Synthesis, Characterization, and Reactivity of Novel Bis(phosphinoamide) Zr/Co Heterobimetallic Complexes Bearing N-isopropyl Phosphinoamide Ligands

Book excerpt: In light of growing environmental and economic concerns, there is a motivated effort to mimic the two-electron reactivity of precious transition metal complexes using more abundant, affordable, and non-toxic first row transition metals. The main challenge in this effort is that more sustainable first row transition metals do not readily undergo two-electron redox processes, which comprise many industrially relevant catalytic mechanisms, instead preferring to participate in one-electron reactions. One of several ways the Thomas group has approached this challenge is by tethering a Lewis acidic early metal to an electron-rich late metal via a bifunctional phosphinoamide ligand framework, allowing access to highly reduced late metal centers that have been shown to more favorably undergo two-electron redox processes. This thesis explores how the electron-donating properties of the phosphinoamide ligand impact the structure and reactivity of a novel series of bis(phosphinoamide) Zr/Co complexes. This series employs a more electron-donating iPrNPiPr2- ligand, as opposed to the XylNPiPr2- ligand previously featured in the group’s bis(phosphinoamide) Zr/Co systems. The relative electron density at the cobalt center is qualified using multiple spectroscopic and computational methods, and structural comparisons are made between analogous Zr/Co complexes bearing different ligands. These data are used to determine how increasing the electron-donating ability of the bis(phosphinoamide) framework impacts the thermodynamics of bond activation and the overall structure-reactivity relationship of Zr/Co complexes.