Rhodium complexes crystal structure

A mechanistic study by Haynes et al. demonstrated that the same basic reaction cycle operates for rhodium-catalysed methanol carbonylation in both homogeneous and supported systems [59]. The catalytically active complex [Rh(CO)2l2] was supported on an ion exchange resin based on poly(4-vinylpyridine-co-styrene-co-divinylbenzene) in which the pendant pyridyl groups had been quaternised by reaction with Mel. Heterogenisation of the Rh(I) complex was achieved by reaction of the quaternised polymer with the dimer, [Rh(CO)2l]2 (Scheme 11). Infrared spectroscopy revealed i (CO) bands for the supported [Rh(CO)2l2] anions at frequencies very similar to those observed in solution spectra. The structure of the supported complex was confirmed by EXAFS measurements, which revealed a square planar geometry comparable to that found in solution and the solid state. The first X-ray crystal structures of salts of [Rh(CO)2l2]" were also reported in this study. 

Rhodium(II) forms a dimeric complex with a lantern structure composed of four bridging hgands and two axial binding sites. Traditionally rhodium catalysts faU into three main categories the carboxylates, the perfluorinated carboxylates, and the carboxamides. Of these, the two main bridging frameworks are the carboxylate 10 and carboxamide 11 structures. Despite the similarity in the bridging moiety, the reactivity of the perfluorinated carboxylates is demonstrably different from that of the alkyl or even aryl carboxylates. Sohd-phase crystal structures usually have the axial positions of the catalyst occupied by an electron donor, such as an alcohol, ether, amine, or sulfoxide. By far the most widely used rhodium] 11) catalyst is rhodium(II) acetate [Rh2(OAc)4], but almost every variety of rhodium] 11) catalyst is commercially available. 

Various X-ray crystal structures of metal-ligand complexes provided evidence of the geometry of the complexes in the solid state, even though the structure of these complexes may differ in solution. The hrst crystal structure of a bis(oxazoline)-metal complex was determined in 1994 by Brown and co-workers. " This group crystallized and elucidated the structure of V,V-bis-[2-((45)-(methyl)-l,3-oxazoli-nyl)]methane-bi(ri ethene)rhodium(I), 18a, as depicted in Figure 9.3. The key features of this crystal structure include the C2-axis of symmetry, the axial positions of the methyl groups and the orientation of the ethene molecules, orthogonal to the complexation square plane. In 1995, Woodward and co-workers were able to crystallize and determine the structure of benzylbis(oxazoline) with ruthenium... 

At this point mechanistic studies have reached an impasse. All of the observable intermediates have been characterized in solution, and enamide complexes derived from diphos and chiraphos have been defined by X-ray structure analysis. Based on limited NMR and X-ray evidence it appears that the preferred configuration of an enamide complex has the olefin face bonded to rhodium that is opposite to the one to which hydrogen is transferred. There are now four crystal structures of chiral biphosphine rhodium diolefin complexes, and consideration of these leads to a prediction of the direction of hydrogenation. The crux of the argument is that nonbonded interactions between pairs of prochiral phenyl rings and the substrate determine the optical yield and that X-ray structures reveal a systematic relationship between P-phenyl orientation and product configuration. 

B. Cetinkaya, M. F. Lappert, G. M. McLaughlin, and K. Turner, Chloromethylene-ammonium Chlorides. Electron-Rich Carbenoids as Precursors to Secondary Carbene Metal Complexes Crystal and Molecular Structure of Trichloro(dimethylamino-methylene)bis(triethylphosphine)rhodium(III), J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Tram. 1974, 1591-1599. 

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