Synthesis and structure of a novel Pd(0)–Pd(IV)–Pd(IV)–Pd(0) mixed-valence complex

The interaction of PdCl2(PhCN)2 with 1,2-[PhP(H)CH2CH2CH2P(Ph)CH2]2C6H4, generated in situ from the reduction of the corresponding phosphine oxide with LiAlH4 in the presence of Me3SiCl, gave a complex mixture, from which a di- and a tetra-nuclear palladium complex 1 and 2 whose solid state structures were ascertained by X-ray crystallography, were isolated. A novel Pd(0)–Pd(IV)–Pd(IV)–Pd(0) mixed-valence structure was observed in complex 2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]