Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents
Published on: May 28, 2014
N-aryl β-diiminate complexes of the platinum metals
1Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Abstract:
This perspective summarizes the chemistry of platinum metal complexes of β-diiminate ligands bearing aryl groups at the nitrogen atoms. While β-diiminate ligands mostly coordinate in a κ(2)-N,N' mode, palladium complexes have a tendency to rearrange to C-bound structures (κ(2)-N,C or μ-N,N':C). Diiminate ligands are remarkably effective at stabilizing coordinatively unsaturated metal centers, and the resulting reactive complexes often activate C-H bonds even of relatively unreactive substrates (ethers, alkanes). However, the ligands are not completely innocent: addition of H2, O2, olefins, alkynes and phospha-alkynes across M-Cβ has been observed for several of the platinum metals, and may even be relevant to catalytic activity. A comparison with related ligands (triazapentadienyl, formazanate, bis(phosphinimino)methanate) suggests that the β-diiminate ligand represents a lucky combination of steric rigidity and strong σ (and π?) donor character, making it an ideal platform for mechanistic studies of catalytic reactions.
More Related Videos
19:58Palladium N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes: Synthesis from Benzimidazolium Salts and Catalytic Activity in Carbon-carbon Bond-forming Reactions
Published on: July 30, 2017
10:51The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Stereoisomerism
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...
Valence Bond Theory
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect
Coordination Number and Geometry
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature