Paddlewheel 1,2,4-diazaphospholide distibines with the shortest antimony–antimony single bonds†
Abstract
One-electron reduction of SbCl3 with the non-innocent 1,2,4-diazaphospholide anion [3,5-R2dp]− produced straightforwardly three unprecedented paddlewheel distibines [L2(Sb–Sb)L2] (L = η1,η1-3,5-R2dp, R = tBu (4), iPr (5α, 5β), or Cy (6)) with very short Sb–Sb bond lengths (2.6691(8)–2.7451(8) Å). The novel structures were rationalized by DFT calculations.