Bi- and tridentate coordination behaviour of a novel bis(phosphinimino)methanide ligand

Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel ferrocenyl-functionalized bis(phosphinimino)methane ligand (CH2(PPh(2)NFc)(2)). Deprotonation of CH2(PPh(2)NFc)(2) with KN(SiMe3)(2) gave the dimeric species [K{CH(PPh(2)NFc)(2)}](2), which was further reacted with ECl2 (E=Ge, Sn) to yield the tetrylene compounds [{CH(PPh(2)NFc)(2)}ECl]. The ligand and the resulting tetrylenes were examined for their electrochemical properties with the aid of cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the reaction of the tetrylenes [{CH(PPh(2)NFc)(2)}ECl] with [AuC6F5(tht)] resulted in the bimetallic complexes [{(AuC6F5)CH(PPh(2)NFc)(2)}ECl] with an unusual Au coordination on the ligand backbone.