A Sacrificial Iminato Ligand in the Catalytic Cyanosilylation of Ketones Promoted by Organoactinide Complexes.

Four new complexes containing the bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)thorium(IV) moiety, Cp*2Th(L1)(Me) (Th2), Cp*2Th(L2)(Me) (Th3), Cp*2Th(L1)Cl (Th5), and Cp*2Th(L2)Cl (Th6), were synthesized in quantitative yields via the protonolysis reaction of the metallocene precursor complexes Cp*2Th(Me)2 (Th1) and Cp*2Th(Me)Cl (Th4) and the respective six- and seven-membered N-heterocyclic neutral imine ligands L1H and L2H. The molecular structures of all the complexes were established by single-crystal X-ray structure analyses. The synthesized complexes along with the precursor complexes were employed as catalysts for the cyanosilylation reaction of ketones with trimethylsilyl cyanide (Me3SiCN). The removal of the iminato ligand is necessary to trigger the reaction, allowing the formation of the active catalyst.