Issue 26, 2020

Heteroleptic actinocenes: a thorium(iv)–cyclobutadienyl–cyclooctatetraenyl–di-potassium-cyclooctatetraenyl complex

Abstract

Despite the vast array of ηn-carbocyclic C5–8 complexes reported for actinides, cyclobutadienyl (C4) remain exceedingly rare, being restricted to six uranium examples. Here, overcoming the inherent challenges of installing highly reducing C4-ligands onto actinides when using polar starting materials such as halides, we report that reaction of [Th(η8-C8H8)2] with [K2{C4(SiMe3)4}] gives [{Th(η4-C4[SiMe3]4)(μ-η8-C8H8)(μ-η2-C8H8)(K[C6H5Me]2)}2{K(C6H5Me)}{K}] (1), a new type of heteroleptic actinocene. Quantum chemical calculations suggest that the thorium ion engages in π- and δ-bonding to the η4-cyclobutadienyl and η8-cyclooctatetraenyl ligands, respectively. Furthermore, the coordination sphere of this bent thorocene analogue is supplemented by an η2-cyclooctatetraenyl interaction, which calculations suggest is composed of σ- and π-symmetry donations from in-plane in- and out-of-phase C[double bond, length as m-dash]C 2p-orbital combinations to vacant thorium 6d orbitals. The characterisation data are consistent with this being a metal–alkene-type interaction that is integral to the bent structure and stability of this complex.

Graphical abstract: Heteroleptic actinocenes: a thorium(iv)–cyclobutadienyl–cyclooctatetraenyl–di-potassium-cyclooctatetraenyl complex

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
01 may 2020
Accepted
10 iyn 2020
First published
10 iyn 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2020,11, 6789-6794

Heteroleptic actinocenes: a thorium(IV)–cyclobutadienyl–cyclooctatetraenyl–di-potassium-cyclooctatetraenyl complex

J. T. Boronski, A. J. Wooles and S. T. Liddle, Chem. Sci., 2020, 11, 6789 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC02479A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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