Presented by: Dr. Andrew D. Schwarz
Research Leader: Prof. Philip Mountford
Published: Chemical Science
Inspired by the development of high-energy, early transition metal-ligand multiply-bonded systems, we targeted the unprecedented classes of bis(imido) and tris(imido) compounds of the group 4 metals (to give the first example of a group 4 metal simultaneously containing two or three multiply-bonded ligands). The product above was prepared by deprotonation with methyl lithium of a mono(imido) bis(amido) sython [Ti(NAr)(NHAr)2(py)2] to form the supposed intermediate “Li2[Ti(NAr)3(py)x]” which undergoes 1,2-N–H addition of ArNH2 across one of the Ti‑NAr linkages. This represents the first bis(imido) complex of a group 4 metal, and indeed the first example of any compound of these metals simultaneously containing two or more metal-ligand multiple bonds to dianionic ligands.
Structure of the Month - January 2012