Synthesis, Characterization, and Reactivity of Transition Metal Complexes Stabilized by Naphthalene and Naphthyl-substituted N-heterocyclic Carbenes

This thesis reports on the synthesis and characterization of transition metal complexes with naphthalene, 1,5-cyclooctadiene, and naphthyl-substituted N-heterocyclic carbene ligands. The first part (chapter 3) deals with the preparation of low-valent ruthenium complexes stabilized by naphthalene and 1,5-cyclooctadiene. The structure and reactivity of these compounds is discussed, and the symmetric diruthenium complex 2 is analyzed in depth in terms of its electronic structure and redox properties. The second part of the thesis (chapters 4-6) is concerned with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands featuring naphthyl substituents, which were employed with the aim of generating hemilabile chelate complexes. Chapter 4 discusses the preparation of NHC precursor materials and NHCsilver complexes which were subsequently used as carbene transfer agents. Chapter 5 reports on the preparation and characterization of NHC complexes of gold, rhodium, and ruthenium complexes as well as catalytic experiments using rhodium and ruthenium complexes as catalysts. Chapter 6 deals with NHC complexes of iron and cobalt, prepared from strongly basic starting materials, and their structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterization. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of the cobalt complexes and catalytic reactions with the iron complexes are discussed, as are chemical reduction experiments