Thioselonocarboxylic Ester, Selenetane, and Dihydrodiselenine Complexes Prepared from Pentacarbonyl(selenobenzaldehyde)tungsten with π-Donor-Substituted Alkynes

Pentacarbonyltungsten-coordinated selenobenzaldehyde, [(CO)5W{Se=C(Ph)H}] (1), reacts with tBu-CC-SMe (2) by insertion of the CC into the Se=C bond to form in a highly regio- and stereoselective manner the α,β-unsaturated thioselonocarboxylic ester complex (Z)(C=C)-[(CO)5W{1-Se=C(SMe)C(tBu)=C(Ph)H}] (3). The thioselonocarboxylic ester ligand is cleaved intact from the metal by treatment of 3 with [NEt4]Br. Three complexes are formed in the reaction of 1 with Me-CC-SMe (5): the thioselonocarboxylic ester complex [(CO)5W{1-Se=C(SMe)C(Me)=C(Ph)H}] (6) as a mixture of the (E) and (Z)(C=C) isomers, a selenetane complex (7) and a dihydrodiselenine complex (8). The product distribution depends on the ratio 1:5 and on the solvent. The reaction of 1 with the bis(organylthio)alkynes RS-CC-SR (9) [R = Me (a), iPr (b), 2,6-C6H3Me2 (c)] yields mixtures of the (E) and (Z)(C=C) isomers of the α,β-unsaturated α-organylthio thioselonocarboxylic ester complexes [(CO)5W{1-Se=C(SR)C(SR)=C(Ph)H)] (10a-c). In contrast, the reaction of 1 with tert-butoxyethyne, H-CC-OtBu (11), affords a bis(pentacarbonyltungsten) 5,6-dihydro-1,2-diselenine complex (12). Compound 12 is probably formed by consecutive reaction of 1 with 11 to give the selonocarboxylic ester complex [(CO)5W{1-Se=C(OtBu)C(H)=C(Ph)H}] which then further reacts as a heterodiene by highly regioselective [4 + 2] cycloaddition with the Se=C bond of a second molecule of 1 to give 12. In the reaction of 1 with 5 and 9a the isomer with a trans arrangement of C(=Se)SMe and Ph is the kinetically controlled reaction product [(E)-6 and (Z)-10a, respectively]. The formation of (E)-6 and (Z)-10a is followed by isomerization until an (E)/(Z) equilibrium is reached. Complexes 3 and 7 were characterized by X-ray structural analyses.