Base metal catalysts have garnered interest over the past decade due to cost concerns surrounding their currently utilized precious metal counterparts. With the goal of developing such catalysts, efforts within our laboratory have focused on the synthesis and characterization of several new a-diimine ligand platforms and their metallation onto nickel. The chelates investigated feature alkyl imine substituents with an ethylene or propylene bridge to a pendant donor atom. The coordination preference of each chelate has proven to be highly dependent upon the strength of the donor atom, as well as the length of the carbon chain distancing it from the imine. The geometry about the metal center has been found to influence the electronic character of the nickel complexes, often giving rise to electronic structures that appear consistent with a radical monoanion chelate that is antiferromagnetically coupled to the metal center. To validate these claims, a wide range of spectroscopic and electrochemical methods were used in the investigation of each newly prepared compound.

Synthesis and characterization of formally zerovalent a-diimine supported nickel complexes

246th National Meeting (2013)

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