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Stabilizing Monoatomic Two-Coordinate Bismuth(I) and Bismuth(II) Using a Redox Noninnocent Bis(germylene) Ligand

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posted on 2024-03-18, 05:00 authored by Jian Xu, Sudip Pan, Shenglai Yao, Christian Lorent, Christian Teutloff, Zhaoyin Zhang, Jun Fan, Andrew MolinoAndrew Molino, Konstantin B Krause, Johannes Schmidt, Robert Bittl, Christian Limberg, Lili Zhao, Gernot Frenking, Matthias Driess
The formation of isolable monatomic BiI complexes and BiII radical species is challenging due to the pronounced reducing nature of metallic bismuth. Here, we report a convenient strategy to tame BiI and BiII atoms by taking advantage of the redox noninnocent character of a new chelating bis(germylene) ligand. The remarkably stable novel BiI cation complex 4, supported by the new bis(iminophosphonamido-germylene)xanthene ligand [(P)GeII(Xant)GeII(P)] 1, [(P)GeII(Xant)GeII(P) = Ph2P(NtBu)2GeII(Xant)GeII(NtBu)2PPh2, Xant = 9,9-dimethyl-xanthene-4,5-diyl], was synthesized by a two-electron reduction of the cationic BiIIII2 precursor complex 3 with cobaltocene (Cp2Co) in a molar ratio of 1:2. Notably, owing to the redox noninnocent character of the germylene moieties, the positive charge of BiI cation 4 migrates to one of the Ge atoms in the bis(germylene) ligand, giving rise to a germylium(germylene) BiI complex as suggested by DFT calculations and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Likewise, migration of the positive charge of the BiIIII2 cation of 3 results in a bis(germylium)BiIIII2 complex. The delocalization of the positive charge in the ligand engenders a much higher stability of the BiI cation 4 in comparison to an isoelectronic two-coordinate Pb0 analogue (plumbylone; decomposition below −30 °C). Interestingly, 4[BArF] undergoes a reversible single-electron transfer (SET) reaction (oxidation) to afford the isolable BiII radical complex 5 in 5[BArF]2. According to electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, the unpaired electron predominantly resides at the BiII atom. Extending the redox reactivity of 4[OTf] employing AgOTf and MeOTf affords BiIII(OTf)2 complex 7 and BiIIIMe complex 8, respectively, demonstrating the high nucleophilic character of BiI cation 4.

History

Publication Date

2024-02-26

Journal

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Volume

146

Issue

9

Pagination

12p. (p. 6025-6036)

Publisher

American Chemical Society

ISSN

0002-7863

Rights Statement

© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society This article is licensed under CC-BY 4.0

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