Remote Oxidative Activation of a [Cp*Rh] Monohydride

29 November 2021, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Half-sandwich rhodium monohydrides are often proposed as intermediates in catalysis, but little is known regarding the redox-induced reactivity accessible to these species. Here, the κ2-bis-diphenylphosphinoferrocene (dppf) ligand has been used to explore the reactivity that can be induced when a [Cp*Rh] monohydride undergoes remote (dppf-centered) oxidation by 1e–. Chemical and electrochemical studies showed that one-electron redox chemistry is accessible to Cp*Rh(dppf), including a unique quasi-reversible RhII/I process at –0.96 V vs. ferrocenium/ferrocene (Fc+/0). This redox manifold was confirmed by isolation of an uncommon Rh(II) species that was characterized by EPR spectroscopy. Protonation of Cp*Rh(dppf) with anilinium triflate yielded an isolable and inert monohydride, and this species was found to undergo a quasireversible electrochemical oxidation at +0.41 V vs Fc+/0 that corresponds to iron-centered oxidation in the dppf backbone. Thermochemical analysis predicts that this dppf-centered oxidation drives a dramatic increase in acidity of the Rh–H moiety by 23 pKa units, a reactivity pattern confirmed by in situ 1H NMR studies. Taken together, these results show that remote oxidation can effectively induce M–H activation and suggest that ligand-centered redox activity could be an attractive feature for design of new systems relying on hydride intermediates.

Keywords

ligands
redox chemistry
hydrides
electrochemistry
crystallography

Supplementary materials

Title
Description
Actions
Title
Supporting Information
Description
Supporting information document
Actions

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.