Controlled radical polymerization of alkyl acrylates and styrene using a half-sandwich molybdenum(III) complex containing diazadiene ligands
Abstract The half-sandwich molybdenum(III) complex CpMoCl 2 ( i Pr 2 -dad) ( i Pr 2 -dad= i Pr–NCH–CHN– i Pr) proved to be an effective metal catalyst for the controlled radical polymerization of methyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and styrene. In conjunction with an alkyl iodide [R–I: CH 3 CH(COOEt)I] as an initiator and in the presence or absence of Al(O– i -Pr) 3 as a co-catalyst, the molybdenum-based system gave polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions. The in situ addition of styrene to a macroinitiator of poly(methylacrylate) afforded an AB-type block copolymer.
An Experimental and Computational Study on the Effect of Al(OiPr)3 on Atom-Transfer Radical Polymerization and on the Catalyst-Dormant Chain Halogen Exchange
International audience; Compound Al(OiPr)3 is shown to catalyze the halide-exchange process leading from [Mo(Cp)Cl2(iPrN=CH-CH=NiPr)] and CH3CH(X)COOEt (X=Br, I) to the mixed-halide complexes [Mo(Cp)ClX(iPrN=CH-CH=NiPr)]. On the other hand, no significant acceleration is observed for the related exchange between [MoX3(PMe3)3] (X=Cl, I) and PhCH(Br)CH3, by analogy to a previous report dealing with the RuII complex [RuCl2(PPh3)3]. A DFT computation study, carried out on the model complexes [Mo(Cp)Cl2(PH3)2], [MoCl3(PH3)3], and [RuCl2(PH3)3], and on the model initiators CH3CH(Cl)COOCH3, CH3Cl, and CH3Br, reveals that the 16-electron RuII complex is able to coordinate the organic halide RX in a…
Improved Preparations of Molybdenum Coordination Compounds from Tetrachlorobis(diethyl ether)molybdenum(IV)
International audience; The reduction of MoCl5 with metallic tin in diethyl ether provides a rapid and convenient entry to [MoCl4(OEt2)2] This compound can be transformed easily and in high yields into a variety of other useful synthons. The loss of ether in the solid state affords a new and reactive form of MoCl4. Treatment with THF, PMe3 or LiOtBu affords [MoCl4(THF)2], [MoCl4(PMe3)3] or [Mo(OtBu)4] in high isolated yields. Treatment with metallic tin in THF affords [MoCl3(THF)3] All of these reactions can be carried out under simple experimental conditions and represent significant improvements relative to previously reported syntheses of the same compounds.
The Radical Trap in Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization Need Not Be Thermodynamically Stable. A Study of the MoX3(PMe3)3 Catalysts
The molybdenum(III) coordination complexes MoX(3)(PMe(3))(3) (X = Cl, Br, and I) are capable of controlling styrene polymerization under typical atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) conditions, in conjunction with 2-bromoethylbenzene (BEB) as an initiator. The process is accelerated by the presence of Al(OPr(i))(3) as a cocatalyst. Electrochemical and synthetic studies aimed at identifying the nature of the spin trap have been carried out. The cyclic voltammogram of MoX(3)(PMe(3))(3) (X = Cl, Br, I) shows partial reversibility (increasing in the order ClBrI) for the one-electron oxidation wave. Addition of X(-) changes the voltammogram, indicating the formation of MoX(4)(PMe(3))(3) f…
How the interplay of different control mechanisms affects the initiator efficiency factor in controlled radical polymerization: An investigation using organometallic MoIII-based catalysts
International audience; Compound CpMoI2(iPr2dad) (iPr2dad = iPrNdouble bondCHsingle bondCHdouble bondNiPr), obtained by halide exchange from CpMoCl2(iPr2dad) and NaI, has been isolated and characterized by EPR spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and X-ray crystallography. Its action as a catalyst in atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and as a spin trap in organometallic radical polymerization (OMRP) of styrene and methyl acrylate (MA) monomers has been investigated and compared with that of the dichloro analogue. Compound CpMoCl2(iPr2dad) catalyzes the ATRP of styrene and MA with low efficiency factors f (as low as 0.37 for MA and ethyl 2-chloropropionate as initiator), while it irre…
A Bis(diazadiene) Adduct of MoCl 2 : Mononuclear, Octahedral, Undistorted and Diamagnetic
The complex [MoCl2(iPr2dad)2] (iPr2dad = iPrN=CH−CH=N−iPr) is obtained in one step by reduction of [MoCl3(THF)3] in the presence of iPr2dad. The X-ray structure reveals a relatively undistorted octahedral coordination geometry with a relative cis configuration and points to a more appropriate description of the ligands as enediamides. The NMR investigation is in agreement with the same cis structure in solution and underlines the diamagnetism of the compound, at odds with previously reported very similar complexes. A bulk magnetic susceptibility measurement further confirms the compound’s diamagnetism. No equilibrium with a dinuclear, metal-metal bonded species is apparent from the solution…
Half-sandwich molybdenum(III) compounds containing diazadiene ligands and their use in the controlled radical polymerization of styrene
Abstract The reaction of CpMoCl2 with diazadiene ligands RNCHCHNR (R2dad) affords the corresponding paramagnetic complexes CpMoCl2(R2dad) (R=Ph, 1; p-Tol, 2; C6H3Pr2i-2,6, 3; and Pri, 4). All compounds have been characterized by EPR spectroscopy and have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry. They display one-electron oxidation and reduction processes, these being reversible or irreversible depending on the nature of R. The irreversibility of the reduction wave is due to a chemical follow-up process which consists of chloride loss from the reduced product. This phenomenon is suppressed in the presence of excess chloride in solution. An X-ray structure of 3 verifies the mononuclear na…
Half-sandwich Mo(III) complexes with asymmetric diazadiene ligands
The asymmetric 1,4-diazadiene ligands R ∗ N CHCH NR ∗ [R ∗ = ( S )-CH(CH 3 )Ph], R 2 ∗ dad , and 2,2′-bis(4-ethyloxazoline), as-ox, have been used to generate half-sandwich Mo III derivatives by addition to Cp 2 Mo 2 Cl 4 . Ligand R 2 ∗ dad affords a mononuclear, paramagnetic 17-electron product, CpMoCl 2 ( R 2 ∗ dad ) , whereas as-ox leads to the isolation of a dinuclear compound where only one molecule of ligand has been added per two Mo atoms, Cp 2 Mo 2 Cl 4 (as-ox). In the presence of free as-ox, this compound coexists with the paramagnetic mononuclear complex in solution. Both products are capable of controlling the radical polymerization of styrene under typical atom transfer radical…