Allylnickel(II) complexes of bulky 5-substituted-2-iminopyrrolyl ligands

Abstract The optimized reaction between [Ni(COD)2] (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) and ligand precursor 5-(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)-2-[N-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-formimino]-1H-pyrrole yielded the η3-cyclooctenyl-Ni(II) complex [Ni{κ2N,N’-5-(2,4,6-iPr3C6H2)-NC4H2-2-C(H) = N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)}(η3-C8H13)] 1. Subsequently, the η3-allyl complexes [Ni{κ2N,N’-5-R-NC4H2-2-C(H)=N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)}(η3-C3H5)] (R = 3,5-(CF3)2C6H3 (2a), 2,6-Me2C6H3 (2b), 2,4,6-iPr3C6H2 (2c) and CPh3 (2d)) were prepared in good yields via metathesis of [Ni(η3-C3H5)(µ-Br)]2 with the respective potassium 5-R-2-[N-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)formimino]pyrrolyl salt (KLa-d). Complexes 1 and 2a-d were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis and complex 2d further analyzed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Addition of excess pyridine to solutions of complexes 2a-d led to the observation of a fluxional process that, according to VT-NMR experiments, corresponds to a pyridine-assisted cis–trans isomerization process occurring in these complexes, via a η3-η1-η3 haptotropic shift of the allyl ligand, with ΔG‡ values in range of 9.5–17.3 kcal mol−1. Additionally, complexes 2a-d, when activated by B(C6F5)3, slowly catalyzed the isomerization of hex-1-ene to mixtures of internal olefins.