화학공학소재연구정보센터
Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.52, No.21, 12691-12701, 2013
Heteroscorpionate Magnesium Alkyls Bearing Unprecedented Apical sigma-C(sp(3))-Mg Bonds: Heteroselective Ring-Opening Polymerization of rac-Lactide
The previously described reaction of the low sterically hindered heteroscorpionate lithium acetamidinates [Li(kappa(3)-pbpamd)(THF)] and [Li(kappa(3)-tbpamd)(THF)] with a series of commercially available Grignard reagents RMgCl in an equimolecular ratio yielded the magnesium monoalkyls [Mg(R)(kappa(3)-NNN)] (NNN = pbpamd, R = CH2SiMe3, Et (1), Bn (2); NNN = tbpamd, R = CH2SiMe3, Et (3), Bn (4)). However, subsequent reaction of these monoalkyls [Mg(R)-(kappa(3)-NNN)] with two additional equivalents of the same RMgC1 in tetrahydrofuran gave rise to dinuclear dialkyls of the type [RMg(kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N)MgR(thf)] (kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N = pbpamd(-), R = CH2SiMe3 (5), Et (6); kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N = tbpamd(-), R = CH2SiMe3 (7), Et (8)). Furthermore, when the reaction was carried out in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran/dioxane with the same stoichiometry, a new family of tetranuclear tetraalkyl magnesium complexes [{RMg(kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N)MgR}(2){mu-O,O-(C4H8)}] (kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N = pbpamd(-), R = CH2SiMe3 (9), Et (10), Bn (11); kappa(3)-N,N,N;kappa(2)-C,N = tbpamd(-), R = CH2SiMe3 (12), Et (13), Bn (14)) was obtained. In both families, an apical methine C-H activation process on the heteroscorpionate takes place. The single-crystal X-ray structures of 4, 8, 9, and 12 confirm the nuclearity of each family, with 4-coordinative arrangements for all magnesium atoms. More importantly, the presence in the di- and tetranuclear complexes of unprecedented apical carbanions with a direct sigma-C(sp(3)) Mg covalent bond, and as a result, the existence of stereogenic magnesium centers, have been unambiguously confirmed. Interestingly, the dinuclear dialkyls 5 and 7, as well as the tetranuclear tetraalkyls 9, 10, and 12, can act as highly efficient single-component living initiators for the ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone and lactides. Lactide (LA) polymerizations afforded polylactide (PLA) materials with medium molecular weights in only a few minutes even at 20 degrees C for L-LA and in a few hours at 50 degrees C for rac-LA propagations. More importantly, microstructural analysis of the poly(rac-lactide) materials revealed that the tetranuclear tetra. alkyl 12 exerts enhanced levels of heteroselectivity on the PLAs under mild conditions, with P-s values up to 0.78.