Variable-Temperature Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Allows Direct Observation of Carboxylate Shift in Zinc Carboxylate Complexes

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society 2002-04, Vol.124 (15), p.3951-3958
• Main Authors: DEMSAR, Alojz, KOSMRLJ, Janez, PETRICEK, Sasa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carboxylic Acids - chemistry; Chemical and knight shifts; Cold Temperature; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Crystallography, X-Ray; Exact sciences and technology; Inorganic compounds; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy - methods; Magnetic resonances and relaxations in condensed matter, mössbauer effect; Metal complexes; Molecular Conformation; Molecular Structure; Nuclear magnetic resonance and relaxation; Organometallic Compounds - chemistry; Oxygenases - chemistry; Physics; Ribonucleotide Reductases - chemistry; Spectrophotometry, Infrared; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Structure of specific crystalline solids; Temperature; Thermodynamics; Zinc - chemistry
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja016534x

Tetranuclear complexes [Zn4(bdmap)2(OOCR)6] 1 (R = Me) and 2 (R = Et), where Hbdmap = 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-2-propanol, were prepared from zinc carboxylates and Hbdmap in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The solid-state structures of isomers 1a and 2a consist of two pairs of zinc atoms, each bridged by two μ-1,2 and one μ-1,1 carboxylate ligands. Two pairs are connected by two tridentate bdmap ligands with oxygen acting as a bridging donating atom. The complexes retain the tetranuclear structure in solution and two dynamic processes are observed from variable-temperature 1H and 13C NMR spectra. A low-temperature process (LT dynamics) observed already below 200 K is a coalescence of the μ-1,2 and the μ-1,1 resonances to a single resonance. An additional dynamic process (HT dynamics) is observed above 247 K (1) and 263 K (2), leading to a coalescence of two dimethylamino resonances. Both dynamic processes are rationalized by a mechanism involving changes in the carboxylate coordination mode termed as carboxylate shift. The LT dynamics is ascribed to interconversions of a single μ-1,2 and a single μ-1,1 carboxylate ligation by rotations of 60°. The interconversions involve all carboxylate ligands in 1 and 2. The HT dynamics is ascribed to the exchange of the coordinating geometries of two carboxylate-bridged zinc atoms. We propose a mechanism that starts with a cleavage of the Zn−N coordination bond. The resulting coordinatively unsaturated zinc atom acquires an additional oxygen donor atom by carboxylate shift of μ-1,2 carboxylate to μ-1,1 mode. The activation parameters (ΔH ⧧ values in kilocalories per mole, ΔS ⧧ values in calories per mole per kelvin) were determined by line-shape analysis of VT NMR spectra:  for 1 in THF-d 8, ΔH ⧧ LT = 8.1(3), ΔS ⧧ LT = −12(2), ΔH ⧧ HT = 17.9(2), ΔS ⧧ HT = 14(1); for 1 in CDCl3, ΔH ⧧ HT = 13.6(5), ΔS ⧧ HT = 3(3); for 1 in CD2Cl2, ΔH ⧧ HT = 9.9(3), ΔS ⧧ HT = −8(2); for 2 in THF-d 8, ΔH ⧧ LT = 11(1), ΔS ⧧ LT = −5(3), ΔH ⧧ HT = 19.6(5), ΔS ⧧ HT = 18(3). Polymeric [Zn4(bdmap)2(OOCMe)6] n 1-catena crystallizes from a dichloromethane solution of 1. In 1-catena, the zinc atoms are linked into a chain through μ-1,2 and μ-1,1 acetate alternated by μ-1,2 acetate and bdmap.