Syntheses, Characterizations, Crystal Structures, and Protonation Reactions of Dinitrogen Chromium Complexes Supported with Triamidoamine Ligands

A novel dinitrogen-dichromium complex, [{Cr(LBn)}2(mu-N-2)] (1), has been prepared from reaction of CrC(l)3 with a lithiated triamidoamine ligand (Li3LBn) under dinitrogen. The X-ray crystal structure analysis of 1 revealed that it is composed of two independent dimeric Cr complexes bridged by N-2 in the unit cell. The bridged N-N bond lengths (1.188(4) and 1.185(7) angstrom) were longer than the free dinitrogen molecule. The elongations of N-N bonds in 1 were also supported by the fact that the nu(N-N) stretching vibration at 1772 cm(-1) observed in toluene is smaller than the free N-2. Complex 1 was identified to be a 5-coordinated high spin Cr(IV) complex by Cr K-edge XANES measurement. The 1H NMR spectrum and temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility of 1 indicated that complex 1 is in the S = 1 ground state, in which two Cr(IV) ions and unpaired electron spins of the bridging N-22(-) ligand are strongly antiferromagnetically coupled. Reaction of complex 1 with 2.3 equiv of Na or K gave chromium complexes with N-2 between the Cr ion and the respective alkali metal ion, [{CrNa(LBn)(N-2)(Et2O)}(2)] (2) and [{CrK(LBn)(N-2)}4(Et2O)(2)] (3), respectively. Furthermore, the complexes 2 and 3 reacted with 15-crown-5 and 18-crown-6 to form the respective crown-ether adducts, [CrNa(LBn)(N-2)(15-crown-5)] (4) and [CrK(LBn)(N-2)(18-crown-6)] (5). The XANES measurements of complexes 2, 3, 4, and 5 revealed that they are high spin Cr(IV) complexes like complex 1. All complexes reacted with a reducing agent and a proton source to form NH3 and/or N2H4. The yields of these products in the presence of K+ were higher than those in the presence of Na+. The electronic structures and binding properties of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were evaluated and discussed based on their DFT calculations.