Bis(alkylamido)phenylborane complexes of zirconium, hafnium, and vanadium

The coordination chemistry of the bis(tert-butylamido)phenylborane ligand, [(t)BuN-B(Ph)-N(t)Bu](2)(-), is developed. The ligand can be delivered to metals of groups 4 and 5 from its dilithio salt. The reactions of PhB((t)BuNLi)(2), 1, with metal halides of zirconium, hafnium, and vanadium generate complexes of the general formulas ((t)BuN-B(Ph)-N(t)Bu)(2)M(THF) (M = Zr (2), Hf (3)), Li(2)[M((t)BuN-B(Ph)-N(t)Bu)(3)] (M = Zr (4), Hf (5)), and M((t)BuN-B(Ph)-N(t)Bu)(2) (M = V (6)). (1)H and (11)B[(1)H] NMR and single-crystal X-ray analysis show that these amido metal complexes are structurally analogous to amidinates.