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1. Coinage metal metallacycles involving a fluorinated 3,5-diarylpyrazolate

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nj03744c  

   Lakhi, Jaspreet S. ; Patterson, Monika R. ; Dias, H. V. ( September 2020 , New Journal of Chemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   Copper( i ) and silver( i ) pyrazolate complexes {[3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]Cu} 3 and {[3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]Ag} 3 have been synthesized using the fluorinated 3,5-(diaryl)pyrazole 3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 PzH and copper( i ) oxide and silver( i ) oxide, respectively. The gold( i ) analog was obtained from a reaction between Au(THT)Cl and [3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]H/NaH. The X-ray crystal structures show that the coinage metal complexes {[3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]M} 3 (M = Cu, Ag, Au) are trinuclear in the solid state. They feature distorted nine-membered M 3 N 6 metallacyclic cores. The M–N distances follow Cu < Au < Ag, which is the trend expected from covalent radii of the corresponding coinage metal ions. The 3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 PzH forms hydrogen bonded trimers in the solid state that are further organized by π-stacking between aryl rings. Solid samples of {[3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]M} 3 display blue photoluminescence. The copper complex {[3,5-(3,5-(CF 3 ) 2 Ph) 2 Pz]Cu} 3 is an excellent catalyst for mediating azide–alkyne cycloaddition chemistry. 

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2. Rapid reversible borane to boryl hydride exchange by metal shuttling on the carborane cluster surface

   https://doi.org/10.1039/C7SC01846K  

   Eleazer, Bennett J. ; Smith, Mark D. ; Popov, Alexey A. ; Peryshkov, Dmitry V. ( January 2017 , Chemical Science)

   In this work, we introduce a novel concept of a borane group vicinal to a metal boryl bond acting as a supporting hemilabile ligand in exohedrally metalated three-dimensional carborane clusters. The (POBOP)Ru(Cl)(PPh 3 ) pincer complex (POBOP = 1,7-OP( i -Pr) 2 - m -2-carboranyl) features extreme distortion of the two-center-two-electron Ru–B bond due to the presence of a strong three-center-two-electron B–H⋯Ru vicinal interaction. Replacement of the chloride ligand with a hydride afforded the (POBOP)Ru(H)(PPh 3 ) pincer complex, which possesses B–Ru, B–H⋯Ru, and Ru–H bonds. This complex was found to exhibit a rapid exchange between hydrogen atoms of the borane and the terminal hydride through metal center shuttling between two boron atoms of the carborane cage. This exchange process, which involves sequential cleavage and formation of strong covalent metal–boron and metal–hydrogen bonds, is unexpectedly facile at temperatures above −50 °C corresponding to an activation barrier of 12.2 kcal mol −1 . Theoretical calculations suggested two equally probable pathways for the exchange process through formally Ru(0) or Ru( iv ) intermediates, respectively. The presence of this hemilabile vicinal B–H⋯Ru interaction in (POBOP)Ru(H)(PPh 3 ) was found to stabilize a latent coordination site at the metal center promoting efficient catalytic transfer dehydrogenation of cyclooctane under nitrogen and air at 170 °C. 

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3. Hydrogen bonds and dispersion forces serving as molecular locks for tailored Group 11 bis(amidine) complexes

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D2QI00443G  

   Arras, Janet ; Ugarte Trejo, Omar ; Bhuvanesh, Nattamai ; McMillen, Colin D. ; Stollenz, Michael ( July 2022 , Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers)

