Structural Changes in the Carbon Sphere of a Dirhodium Complex Induced by Redox or Deprotonation Reactions

A carbon-rich molecule is synthesized, which mainly contains conjugated sp² and sp hybridized carbon centers. Alkenyl and alkynyl binding sites are arranged such that this compound serves as ligand to a binuclear metal unit with a Rh^I─Rh^I bond. Furthermore, CH units are placed in proximity to the metal centers. The dicationic complex [Rh₂(bipy)₂{Ph₂Ptrop^(C≡CCy)2}]²⁺(OTf^-)₂ allows to study possible responses of the carbon-framework to redox reactions as well as deprotonation reactions. All products are, whenever possible, characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods, NMR and EPR spectroscopy as well as electrochemical methods. It is shown that the carbon skeleton of the ligand framework undergoes C─C bond rearrangement reactions of remarkable diversity. In combination with DFT (density functional theory) studies, these results allow to gain insight into the electronic structure changes caused by metal sites in a carbon-rich environment, which may be of relevance for the properties of metal particles on carbon support materials when they are exposed to hydrogen, electrons, or protons.