PENTAFLUOROPHENYL COMPOUNDS OF RHODIUM(III) WITH BIDENTATE PHOSPHORUS OR NITROGEN LIGANDS

Treatment of [P(CH2Ph)Ph3]2[{Rh(mu-Cl)(C6F5)3}2] with tertiary diphosphine ligands gives anionic compounds of the type [P(CH2Ph)Ph3][RhCl(C6F5)3L2] (L2=(bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (I), bis(diphenylphosphino)amine (II) and bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (III)) and neutral compounds of stoichiometry [Rh(C6F5)3L2] (IV-VI); dichloromethane solutions of IV-VI react with carbon monoxide or tert-butyl isocyanide yielding complexes of the type [Rh(C6F5)3L'2 (L'=CO or (t)BuCN) (VII-X)). In a similar way, addition of nitrogen ligands to solutions of [P(CH2Ph)Ph3]2[{Rh(mu-Cl)(C6F5)3}2] or [Rh(C6F5)3(OEt2)x] gives dinuclear complexes [{Rh(C6F5)3}2L2] (L2 = 2,2'-bipyrimidine (XIII), L = 4,4'-bipyridine (XIV)) and mononuclear complexes [Rh(C6F5)3L2] (L2 = 1,10-phenanthroline (XV) or 2,2'-biimidazole (XVI)).