Five-coordinated bis-dioxolene cobalt complexes with triphenylphosphine

Three novel five-coordinated bisdioxolene cobalt complexes with triphenylphosphine were synthesized. Complexes differ by dioxolene ligands: 3,6-di-tert-butylcyclohexa-3,5-diene-1,2-dione (complex 1), 5,8-di-tert-butyl-2,3-dihydro-1,4-ethanoquinoxaline-6,7-dione (complex 2), 3,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methoxycyclohexa-3,5-diene-1,2-dione (complex 3). The geometry of the inner coordination core of all compounds is close to square pyramidal. The base of the pyramid is formed by oxygen atoms of the dioxolene ligands whereas phosphine occupies the apical position. The planes of dioxolenes are slightly bent relative to each other. The magnetic moment values at low temperatures correspond to one unpaired electron per molecule for all complexes. In the complex containing a methoxy group in the dioxolene ligand (3), an increase in the magnetic moment is observed upon heating above 250 K, which indicates the appearance of a fraction of molecules with a higher spin multiplicity. A slight elongation of the Co-O, Co-P distances and shortening of the C-O bonds is observed at 353 K. DFT calculations using the TPSSh functional correctly reproduce geometries of the complexes as well as their electronic absorption and vibrational spectra. DFT predicts the doublet-state complexes to possess the lowest enthalpies. Gibbs free energy of sextet complex 3 in solution is lower than that of its doublet state. This agrees well with the experimental electronic absorption spectra. On the basis of TD DFT calculations, a strong NIR absorption band in the spectra of low-spin 1 and 2 is assigned to the transition involving charge transfer from cobalt to the dioxolene and PPh3 ligands (MLCT). The doublet molecules can be described by the (up arrow SQ-)(Co3+)(Cat2-) <-> (Cat2-)(Co3+) (up arrow SQ-) resonance structures. The sextet state in all three systems represents the (up arrow SQ-)(up arrow up arrow up arrow Co2+)(PPh3)(up arrow SQ-) bis-semiquinonate complex of high-spin Co(II). On the basis of the conventional description the doublet -> sextet transition in complexes can be interpreted as a VT/SCO transformation. The electron density analysis of the doublet -> sextet transition in the 1 and 3 molecules reveals areas of both increase and decrease in the charge density near the Co and O atoms.