A Ditopic Phosphane-decorated Benzenedithiol as Scaffold for Di- and Trinuclear Complexes of Group-10 Metals and Gold

The ability of 3-(diphenylphosphinomethyl)-benzene-1,2-dithiol (pbdtH(2)) to act as ditopic ligand was probed in reactions with selected group-10-metal complexes. Reactions with [(cod)PdCl2] afforded a mixture of products identified as [Pd(pbdtH)(2)], [Pd-2(mu(2)-pbdt)(2)] and [Pd-3(mu(2)-pbdt)(2)Cl-2]. The polynuclear complexes could be isolated after suitably adjusting the reaction conditions, and heating of a mixture in a microwave reactor effected partial conversion into a further complex [Pd-3(mu(2)-pbdt)(3)]. Reaction of pbdtH(2) with [Ni(H2O)(6)Cl-2] gave rise to a complex [Ni-2(mu(2)-pbdt)(2)], which was shown to undergo two reversible 1e(-)-reduction steps. Reaction of [Pd(pbdtH)(2)] with [Au(PPh3)Cl] afforded heterotrinuclear [PdAu2(mu(2)-pbdt)(2)(PPh3)]. All complexes were characterized by analytical, spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Their molecular structures confirm the ability of the pbdt(2-) unit to support simultaneous P,S- and S,S-chelating coordination to two metal centers.Peer reviewe