The cyclic [N(PiPr2E)2]+ (E = Se, Te) cations: a new class of inorganic ring system

Area of Science:

• Organometallic chemistry
• Main group element chemistry
• Inorganic synthesis

Background:

• Organosodium compounds with bulky amide ligands are known.
• The reactivity of these compounds with electrophiles is of interest.
• Previous studies have explored related main group element compounds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel cyclic cations containing selenium and tellurium.
• To investigate the structural properties of these cations, particularly the E-E bond length.
• To explore the two-electron oxidation of a specific sodium precursor.

Main Methods:

• Two-electron oxidation reaction using iodine as the oxidant.
• Synthesis of the precursor compound [(tmeda)NaN(PiPr2E)2].
• Characterization of the resulting iodide salts, likely involving X-ray crystallography.

Main Results:

• Successful synthesis of cyclic [N(PiPr2E)2]+ cations (E = Se, Te).
• Observation of significantly long E-E bonds within these cations.
• Formation of stable iodide salts of the synthesized cations.

Conclusions:

• The two-electron oxidation provides a route to novel cyclic selenium and tellurium cations.
• The observed long E-E bonds suggest unique electronic structures and bonding in these species.
• This work expands the known chemistry of main group element cations with extended element-element bonds.