   A flexible polydentate bis(amidine) ligand LH 2 , LH 2 = {CH 2 NH( t Bu)CN-2-(6-MePy)} 2 , operates as a molecular lock for various coinage metal fragments and forms the dinuclear complexes [LH 2 (MCl) 2 ], M = Cu (1), Au (2), the coordination polymer [{(LH 2 ) 2 (py) 2 (AgCl) 3 }(py) 3 ] n (3), and the dimesityl-digold complex [LH 2 (AuMes) 2 ] (4) by formal insertion of MR fragments (M = Cu, Ag, Au; R = Cl, Mes) into the N–H⋯N hydrogen bonds of LH 2 in yields of 43–95%. Complexes 1, 2, and 4 adopt C 2 -symmetrical structures in the solid state featuring two interconnected 11-membered rings that are locked by two intramolecular N–H⋯R–M hydrogen bonds. QTAIM analyses of the computational geometry-optimized structures 1a, 2a, and 4a reveal 13, 11, and 22 additional bond critical points, respectively, all of which are related to weak intramolecular attractive interactions, predominantly representing dispersion forces, contributing to the conformational stabilization of the C 2 -symmetrical stereoisomers in the solid state. Variable-temperature 1 H NMR spectroscopy in combination with DFT calculations indicate a dynamic conformational interconversion between two C 2 -symmetrical ground state structures in solution (Δ G ‡c = 11.1–13.8 kcal mol −1 ), which is accompanied by the formation of an intermediate possessing C i symmetry that retains the hydrogen bonds. 

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4. Solid-state 11 B NMR studies of coinage metal complexes containing a phosphine substituted diboraanthracene ligand

   https://doi.org/10.1039/d1dt02981a  

   Huynh, Winn ; Taylor, Jordan W. ; Harman, W. Hill ; Conley, Matthew P. ( October 2021 , Dalton Transactions)

   Transition metal interactions with Lewis acids (M → Z linkages) are fundamentally interesting and practically important. The most common Z-type ligands contain boron, which contains an NMR active 11 B nucleus. We measured solid-state 11 B{ 1 H} NMR spectra of copper, silver, and gold complexes containing a phosphine substituted 9,10-diboraanthracene ligand (B 2 P 2 ) that contain planar boron centers and weak M → BR 3 linkages ([(B 2 P 2 )M][BAr F 4 ] (M = Cu (1), Ag (2), Au (3)) characterized by large quadrupolar coupling ( C Q ) values (4.4–4.7 MHz) and large span ( Ω ) values (93–139 ppm). However, the solid-state 11 B{ 1 H} NMR spectrum of K[Au(B 2 P 2 )] − (4), which contains tetrahedral borons, is narrow and characterized by small C Q and Ω values. DFT analysis of 1–4 shows that C Q and Ω are expected to be large for planar boron environments and small for tetrahedral boron, and that the presence of a M → BR 3 linkage relates to the reduction in C Q and 11 B NMR shielding properties. Thus solid-state 11 B NMR spectroscopy contains valuable information about M → BR 3 linkages in complexes containing the B 2 P 2 ligand. 

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5. Mapping C−H⋅⋅⋅M Interactions in Confined Spaces: (α‐ICyD Me )Au, Ag, Cu Complexes Reveal “Contra‐electrostatic H Bonds” Masquerading as Anagostic Interactions**

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202100263  

   dos Passos Gomes, Gabriel ; Xu, Guangcan ; Zhu, Xiaolei ; Chamoreau, Lise‐Marie ; Zhang, Yongmin ; Bistri‐Aslanoff, Olivia ; Roland, Sylvain ; Alabugin, Igor V. ; Sollogoub, Matthieu ( May 2021 , Chemistry – A European Journal)

   What happens when a C−H bond is forced to interact with unpaired pairs of electrons at a positively charged metal? Such interactions can be considered as “contra‐electrostatic” H‐bonds, which combine the familiar orbital interaction pattern characteristic for the covalent contribution to the conventional H‐bonding with an unusual contra‐electrostatic component. While electrostatics is strongly stabilizing component in the conventional C−H⋅⋅⋅X bonds where X is an electronegative main group element, it is destabilizing in the C−H⋅⋅⋅M contacts when M is Au(I), Ag(I), or Cu(I) of NHC−M−Cl systems. Such remarkable C−H⋅⋅⋅M interaction became experimentally accessible within (α‐ICyD^Me)MCl, NHC‐Metal complexes embedded into cyclodextrins. Computational analysis of the model systems suggests that the overall interaction energies are relatively insensitive to moderate variations in the directionality of interaction between a C−H bond and the metal center, indicating stereoelectronic promiscuity of fully filled set ofd‐orbitals. A combination of experimental and computational data demonstrates that metal encapsulation inside the cyclodextrin cavity forces the C−H bond to point toward the metal, and reveals a still attractive “contra‐electrostatic” H‐bonding interaction.

    

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