Probing the Effect of Six-Membered N-Heterocyclic Carbene—6-Mes—on the Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of Me2MOR(NHC) (M = Ga, In) Complexes

Abstract

The investigation of the reactivity of six membered N-heterocyclic carbene 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidin-1-ylidene (6-Mes) towards dialkylgallium and dialkylindium alkoxides/aryloxides has shown that both steric hindrances and donor properties of 6-Mes significantly influence the strength of M–C6-Mes bond, as well as the formation, structure and reactivity of Me2MOR(6-Mes) (M = Ga, In) complexes. While the reactions of simple dimethylgallium alkoxides with 6-Mes lead to the formation of stable monomeric Me2Ga(OCH2CH2OMe)(6-Mes) (1) and Me2GaOMe(6-Mes) complexes, the analogous Me2InOR(6-Mes) are unstable and disproportionate to methylindium alkoxides and Me3In(6-Mes) (2). The use of bulky alkoxide ligand—OCPh2Me or aryloxide ligand—OC6H4OMe allowed for the synthesis of stable Me2M(OCPh2Me)(6-Mes) (M = Ga (3) and In (4)) as well as Me2M(OC6H4OMe)(6-Mes) (M = Ga (5) and In (6)). The structures of 1–6 have been determined using both spectroscopic methods in solution and X-ray diffraction studies, which confirmed the effect of both steric hindrances and donor properties of 6-Mes on their structure and catalytic properties in the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of rac-lactide.

Keywords

• metal alkoxides
• main group metals
• NHC donor strength
• catalyst
• lactide
• stereoselectivity
• isotactic polylactide