Synthetic, structural, NMR, and computational study of a geminally bis(peri-substituted) tridentate phosphine and its chalcogenides and transition-metal complexes.

Coupling of two acenaphthene backbones through a phosphorus atom in a geminal fashion gives the first geminally bis(peri-substituted) tridentate phosphine 1. The rigid nature of the aromatic backbone and overall crowding of the molecule result in a rather inflexible ligand, with the three phosphorus atoms forming a relatively compact triangular cluster. Phosphine 1 displays restricted dynamics on an NMR time scale, which leads to the anisochronicity of all three phosphorus nuclei at low temperatures. Strained bis- and tris(sulfides) 2 and 3 and the bis(selenide) 4 have been isolated from the reaction of 1 with sulfur and selenium, respectively. These chalcogeno derivatives display pronounced in-plane and out-of-plane distortions of the aromatic backbones, indicating the limits of their angular distortions. In addition, we report metal complexes with tetrahedral [(1)Cu(MeCN)][BF4] (5), square planar [(1)PtCl][Cl] (6), trigonal bipyramidal [(1)FeCl2] (7), and octahedral fac-[(1)Mo(CO)3] (8) geometries. In all of these complexes the tris(phosphine) backbone is distorted, however to a significantly smaller extent than that in the mentioned chalcogenides 2-4. Complexes 5 and 8 show fluxionality in (31)P and (1)H NMR. All new compounds 1-8 were fully characterized, and their crystal structures are reported. Conclusions from dynamic NMR observations were augmented by DFT calculations.