Synthesis and molecular structures of copper(I) 1-azaallyls

Abstract

The reaction of the lithium 1-azaallyl [Li{µ-NRCBu^tC(H)R}]₂ 1 with CuI gave the stable dimeric copper 1-azaallyl [{Cu[µ-NRCBu^tC(H)R]}₂] 2, which upon treatment with PPh₃ or a second equivalent of 1 gave the monomeric complex [Cu{NRCBu^tC(H)R}(PPh₃)] 3 or [Li(dme)₃][Cu{NRCBu^tC(H)R}₂] 4, respectively (R = SiMe₃, dme = 1,2-dimethoxyethane). Each of the compounds 2–4 was fully characterised by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, microanalysis and X-ray diffraction.