New pentafluorophenyl complexes with phosphine-amide ligands

A series of nickel(II) and palladium(II) complexes containing one or two pentafluorophenyl ligands and the phosphino-amides o-Ph2PC6H4CONHR [R = iPr (a), Ph (b)] displaying different coordination modes have been synthesised. The chelating ability of these ligands and the influence of both coligands and the metal centre in their potential hemilabile behaviour have been explored. The crystal structure of (b) has been determined and reveals N–H⋯O intermolecular hydrogen bonding. Bis-pentafluorophenyl derivatives [M(C6F5)2(o-Ph2PC6H4CO-NHR)] [M = Ni; R = iPr (1a); R = Ph (1b); M = Pd; R = iPr (2a); R = Ph (2b)] in which (a) and (b) act as rigid P, O-chelating ligands were readily prepared from the labile precursors cis-[M(C6F5)2(PhCN)2]. X-ray structures of (1a), (1b) and (2a) have been established, allowing an interesting comparative structural discussion. Dinuclear [{Pd(C6F5)(tht)(μ-Cl)}2] reacted with (a) and (b) yielding the monopentafluorophenyl complexes [Pd(C6F5)Cl{PPh2(C6H4–CONH–R)}] (R = iPr (3a), Ph (3b)) that showed a P, O-chelating behaviour of the ligands, confirmed by the crystal structure determination of (3a). New cationic palladium(II) complexes in which (a) and (b) behave as P-monodentate ligands have been synthesised by reacting them with [{Pd(C6F5)(tht)(μ-Cl)}2], stoichiometric Ag(O3SCF3) and external chelating reagents such as cod [Pd(C6F5)(cod){PPh2(C6H4-CONH-R)}](O3SCF3)(R = iPr (4a), Ph (4b)) and 2,2′-bipy [Pd(C6F5)(bipy){PPh2(C6H4-CONH-R)}](O3SCF3) (R = iPr (5a), Ph (5b)). When chloride abstraction in [{Pd(C6F5)(tht)(μ-Cl)}2] is promoted by means of a dithioanionic salt as dimethyl dithiophospate in the presence of (a) or (b), the corresponding neutral complexes [Pd(C6F5){S(S)P(OMe)2}{PPh2(C6H4-CONH-R)}] (R = iPr (6a), Ph (6b)) were obtained.