Dinuclear Palladium(0) and Platinum(0) Complexes with p-Benzoquinone and Norbornene Ligands

Palladium(0) and platinum(0) precursor complexes, Pd2(dba)3 and Pt(dba)2, reacted with p-benzoquinone (bq) and norbornene (nbe) to afford new dinuclear complexes possessing p-benzoquinone as a bridging ligand and norbornene as a monodentate ligand, Pd2(bq)2(nbe)2 and Pt2(bq)2(nbe)2, respectively. The solid-state structure of the obtained complexes presented the short metal−metal distances similar to predecessors possessing the significant d10−d10 bonding interaction. The formations of the previously reported mononuclear p-benzoquinone and p-naphthoquinone complexes using 1,5-cyclooctadiene in place of norbornene were also unambiguously confirmed by the single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The present dinuclear palladium complex proved to be an efficient catalyst precursor for the linear cotrimerization of 1-octene and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate. On the other hand, the platinum analogue catalyzed the hydrosilylation of styrene under mild reaction conditions.