Complete disassembly of carbon disulfide by a ditantalum complex

摘要

The side-on end-on dinitrogen complex [PhP(CH_2SiMe_2NPh)_2Ta]-(μ-H)_2(μ-η~2:η~1-N_2) reacts with CS_2 with complete cleavage of both C=S double bonds and the formation of [PhP(CH_2SiMe_2NPh)_2Ta](μ-S)_2(μ-CH_2), which has two bridging sulfides and a bridging methylene unit. Further reaction with H_2 produces CH_4 and the disulfide complex. Cleavage of diatomic and triatomic molecules by transition metal complexes represents an important challenge for inorganic chemists as this is often an important step in utilization of such materials for further elaboration. For those small molecules that have multiple bonds, such processes require particularly activated precursor metal complexes capable of transferring electrons to antibonding (σ~* or π~*) orbitals of the substrate.