N,N-dialkylcarbamato metal complexes, molecular inorganic precursors to functionalized inorganic matrices

ABSTRACT The relatively new class of the N,N-dialkylcarbamato metal complexes, of general formula [M(O2CNR2)n]m, n and m being the oxidation number of the central metal atom M and the nuclearity of the system, is reviewed with particular attention to compounds of Main Group elements (particularly tin, silicon and aluminium), and of transition d- and f-metals. Synthetic procedures and structural properties of the homoleptic compounds (i.e., compounds in which the set of anionic ligands is constituted by the monoanionic O2CNR2(-) ligand exclusively) are reported, also in relation to the results obtained by other research groups in this area. The reactivity of these systems is reported in connection with: (a) homoleptic derivatives; (b) non-homoleptic N,N-dialkylcarbamato complexes; (c) controlled hydrolysis of the homoleptic precursors to -oxo derivatives; (d) N,N-dialkylcarbamato complexes as reactive species towards surface hydroxyl groups, whereby Si-O-M linkages can be formed; (e)..