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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
The insertion reaction of acetonitrile on aryl nickel complexes stabilized by bidentate N,N'-chelating ligands
Rosa M Ceder1, Guillermo Muller, Matías Ordinas
1Departament de Química Inorgànica, Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès, 1-11, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
Abstract:
Organometallic complexes to be used as single component precursors in the catalytic dimerization/polymerization of olefins usually must contain a labile ligand that can easily be displaced by the olefin. This is the first step in the activation of the precursor. One commonly used labile ligand is a nitrile. Here we report an example of incompatibility between the nickel or palladium aryl bond and acetonitrile. Neutral [MBr(Mes)NN] complexes in which Mes=2,4,6-Me3C6H2, NN=diazabutadiene (DAD), pyridinylimine (PIM), 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) gave the expected [M(Mes)(3,5-lut)(NN)][BF4] compounds and the unexpected [Ni(Mes){NH=C(Me)(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)}(NN)][BF4] complexes in the presence of TlBF4 and 3,5-lutidine or acetonitrile. The sequence of reactions that leads to the imine ligand must include an initial insertion of the nitrile on the sigma(Ni-Mes) bond. These ionic complexes remain stable under 20 bar of ethylene.
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