Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.47, No.21, 9965-9978, 2008
Persistent Radicals of Trivalent Tin and Lead
In this report we present synthetic, crystallographic, and new electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic work that shows that the synthetic route leading to the recently reported, first persistent plumbyl radical center dot PbEbt(3) (Ebt = ethylbis(trimethylsilyl)silyl), that is, the oxidation of the related PbEbt(3)-anion, was easily extended to the synthesis of other persistent molecular mononuclear radicals of lead and tin. At first, various novel solvates of homoleptic potassium metallates KSnHYp(3) (4a), KPbHYp(3) (3a), KSnEbt(3) (4b), KPblbt(3) (3c), and KSnlbt(3) (4c) (Hyp = tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl, IN = isopropylbis(trimethylsilyl)silyl), as well as some heteroleptic metallates, such as [Li(OEt2)(2)][Sn(n)BuHyp(2)] (3d), [Li(OEt2)(2)][Pb(n)BuHyp(2)] (4d), [Li(thf)(4)][PbPhHyp(2)] (3e), and [K(thf)(7)][PbHyp(2)[N(SiMe3)(2))] (3, were synthesized and crystallographically characterized. Through oxidation by tin(II) and lead(II) bis(trimethylsilyl)amides or the related 2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxides, they had been oxidized to yield in most cases the corresponding radicals. Five novel persistent homoleptically substituted radicals, that is, center dot SnHyp(3) (2a), center dot PbHyp(3) (1a), center dot SnEbt(3) (2b), center dot Snlbt(3) (2c), and center dot Pblbt(3) (1C), had been characterized by EPR spectroscopy. The stannyl radicals 2a and 2c as well as the plumbyl radical 1c were isolated as intensely colored crystalline compounds and had been characterized by X-ray diffraction. Persistent heteroleptically substituted radicals such as center dot PbHyp(2)Ph (1e) or center dot PbHyp(2)Et (1g) had also been generated, and some selected EPR data are given for comparison. The plumbyl radicals center dot PbR3 exhibit a clean monomolecular decay leading to the release of a temperature-dependent stationary concentration of branched silyl radicals. They may thus serve as tunable sources of these reactive species that may be utilized as reagents for mild radical silylations and/or as initiators for radical polymerizations. We present EPR-spectroscopic investigations for the new tin- and lead-containing compounds giving detailed insights into their electronic and geometric structure in solution, as well as structural studies on the crystalline state of the radicals, some of their anionic precursors, and some side-products.