Cleavage of Carbon Dioxide C=O Bond Promoted by Nickel-Boron Cooperativity in a PBP-Ni Complex

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of (tBuPBP)Ni(OAc) (5) by insertion of carbon dioxide into the Ni−C bond of (tBuPBP)NiMe (1) is presented. An unexpected CO2 cleavage process involving the formation of new B−O and Ni−CO bonds leads to the generation of a butterfly-structured tetra-nickel cluster (tBuPBOP)2Ni4(μ-CO)2 (6). Mechanistic investigation of this reaction indicates a reductive scission of CO2 by O-atom transfer to the boron atom via a cooperative nickel-boron mechanism. The CO2 activation reaction produces a three-coordinate (tBuP2BO)Ni-acyl intermediate (A) that leads to a (tBuP2BO)−NiI complex (B) via a likely radical pathway. The NiI species is trapped by treatment with the radical trap (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) to give (tBuP2BO)NiII(η2-TEMPO) (7). Additionally, 13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy analysis using 13C-enriched CO2 provides information about the species involved in the CO2 activation process.