si-6,6-dmch)2, 2, and Fe[3-(i-Pr)3Si-6,6-dmch]2, 3, are reported, along with X-ray structural studies of these species, and of the previously reported Fe(1,3,5,6-temch)2 (dmch = dimethylcyclohexadienyl; temch = tetramethylcyclohexadienyl). Each species crystallized in something close to the expected gauche-eclipsed conformation. In accord with previous work on Fe(6,6-dmch)2, but in contrast to results for open ferrocenes such as Fe(2,4-C7H11)2 (C7H11 = dimethylpentadienyl), the three species under study undergo reversible one-electron oxidations at room temperature to stable 17-electron cations, with potentials for oxidation being more favorable than that for ferrocene by 0.51–0.78 V. The edge-bridged open ferrocenes also react in a 1:1 ratio with TCNE (TCNE = tetracyanoethylene), yielding salts that were shown spectroscopically to contain the expected cationic 17-electron metal complexes and the TCNE radical anion.

The reduction of 1,1,1-(CO)3-2-Ph-closo-1,2,3,4-MnC3B7H9, 1, to the hyperelectronic dianion 12- has been studied by electrochemistry, spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and DFT calculations. Depending on the medium, this cymantrene derivative displays either a single two-electron wave or two separate one-electron waves in cyclic voltammetry scans, always at potentials (e.g., E1/2 = −1.14 V vs ferrocene for 1/1- in THF) that are very far positive of that reported for MnCp(CO)3 (−2.86 V). Reduction of the corresponding Re compound 2 occurs in a single two-electron process. Both 1- and 12- were isolated as their decamethylcobaltocenium salts and characterized by X-ray crystallography. The hapticity of the tricarbadecaboranyl ligand is reduced from hexahapto (η6) in 1 to tetrahapto (η4) in 12-, mimicking an η5/η3 haptotropic rearrangement of a cyclopentadienyl ligand. The dianion 12- retains coordination to the C7−B3−B4−C9 face of the tricarbadecaboranyl ligand, much like that found previously for the neutr...

An electrochemical process is described for the rapid and efficient conversion of unsubstituted cyclic olefins into cycloaddition products. When a potential of 1.25 V vs ferrocene was applied to a solution of cis-cyclooctene (COE) in dichloromethane/[NBu(4)][B(C(6)F(5))(4)] containing a catalytic amount (4 mol %) of ReCp(CO)(3), 1, the olefin was converted to a diastereomeric mixture of the C(8)-dimer tricyclohexadecane, with the major isomer having a cis-anti-cis geometry. Smaller cyclic olefins (C(5) to C(7)) also formed cycloaddition products. The cyclization reactions require the electrogeneration of 1(+) as an electron-transfer mediator which triggers the one-electron oxidation of the olefin in spite of the fact that the potentials of the latter lie at considerably higher values. The very low coulomb count required (ca. 0.1 F per olefin) for the conversion of olefin to product is consistent with a radical-chain mechanism. The electrochemical conversion of COE to cyclized products is complete in a few minutes, in contrast to the week-long photochemical processes previously needed for preparation of the same cycloaddition products.

The half-sandwich piano-stool compounds Re(eta5-C5R5)(CO)3 (1, R = H; or 2, R = Me) are oxidized to the corresponding 17-electron Re(II) cations at glassy carbon anodes in CH2Cl2/[NBu4][B(C6F5)4]. Despite the very strongly positive E1/2 values of the couples (1.16 V for 1/1+ and 0.91 V for 2/2+ vs ferrocene/ferrocenium), the radical cations are persistent in this medium and exist in equilibrium with the corresponding dimeric dications, which may be cathodically reduced back to the neutral starting material. DFT calculations show that the dimer of 1+ achieves its stability through formation of a single long (almost 3.3 A) Re-Re bond made possible when the HOMO in 1 is rehybridized away from the metal in the one-electron oxidation process. The pure salts [1][B(C6F5)4]2 and [2][B(C6F5)4]2 were isolated by preparative anodic electrochemistry. The former may be used for storage of the very strong one-electron oxidant 1+, which was used to prepare a number of oxidation products as their [B(C6F5)4]- salts.