Tricoordinated Compounds

In this section we will review mainly the theoretical studies of tricoordinated MR3 cations, anions and radicals of group 14 elements. Relevant experimental data will be mentioned briefly to supplement and complete the theoretical discussion. 

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The triply connected phosphoms compounds have a lone electron pair that dominates much of the chemistry for these compounds. Triply connected compounds typically exhibit pyramidal symmetry arising fromp hybridization. A considerable amount of sp character may be present as well. Bond angles range near 100° vs 90° theoretical. Tricoordinate compounds typically act as electron donors, forming metal coordination compounds and addition compounds such as H P BF [41593-56-0]. 

No kinetic studies have been made on platinum carbonyl compounds however, the carbonylation reaction of the tetrasubstituted phosphine derivatives of platinum (0) is slow enough for the tricoordinated compounds to isolate. The following steps have been proposed (38). 

One of the most useful reactions in forming a P—C bond is the Michaehs-Arbusov reaction, which is a characteristic reaction of tricoordinate phosphoms compounds containing an alkoxy group (22). Alkylation of the electron pair is followed by rearrangement of the initial phosphonium salt. 

In this compound, synthesized in the low temperature reaction between diborane and excess ammonia, the cationic boron is coordinatively saturated in a tetrahedral environment. More recendy, cations having boron in tricoordinate or dicoordinate environments have been observed. These cationic species, called borenium and borinum ions, respectively, have been reviewed (19,20). 

Tricoordinate sulfur compounds are chiral when sulfur bears three different substituents. The rate of pyranidal inversion at sulfur is rather slow. The most common compounds in which sulfur is a chuality center are sulfoxides such as ... 

Section 7.16 Atoms other than carbon can be chirality centers. Examples include those based on tetracoordinate silicon and tricoordinate sulfur as the chirality center. In principle, tricoordinate nitrogen can be a chirality center in compounds of the type N(x, y, z), where x, y, and z are different, but inversion of the nitrogen pyramid is so fast that racernization occurs vit -tually instantly at room temperature. 

Previously, the same author [52] reported that compounds containing the tricoordinated sulfur cation, such as the triphenylsulfonium salt, worked as effective initiators in the free radical polymerization of MMA and styrene [52]. Because of the structural similarity of sulfonium salt and ylide, diphenyloxosulfonium bis-(me-thoxycarbonyl) methylide (POSY) (Scheme 28), which contains a tetracoordinated sulfur cation, was used as a photoinitiator by Kondo et al. [63] for the polymerization of MMA and styrene. The photopolymerization was carried out with a high-pressure mercury lamp the orders of reaction with respect to [POSY] and [MMA] were 0.5 and 1.0, respectively, as expected for radical polymerization. 

Although carbanionic and enolate species are most often sulfinylated using sulfinate esters, particularly homochiral ester 19, other tricoordinate S(IV) compounds may be used in their place. Sulfinamides (66) and cyclic sulfite ester-amides (67) are two examples of such compounds. 

Sulfoxides (R1—SO—R2), which are tricoordinate sulfur compounds, are chiral when R1 and R2 are different, and a-sulfmyl carbanions derived from optically active sulfoxides are known to retain the chirality. Therefore, these chiral carbanions usually give products which are rich in one diastereomer upon treatment with some prochiral reagents. Thus, optically active sulfoxides have been used as versatile reagents for asymmetric syntheses of many naturally occurring products116, since optically active a-sulfinyl carbanions can cause asymmetric induction in the C—C bond formation due to their close vicinity. In the following four subsections various reactions of a-sulfinyl carbanions are described (A) alkylation and acylation, (B) addition to unsaturated bonds such as C=0, C=N or C= N, (C) nucleophilic addition to a, /5-unsaturated sulfoxides, and (D) reactions of allylic sulfoxides. 

Phosphine-borane 63a (75% ee) was obtained by reduction of compound (Sp)-62a using LDBB at -60°C and nucleophilic substitution with iodomethane in 72 % yield. The observed loss of optical purity may be ascribed to stereomutation of the generated tricoordinated phosphorus species. Recrystallization afforded (S)-63a in > 99% ee. On the other hand, severe racemization was observed using the same method with (Rp)-62b. An alternative strategy consisted of deborana-tion of (Rp)-62b using ZSl-methylpyrrolidine, methylation with methyl triflate. 

The "unfolded-drum" or "ladder" compound 2 has crystallographic symmetry. This corresponds to the idealized molecular symmetry and, therefore, there are three chemically inequivalent types of Sn atoms in the molecule, although all are hexacoordinated. The oxygen atoms in the open form can be subdivided into two types, as in the case of the drum molecule tricoordinate framework oxygen atoms and the dicoordinate oxygen atoms of the bridging carboxylate ligands. 

Silver(I) complexes are known with the tris(pyrazolyl)borate [HB(pz)3] and the methyl, phenyl, bromo, or trifluoromethyl-substituted derivatives. The structure of the silver tri(pyrazolyl)borato species has been a puzzle since it was first reported.385,386 It was suggested that the structure could be oligomeric, but recently the crystal structure of the compound [Ag HB(3,5-Me2pz)3 ]2 shows that it has a dimeric structure387 where the silver(I) centers are tricoordinated by a bidentate arm of one ligand and a monodentate arm of the other ligand (29). The related complexes [Ag HB(4-Brpz)3 ]2, [Ag HB(4-Mepz)3 ]2, [Ag HB(3,5-Me2pz)3 ]2, [Ag HB(3-Mepz)3 ] , [Ag B(pz)4 ], and... 

Tricoordinate phosphorus is essentially nonplanar in nature and due to the significant s character of the lone pair in a compound such as phosphole, effective overlap with the carbon p orbitals is inhibited and the compound is nonaromatic. Geometry optimizations and aromaticity analyses performed by Glukhovtsev et al. <1996JPC13447> have shown both pentaphosphole 1 and the bicyclic octaphosphane P8 to be both planar and aromatic in character. 

Nyulaszi et al. <1998NJC651> investigated the fused phosphindolizine ring system 2. Their ab initio quantum-chemical calculations have shown this tricoordinated phosphorus to be essentially planar and aromatic in nature. Such planar tricoordinate phosphorus compounds can be used as building blocks for aromatic systems. 

Thus, unlike a-oxyalkylphosphines and their derivatives, which undergo an oxidative rearrangement on heating, P,B-containing heterocycles are transformed into compounds with tricoordinated phosphorus and boron atoms. 

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