Two-coordinate terminal zinc hydride complexes: synthesis, structure and preliminary reactivity studies

Area of Science:

• Organometallic Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry

Background:

• Two-coordinate metal complexes are rare and highly reactive.
• Zinc hydrides are important synthetic intermediates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel two-coordinate monomeric zinc hydride complexes.
• To investigate the structural and electronic properties of these complexes.
• To explore their reactivity in hydrozincation and hydrosilylation.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of LZnH complexes with bulky substituents.
• X-ray crystallography for structural determination.
• Computational studies (DFT) to analyze bonding and interactions.
• Reactivity studies with carbonyl compounds.

Main Results:

• First examples of essentially two-coordinate, monomeric zinc hydride complexes (LZnH) were prepared.
• Crystallographic studies revealed near linear N-Zn-H fragments.
• Computational studies indicated weak phenyl-zinc interactions.
• Complexes demonstrated effectiveness in stoichiometric hydrozincation and catalytic hydrosilylation of carbonyls.

Conclusions:

• The successful synthesis of these unique complexes expands the scope of low-coordinate zinc chemistry.
• The observed reactivity highlights their potential as versatile reagents in organic synthesis.
• These findings open new avenues for designing novel organozinc catalysts.