Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1993 Azatranes and atranes of the group 13 elements Jiri Pinkas Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Inorganic Chemistry Commons Recommended Citation Pinkas, Jiri, "Azatranes and atranes of the group 13 elements " (1993). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 10852. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/10852 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. U'M'I MICROFILMED 1994 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 Nortti Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, fvtl 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number Azatranes and atranes of the group 13 elements Pinkas, Jiri, Ph.D. Iowa State University, 1993 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Azatranes and atranes of the group 13 elements by Jiri Pinkas A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Chemistry Major: Inorganic Chemistry Approved: Signature was redacted for privacy. Clfi Char^ of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. For the ^ Vlajor Department Signature was redacted for privacy. For tne Graduate College Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1993 ii DEDICATION To my wife, mother, and sister for their love and to the memory of my father iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 PAPER I. GROUP 13 AZATRANES: SYNTHETIC, CONFORMATIONAL, AND CONFIGURAÏIONAL FEATURES 4 ABSTRACT 5 INTRODUCTION 6 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 8 DISCUSSION 13 CONCLUSIONS 33 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 34 REFERENCES 35 PAPER n. AZAALUMATRANES EXHIBITING UNUSUAL COODINATION MODES OF THE CENTRAL ALUMINUM 39 ABSTRACT 40 INTRODUCTION 41 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 43 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 54 CONCLUSIONS 78 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 79 REFERENCES 80 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 86 iv PAPER III. GROUP 13 AZATRANES: STRUCTURE AND REACTIVITY 102 ABSTRACT 103 INTRODUCTION 104 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 107 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 118 CONCLUSIONS 148 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 149 REFERENCES 150 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL 155 PAPER IV. ALUMATRANE,A1(0CH2CH2)3N: A REINVESTIGATION OF ITS OLIGOMERIC BEHAVIOR 171 ABSTRACT 172 INTRODUCTION 173 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION 176 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 180 CONCLUSIONS 196 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 197 REFERENCES 198 GENERAL SUMMARY 201 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 204 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION This dissertation consists of six sections. The first section is a general introduction containing a statement of the project and an outline of the goals of the research described herein. Each of the subsequent four sections represents research as it was published or submitted for journal publication. Literature citations, tables, figures, and supplementary materials pertain only to the section in which they are included. The final section is a general summary of the results achieved. All contributions to the work presented herein are acknowledged at the end of each paper. The chemistry of azatranes of group 14 and 15 elements and several transition metals has been explored in detail by our group and others. Azatranes feature a variety of interesting physical and chemical properties. A few of the important such properties are volatility, an unusual basicity in the case of P(RNCH2CH2)3N, flexibility of the transannular bond with a possibility of tuning the interbridgehead distance by varying the steric and electronic properties of the axial and equatorial substituents, and a remarkable metathetical reactivity of R-Sn(MeNCH2CH2)3N. In contrast to azatranes of groups 14 and 15, no analogues of group 13 had been known in the literature before our experiments started. These molecules appeared to be a viable target for synthesis owing to their expected volatility and the fact that the central atom is surrounded exclusively by nitrogens. This makes them interesting potential precursors for the preparation of nitrides of the group 13 elements by organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) techniques. 2 We have carried out syntheses and the characterization by spectroscopic and structural methods of a series of new derivatives [M(RNCH2CH2)3N]n (M = B, Al, Ga; R = H, Me, SiMeg, SiMeg-^er^-Bu; n = 1, 2). These azatranes were found to be monomeric or dimeric depending on the size of the substituents R and the nature of the central atom M. The structural determination of Al(Me3SiNCH2CH2)3N was undertaken to establish the coordination environment around the central aluminum atom for which a rare trigonal monopyramidal (TMP) geometry was revealed. Only a handful of TMP- coordinated transition metals and one main-group element (Ga) derivative were previously structurally characterized. Three azatrane derivatives of Al and Ga were shown by NMR techniques to be dimeric in solution. The question whether these molecules possess a cis or trans configuration of the substituents on the central four-membered ring was answered by single- crystal X-ray diffraction studies which demonstrated the presence of curious cis isomers in the solid state. These compounds also constitute the first examples of group 13 elements pentacoordinated solely by nitrogens. 27Al NMR chemical shifts are well-known to be characteristic for a particular coordination number of aluminum in the oxo and alkyl series. For aluminum compounds coordinated by nitrogen ligands only, values for octahedral and tetrahedral geometries were known. We have extended the AlNx series by establishing values of chemical shifts featuring an upfield trend firom trigonal planar to trigonal monopyramidal (TMP) to trigonal bipyramidal (TBP) geometries. The attempts made in the past to prepare several transition metal azatranes by transamination reactions failed. We have found that both 3 azaalumatranes and the azaboratrane B(MeNCH2CH2)3N can undergo a complex multistep transmetallation reactions with transition metal or main- group alkoxides or Ga(acac)3_ thus affording transition metal or main-group azatranes, respectively. The three-fold molecular symmetry of monomeric azatranes implies the presence of a pair of enantiomers. We have found in the case of B(Me3SiNCH2CH2)3N that their interconversion proceeds via a concerted mechanism. This contrasts with a step-wise mechanism reported previously for silatranes. A reinvestigation of the oligomeric properties of alumatrane, A1(0CH2CH2)3N, was undertaken to clarify its degree of association in solution, which was reported in the literature in a rather broad range from monomeric to octameric. Our NMR studies unambiguously showed the presence of a tetramer in solution and moreover variable temperature 13c NMR spectroscopy revealed a complex dynamic process including racemization and rotation of the alumatrane units in the tetramer. 4 PAPER 1. GROUP 13 AZATRANES: SYNTHETIC, CONFORMATIONAL, AND CONFIGURATIONAL FEATURES Reprinted with permission from J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993,115, 3925 - 3931. Copyright © 1993 American Chemical Society. 5 ABSTRACT I 1 The monomelic azatranes E(RNCH^H2)3N 7 (E = B, R = Me), 8 (E = B, R = SiMes), and 9 (E = Al, R = SiMeg) can be synthesized from E(NMe2)3 and (HRNCH2CH2)3N in low yields (6-37%). The azatrane 10 (E = Al, R = Me), formed in 64% yield by the analogous reaction, is a stable dimer featuring a I 1 four-membered MeNAlNMeAl ring in which the aluminum is five-coordinate as shown by ^H, and 27a1 NMR spectroscopic techniques (including two- dimensional ones). Compound 7 can be made in 30% yield by reacting 10 with B(0Me)3. Compound 8, in contrast to 7 and 9, exists as rigid enantiomers that interconvert slowly at room temperature on the NMR time scale owing to steric repulsion of the SiMes groups. VT and l^B NMR studies provide evidence for a concerted (rather than a stepwise) racemization mechanism (AH*, 61 + 5 kJ-mol"l; AS*, -36 ± 13 J-mol'l K-1) involving a symmetric (Cgy) transition state that retains