Whereas thousands of metal β-diketonate complexes are known, only nine complexes have been reported of the simplest β-dicarbonylate anion, malondialdehydate CH(CH=O)2- (also known as 1,3-propanedialate or malonaldehydate, here abbreviated “mda”). Of these compounds– Cr(mda)3, Pd(mda)2, PtMe3(mda), and six lanthanide compounds–only Cr(mda)3 has been studied crystallographically. Metal β-diketonate complexes are widely used as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursors: in the absence of co-reactants they usually afford metal oxide films. In contrast, one study of Pd(mda)2 reports that it decomposes upon mild heating to afford a metallic film. This result, which is consistent with the known ability of aldehyde groups to serve as reductants for metal ions, suggests that transition metal mda complexes could generally serve as CVD precursors for the deposition of metallic films. Here, we report the preparation and characterization of 11 new transition metal complexes of mda. Although mda often chelates to a metal center, we find that in some cases it strongly prefers to serve as a non-chelating ligand that bridges between metal centers. We have also carried out preliminary mechanistic investigations of the behavior of several of these new complexes under CVD conditions.

Transition metal complexes of malondialdehyde, the simplest β-dicarbonylate

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.