Phosphoraneiminato complexes of manganese and cobalt with heterocubane structure

The phosphoraneiminato complexes [MnBr(NPEt3)]4 (1) and [M4Br5{NP(NMe2)3}3] with M = Mn (2) and M = Co (3) are prepared by melting reactions from the anhydrous metal dibromides with the silylated phosphaneimines Me3SiNPR3 (R = Et, NMe2) in the presence of potassium fluoride. All complexes are characterized by crystal structure analyses. 1 forms an only slightly distorted Mn4N4 heterocubane skeleton with an approximate Td symmetry and short Mn…Mn distances of average 295.7 pm. In the structures of 2 and 3 one μ3-NPEt3 ligand of 1 is replaced by one bromine atom with μ3-function. This leads to the novel heterocubane type M4N3Br with approximate C3 symmetry. The deformation of the cubic skelet…