Titanium complexes dinitrogen activation

Hanna TE, Lobkovsky E, Chirik PJ. Dinitrogen activation by titanium sandwich complexes. J m Chem Soc. 2004 126 14688-14689. 

Increasing the number of electrons reduces the activation of N2, because the electrons occupy the orbitals which are bonding with respect to the NN bond, and actually stabilize it. In agreement with this prediction dinitrogen is sufficiently activated to be reduced by protonation by dinuclear complexes of titanium(II), zirco-nium(Il), niobium(III), tantalum(III), molybdenum(IV), and tungsten(IV), whereas it is not reduced by protonation by certain d -d complexes, such as those of molybdenum(O), ruthenium(II), or rhodium(I). Apparently dinuclear complexes M-N=N-M in which M has the d electronic configuration can be intermediates in dinitrogen reduction in protic media, particularly if they represent part of polynuclear complexes (vide infra). 

Apart from the compounds already mentioned, vanadium, manganese, and cobalt chlorides, tetra-alkoxy derivatives of titanium, acetylacetonates of V, Cr, Mo, Mn, and Ni, Cp derivatives of Zr and Nb, and triphenyl phosphine complexes of Ti and Fe were found to be active. Later lanthanide complexes were included in the list of dinitrogen-reducing systems, the most effective being compounds of samarium and yttrium. 

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