Dioxygen Activation by Non-Adiabatic Oxidative Addition to a Single Metal Center

A chromium(I) dinitrogen complex reacts rapidly with O2 to form the mononuclear dioxo complex [Tp(tBu,Me)Cr(V)(O)2] (Tp(tBu,Me) = hydrotris(3-tert-butyl-5-methylpyrazolyl)borate), whereas the analogous reaction with sulfur stops at the persulfido complex [Tp(tBu,Me)Cr(III)(S2)]. The transformation of the putative peroxo intermediate [Tp(tBu,Me)Cr(III)(O2)] (S = 3/2) into [Tp(tBu,Me)Cr(V)(O)2] (S = 1/2) is spin-forbidden. The minimum-energy crossing point for the two potential energy surfaces has been identified. Although the dinuclear complex [(Tp(tBu,Me)Cr)2(μ-O)2] exists, mechanistic experiments suggest that O2 activation occurs on a single metal center, by an oxidative addition on the quartet surface followed by crossover to the doublet surface.