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Previously unobserved (carbamoyl)disulfanyl chlorides were prepared by (i) addition of limiting aromatic secondary amine to (chlorocarbonyl)disulfanyl chloride; (ii) Harris reactions of sulfur dichloride with appropriate O-alkyl N-methyl-N-arylthiocarbamates; and (iii) regiospecific chlorolysis of bis(N-methyl-N-arylcarbamoyl)disulfanes. The newly synthesized unstable species were observed in situ by 1H NMR and were trapped with alkenes, thiocarbamates, and thiols using methods precedented by the chemistry of analogous (carbamoyl)sulfenyl chlorides. Furthermore, each of the trapped products was synthesized by an alternate route, reinforcing conclusions about their structures. While (N-methyl-N-phenylcarbamoyl)disulfanyl chloride was unstable and decomposed quickly or cyclized intramolecularly, introduction of the N,2,6-trimethylphenyl moiety led to significantly improved stability. As part of this study, an interesting, unexpectedly stable 1,2,4-dithiazinone was discovered and its structure was established by X-ray crystallography. The new heterocycle, with its twisted out-of-plane disulfide bond in a six-membered ring, readily donated a sulfur atom to triphenylphosphine; this reaction resulted in the formation of triphenylphosphine sulfide, along with the corresponding highly stable heterocycle in which the single sulfur that remains is part of a planar five-membered ring, fused to a co-planar aryl moiety. 

The importance of electron deficient Tp ligands motivates the introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents into the scorpionate framework. Since perfluorophenyltris(pyrazol-1-yl)borate affects significant anodic shifts in half-cell potentials in their metal complexes relative those of phenyltris(pyrazol-1-yl)borate analogues, the tuning opportunities achieved using 3,4,5-trifluorophenyl- and 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl(pyrazol-1-yl)borates were explored. Bis(amino)boranes ((3,4,5-F)C 6 H 2 )B(NMe 2 ) 2 and ((3,5-CF 3 )C 6 H 3 )B(NMe 2 ) 2 are precursors to fluorinated tris(pyrazol-1-yl)phenylborates. Thallium salts of these scorpionates exhibit bridging asymmetric κ 3 - N , N , N coordination modes consistent with the reduced π-basicity of the fluorinated phenyl substituents relative those of other structurally characterized tris(pyrazol-1-yl)phenylborates. While a comparative analysis of the spectral and X-ray crystallographic data for classical Mo(0), Mo( ii ), Mn( i ), Fe( ii ) and Cu( ii ) complexes of [((3,4,5-F)C 6 H 2 )Bpz 3 ] − and [((3,5-CF 3 )C 6 H 3 )Bpz 3 ] − could not differentiate these ligands with respect to their metal-based electronic impacts, cyclic voltammetry suggests that 3,4,5-trifluorophenyl- and 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl(pyrazol-1-yl)borates affect similar anodic shifts within their metal complexes, with coordination of [((3,5-CF 3 )C 6 H 3 )Bpz 3 ] − rendering metal centers more difficult to oxidize, and sometimes even more difficult to oxidize than their [C 6 F 5 Bpz 3 ] − analogues. These data suggest that the extent of phenyl substituent fluorination necessary to minimize metal center electron-richness in phenyltris(pyrazol-1-yl)borate complexes cannot be confidently predicted. 

Odd-electron bonds have unique electronic structures and are often encountered as transiently stable, homonuclear species. In this study, a pair of copper complexes supported by Group 13 metalloligands, M[N(( o -C 6 H 4 )NCH 2 P i Pr 2 ) 3 ] (M = Al or Ga), featuring two-center/one-electron (2c/1e) σ-bonds were synthesized by one-electron reduction of the corresponding Cu( i ) ⇢ M(III) counterparts. The copper bimetallic complexes were investigated by X-ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, electron paramagnetic spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. The combined experimental and theoretical data corroborate that the unpaired spin is delocalized across Cu, M, and ancillary atoms, and the singly occupied molecular orbital (SOMO) corresponds to a σ-(Cu–M) bond involving the Cu 4p z and M n s/ n p z atomic orbitals. Collectively, the data suggest the covalent nature of these interactions, which represent the first examples of odd-electron σ-bonds for the heavier Group 13 elements Al and Ga. 

Understanding H 2 binding and activation is important in the context of designing transition metal catalysts for many processes, including hydrogenation and the interconversion of H 2 with protons and electrons. This work reports the first thermodynamic and kinetic H 2 binding studies for an isostructural series of first-row metal complexes: NiML, where M = Al ( 1 ), Ga ( 2 ), and In ( 3 ), and L = [N( o -(NCH 2 P i Pr 2 )C 6 H 4 ) 3 ] 3− . Thermodynamic free energies (Δ G °) and free energies of activation (Δ G ‡ ) for binding equilibria were obtained via variable-temperature 31 P NMR studies and lineshape analysis. The supporting metal exerts a large influence on the thermodynamic favorability of both H 2 and N 2 binding to Ni, with Δ G ° values for H 2 binding found to span nearly the entire range of previous reports. The non-classical H 2 adduct, (η 2 -H 2 )NiInL ( 3 -H 2 ), was structurally characterized by single-crystal neutron diffraction—the first such study for a Ni(η 2 -H 2 ) complex or any d 10 M(η 2 -H 2 ) complex. UV-Vis studies and TD-DFT calculations identified specific electronic structure perturbations of the supporting metal which poise NiML complexes for small-molecule binding. ETS-NOCV calculations indicate that H 2 binding primarily occurs via H–H σ-donation to the Ni 4p z -based LUMO, which is proposed to become energetically accessible as the Ni(0)→M( iii ) dative interaction increases for the larger M( iii ) ions. Linear free-energy relationships are discussed, with the activation barrier for H 2 binding (Δ G ‡ ) found to decrease proportionally for more thermodynamically favorable equilibria. The Δ G ° values for H 2 and N 2 binding to NiML complexes were also found to be more exergonic for the larger M( iii ) ions.