Synthesis and crystal structure ofmer-[Co(C8H4O4)(C3H4N2)3(H2O)2] H2O

Sessions C618Currently we are exploring the use of N-heterocyclic carbenes in the chemistry of rhodium complexes.Our idea is to increase the stability of potential rhodium catalysts by incorporating this sort of electronrich ligands, whereas we try to direct selectivity by introducing bulky substituents exerting steric control over the interaction of substrates with catalysts [2].We have chosen the 1,3-bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2carbene (IPr) ligand in the synthesis of a family of rhodium complexes of the types [RhCl(IPr)PyL] or [RhCl(IPr)L] 2 (Py = pyridine or substituted pyridines; L = ethylene, cyclo-octene, oxygen) (see figure ).The additional presence in all these complexes of an unsaturated labile ligand L confers them a good suitability to be used as catalyst precursors in different processes [3].In the present communication, we will discuss the structural features of these complexes trying to understand the relationships between these features with their chemical and catalytic behavior.