On the chemistry of Zn-Zn bonds, RZn-ZnR (R = [{(2,6-Pri2C6H3)N(Me)C}2CH]): synthesis, structure, and computations

Yuzhong Wang; Brandon Quillian; Pingrong Wei; Hongyan Wang; Xiao-Juan Yang; Yaoming Xie; R Bruce King; Paul v R Schleyer; H Fritz Schaefer 3rd; Gregory H Robinson

doi:10.1021/ja053819r

On the chemistry of Zn-Zn bonds, RZn-ZnR (R = [{(2,6-Pri2C6H3)N(Me)C}2CH]): synthesis, structure, and computations

J Am Chem Soc. 2005 Aug 31;127(34):11944-5. doi: 10.1021/ja053819r.

Authors

Yuzhong Wang¹, Brandon Quillian, Pingrong Wei, Hongyan Wang, Xiao-Juan Yang, Yaoming Xie, R Bruce King, Paul v R Schleyer, H Fritz Schaefer 3rd, Gregory H Robinson

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry and the Center for Computational Chemistry, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2556, USA.

PMID: 16117525
DOI: 10.1021/ja053819r

Abstract

Potassium reduction of RZn(mu-I)2Li(OEt2)2 (R = [{(2,6-Pri2C6H3)N(Me)C}2CH]) affords the second compound with a Zn-Zn bond, RZn-ZnR. The air- and moisture-sensitive title compound was characterized by 1H NMR, elemental analyses, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The Zn-Zn bond was determined to be 2.3586(7) A; this value is only about 0.05 A longer than the Zn-Zn bond reported for Cp*Zn-ZnCp* (Cp* = C5Me5), the first reported compound with a Zn-Zn bond. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) computations on related model RZn-ZnR compounds provide insight into the intriguing Zn-Zn bond.