Bis(permethylindenyl) Complexes of Thorium: Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity.
Abstract
A variety of thorium complexes incorporating the bulky permethylindenyl ligand (Ind* = C9Me7) have been synthesized and characterized. Specifically, the dichloride Ind*2ThCl2 is obtained by reaction of ThCl4 with Ind*Li, from which Ind*2ThMe2, Ind*2Th(NMe2)2, Ind*2Th(NC4H4)2, and Ind*2Th(η3-H3BH)2 may be obtained by metathesis with MeLi, LiNMe2, LiNC4H4, and Ca(BH4)2, resp. In contrast to simple metathesis, reaction of Ind*2ThCl2 with KN(SiMe3)2 yields the metalacycle Ind*2Th(η2-CH2SiMe2NSiMe3). X-ray diffraction studies on Ind*2ThCl2, Ind*2ThCl(μ-Cl)2Li(tmeda), Ind*2ThMe2, Ind*2Th(NMe2)2, Ind*2Th(η2-CH2SiMe2NSiMe3), and Ind*2Th(η3-H3BH)2 indicate that the permethylindenyl ligands in these complexes exhibit a variety of conformations. [on SciFinder(R)]