Silver and Palladium Complexes of a Bis(benzimidazolin-2-ylidene)pyridine Pincer Ligand

Reaction of 2,6-bis(3-butylbenzimidazol-1-ium)pyridine dibromide with silVer oxide affords a dinuclear complex of the type [L2Ag2]2+ [L ) 2,6-bis(3-butylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene)pyridine]. 1H NMR spectroscopic studies suggest that the dinuclear structure is also present in solution. Transmetalationof the silVer-NHC complex with PdCl2(CH3CN)2 yields a mononuclear palladium complex of the type [LPdCl]+, with a chelating C,N,C pincer ligand

Use of ring-expanded diamino- and diamidocarbene ligands in copper catalyzed azide-alkyne "click" reactions

The two-coordinate ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene copper­(I) complexes [Cu­(RE-NHC)₂]⁺ (RE-NHC = 6-Mes, 7-<i>o</i>-Tol, 7-Mes) have been prepared and shown to be effective catalysts under neat conditions for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of alkynes and azides. In contrast, the cationic diamidocarbene analogue [Cu­(6-MesDAC)₂]⁺ and the neutral species [(6-MesDAC)­CuCl]₂ and [(6-MesDAC)₂(CuCl)₃] show good activity when the catalysis is performed on water

What is the smallest possible constant in Céa's lemma?

summary:We consider finite element approximations of a second order elliptic problem on a bounded polytopic domain in $\mathbb{R}^d$ with $d\in \lbrace 1,2,3,\ldots \rbrace$. The constant $C\ge 1$ appearing in Céa’s lemma and coming from its standard proof can be very large when the coefficients of an elliptic operator attain considerably different values. We restrict ourselves to regular families of uniform partitions and linear simplicial elements. Using a lower bound of the interpolation error and the supercloseness between the finite element solution and the Lagrange interpolant of the exact solution, we show that the ratio between discretization and interpolation errors is equal to $1+\mathcal O(h)$ as the discretization parameter $h$ tends to zero. Numerical results in one and two-dimensional case illustrating this phenomenon are presented

Probing intermetallic coupling in dinuclear N-heterocyclic carbene ruthenium(II) complexes

A series of bimetallic N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ruthenium(II) complexes were synthesized, which comprise two [RuCl₂(cymene)(NHC)] units that are interlinked via the NHC nitrogens by alkyl chains of different length. Electrochemical characterization revealed two mutually dependent oxidation processes for the complex with a methylene linker, indicating moderate intramolecular electronic coupling of the two metal centers (class II system). The degree of coupling decreases rapidly upon increasing the number of CH₂ units in the linker and provides essentially decoupled class I species when propylene or butylene linkers are used. Electrochemical analyses combined with structural investigations suggest a through-bond electronic coupling. Replacement of the alkyl linker with a p-phenylene group afforded cyclometalated complexes, which were considerably less stable. The electronic coupling in the methylene-linked complex and the relatively robust NHC–ruthenium bond may provide access to species that are switchable on the molecular scale

Electrochemical Synthesis of a Tetradentate Copper N-Heterocyclic Carbene Calix[4]arene and Its Transmetalation to Palladium: Activity of the Palladium Complex in Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling

A novel N-heterocyclic carbene 1,3-alternate calix[4]arene complex bearing four palladium(II) centers per ligand has been prepared. Electrochemical synthetic methods were used to prepare the corresponding copper(I) complex, followed by transmetalation onto palladium(II). The activity of the palladium complex was probed in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. An inverse correlation between palladium concentration and activity was observed, with the results indicating that calix[4]arenes in the cone conformation may reduce the aggregation of palladium(0) nanoclusters, whereas our 1,3-alternate calix[4]arene does not provide any supramolecular stabilizing effect.</p

Osmium(II)–bis(dihydrogen) complexes containing caryl,CNHC–chelate ligands: Preparation, bonding situation, and acidity

The hexahydride complex OsH6(PiPr3)2 (1) reacts with the BF4-salts of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-1-H-benzimidazolium, 1-phenyl-3-methyl-1-H-5,6-dimethyl-benzimidazolium, and 1-phenyl-3-methyl-1-H-imidazolium to give the respective trihydride-osmium(IV) derivatives OsH3(κ2-Caryl,CNHC)(PiPr3)2 (2–4). The protonation of these compounds with HBF4·OEt2 produces the reduction of the metal center and the formation of the bis(dihydrogen)-osmium(II) complexes [Os(κ2-Caryl,CNHC)(η2-H2)2(PiPr3)2]BF4 (5–7). DFT calculations using AIM and NBO methods reveal that the Os–NHC bond of the Os-chelate link tolerates a significant π-backdonation from a doubly occupied dπ(Os) atomic orbital to the pz atomic orbital of the carbene carbon atom. The π-accepting capacity of the NHC unit of the Caryl,CNHC-chelate ligand, which is higher than those of the coordinated aryl group and phosphine ligands, enhances the electrophilicity of the metal center activating one of the coordinated hydrogen molecules of 5–7 toward the heterolysis. As a result, these compounds are strong Brønsted acids with pKawater values between 2.5 and 2.8. In acetonitrile the hydrogen molecules of 5 and 6 are displaced by the solvent, the resulting bis(solvento) compounds [Os(κ2-Caryl,CNHC)(CH3CN)2(PiPr3)2]BF4 (8, 9) react with acetylacetonate (acac) and cis-1,2-bis(diphenylsphosphino)ethylene (bdppe) to give Os(κ2-Caryl,CNHC)(acac)(bdppe) (10, 11) as a mixture of the two possible isomers, namely with P trans to the aryl group or to the NHC moiety.Financial support from the Spanish MINECO (Projects CTQ2011-23459 and CTQ2013-44303-P), the Red de Excelencia Consolider (CTQ2014-51912-REDC), the DGA (E35), the European Social Fund (FSE) and FEDER, and Universal Display Corporation is acknowledged. T.B. thanks the Spanish MINECO for funding through the Juan de la Cierva programme.Peer reviewe