Person:

Hernández Sánchez, Raúl

Concomitant deprotonation and metalation of hexadentate ligand platform tbsLH6 (tbsLH6 = 1,3,5-C6H9(NHC6H4-o-NHSiMe2tBu)3) with divalent transition metal starting materials Fe2(Mes)4 (Mes = mesityl) or Mn3(Mes)6 in the presence of tetrahydrofuran (THF) resulted in isolation of homotrinuclear complexes (tbsL)Fe3(THF) and (tbsL)Mn3(THF), respectively. In the absence of coordinating solvent (THF), the deprotonation and metalation exclusively afforded dinuclear complexes of the type (tbsLH2)M2 (M = Fe or Mn). The resulting dinuclear species were utilized as synthons to prepare bimetallic trinuclear clusters. Treatment of (tbsLH2)Fe2 complex with divalent Mn source (Mn2(N(SiMe3)2)4) afforded the bimetallic complex (tbsL)Fe2Mn(THF), which established the ability of hexamine ligand tbsLH6 to support mixed metal clusters. The substitutional homogeneity of (tbsL)Fe2Mn(THF) was determined by 1H NMR, 57Fe Mössbauer, and X-ray fluorescence. Anomalous scattering measurements were critical for the unambiguous assignment of the trinuclear core composition. Heating a solution of (tbsLH2)Mn2 with a stoichiometric amount of Fe2(Mes)4 (0.5 mol equiv) affords a mixture of both (tbsL)Mn2Fe(THF) and (tbsL)Fe2Mn(THF) as a result of the thermodynamic preference for heavier metal substitution within the hexa-anilido ligand framework. These results demonstrate for the first time the assembly of mixed metal cluster synthesis in an unbiased ligand platform.

The asymmetric oxidation product [(PhL)Fe3(μ-Cl)]2 [PhLH6 = MeC(CH2NHPh-o-NHPh)3], where each trinuclear core is comprised of an oxidized diiron unit [Fe2]5+ and an isolated trigonal pyramidal ferrous site, reacts with MCl2 salts to afford heptanuclear bridged structures of the type (PhL)2Fe6M(μ-Cl)4(thf)2, where M = Fe or Co. Zero-field, 57Fe Mössbauer analysis revealed the Co resides within the trinuclear core subunits, not at the octahedral, halide-bridged MCl4(thf)2 position indicating Co migration into the trinuclear subunits has occurred. Reaction of [(PhL)Fe3(μ-Cl)]2 with CoCl2 (2 or 5 equivalents) followed by precipitation via addition of acetonitrile afforded trinuclear products where one or two irons, respectively, can be substituted within the trinuclear core. Metal atom substitution was verified by 1H NMR, 57Fe Mossbauer, single crystal X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and magnetometry analysis. Spectroscopic analysis revealed that the Co atom(s) substitute(s) into the oxidized dimetal unit ([M2]5+), while the M2+ site remains iron-substituted. Magnetic data acquired for the series are consistent with this analysis revealing the oxidized dimetal unit comprises a strongly coupled S = 1 unit ([FeCo]5+) or S = 1/2 ([Co2]5+) that is weakly antiferromagnetically coupled to the high spin (S = 2) ferrous site. The kinetic pathway for metal substitution was probed via reaction of [(PhL)Fe3(μ-Cl)]2 with isotopically enriched 57FeCl2(thf)2, the results of which suggest rapid equilibration of 57Fe into both the M2+ site and oxidized diiron site, achieving a 1:1 mixture.