The reactivity of group 15 Zintl ions, E₇^3– (E = P, As), towards a number of transition and post-transition metal reagents has been studied. The synthesis and characterisation of the resulting novel cluster anions are described herein. The reactions of E₇^3– with [Cu₅(mes)₅], MPh₂ (M = Zn, Cd) and InPh₃ yielded the Cu–Cu bridged species [Cu₂(E₇)₂]^4– (E = P, As), the group 12 bridged cluster anions [M(E₇)₂]^4– (M = Zn: E = P, As; M= Cd: E = P), and the In-functionalised Zintl ions [E₇InPh<sub>2<sub>]^2–, respectively. P₇^3– and As₇^3– have been found to react with a number of metal salts, namely [M(nbe)₃][SbF₆] and MCl (M = Ag, Au), InCl₃, TlCl and MI₂ (M = Sn, Pb). These reactions formed the Ag–Ag and Au–Au bridged complexes [M₂(HP₇)₂]^2– (M = Ag, Au), the In-bridged species [In(E₇)₂]^3– (E = P, As), the Tl-derivatised Zintl ions [TlE₇]^2– (E = P, As), and the sixteen vertex cluster anions [ME₁₅]^3– (M = Sn, Pb; E = P, As). The reactivity of P₇^3– towards a series of group 8 compounds has also been studied. The reactions of P₇^3– with FeCl₂ and [Ru(PPh₃)₃Cl₂] produced [M(HP₇)₂]^2- (M = Fe, Ru). NMR studies showed that these species can be deprotonated to form [M(P₇)₂]^4– (M = Fe, Ru). These Fe and Ru complexes are isoelectronic with ferrocene. In addition, P₇^3– reacts with [Ru(COD)(η³-CH₂C(CH₃)CH₂)₂] to form [(C₄H₇)P₇Ru(COD)]^2–. Both P₇^3– and As₇^3– undergo transition metal mediated activation reactions in the presence of [Co(PEt₂Ph₂)(mes)₂], yielding [Co(η⁵-P₅){η²-HP₂(mes)}]^2– and [Co([η³-As₃){η⁴-As₄(mes)₂}]^2–, respectively.

This thesis details the synthesis of novel Rh(I) and Rh(III) bis-phosphine fragments, and their use, along with other known rhodium species, to investigate the reactivity of amine-boranes, with a particular focus on the dehydrocoupling of the secondary amine-borane H3B.NMe2H (DMAB). Chapter 2 utilises the new mixed phosphine, PtBuiBu2, to investigate the role of the phosphine with regard to the corresponding low-coordinate organometallic species isolated. Their coordination and reactivity with amine-boranes is studied, leading to the development of a mechanism for an alkene hydroboration catalyst that employs H3B.NMe3 (TMAB). The final section of the chapter studies several fluxional processes pertinent to rhodium and iridium complexes of the model amine-borane TMAB using H/D exchange and low temperature NMR experiments. In Chapter 3, the mechanism of dehydrocoupling of DMAB is investigated in detail, employing catalysts based on the cationic bis¬-phosphine Rh fragment, {Rh(PCy3)2Ln}+. A series of stoichiometric and catalytic reactions are probed using NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, revealing a complex mechanistic landscape. Subtleties include: the product of dehydrocoupling, [H2BNMe2]2, acting in an autocatalytic role; and parallel dehydrogenation of DMAB by a neutral catalyst present in a low but constant concentration. The mechanism was additionally interrogated through kinetic simulations conducted by Prof. Guy C. Lloyd-Jones (University of Bristol). From this, a generic mechanistic scheme has been suggested, aspects of which can be applied to transition metal and main group systems reported to catalyse the dehydrocoupling of DMAB. The final chapter moves on from cationic rhodium fragments to investigate the reactivity of the neutral rhodium species, Rh(H)2(PCy3)2Cl and [Rh(PCy3)2Cl]2, with amine-boranes. The mechanism by which Rh(H)2(PCy3)2Cl catalyses the dehydrogenation of DMAB has been investigated through initial rate and H/D exchange experiments, leading to the proposal of a reaction scheme. Additionally, the formation and characterisation of a base-stabilised boryl species has been reported resulting from the reactivity of an amino-borane with [Rh(PCy3)2Cl]2.

The purpose of this project has been to expand the η8 binding mode of the permethylpentalene ligand into uranium, zirconium and hafnium chemistry. All three of these elements have shown intriguing, high-hapticity carbocyclic chemistry and, because of their relatively large size, are excellent candidates for the development of organometallic permethylpentalene chemistry. Chapter one of this thesis will review previous work on η n carbocyclic ring chemistry of these elements, where n = 6 - 8. This introduction will include the unsaturated rings systems where all the ,carbons are bonded to the metal centre, specifically η6 arene systems, η 7 cyclohept.atriene systems, and η 8 cyclooctatetraene and pentalene systems. Species of lower hapticity (e .g. the η 6 binding mode of cycloheptatriene) will not be covered but reviews, where available, will be referenced. Chapter two documents the successful synthesis and characterisation of η 8 permethylpentalene uranium (IV) species. Initially, the uranocene equivalent, UPn*2 was synthesised and characterised structurally, magnetically and electrochemically. From here, a half-sandwich synthon [U Pn*CI4][Li(TMEDA)h was synthesised which was used for further salt metathesis chemistry in order to make a number of mixed sandwich complexes. Chapter three is an account of the synthesis and characterisation of zirconium and hafnium η 8 permethylpentalene species. Initial work focused on the synthesis of a suitable synthon analogous to that used for the previously synthesised titanium species. However, this route was unsuccessful and an alternative species was formed, [MPn*(μ-Cl)3/2]2(μCl)2[Li(THF)x(Et2O)y]. This species could be made on a multi-gram scale and proved to be a sui table synthon for further synthesis. Salt metathesis reactions were undertaken and a number of new species were synthesised and characterised including mixed-sandwich, alkyl, aryl and allyl species. Chapter four reports the results of polymerisation testing that was undertaken for selected synthesised compounds. All compounds catalysed the formation of poly(ethylene), with the group 4 mixed sandwich species being particularly active catalysts. Two of the zirconium species, ZrPn*CpCI and ZrPn*Cp2 were therefore used for further optimisation experiments which were somewhat limited due to the high activity of the compounds. These were useful in gaining insight into conditions that should be investigated on a larger reaction scale. Chapter five gives the full experimental details for all the syntheses described in chapters two and three as well as details of instrumentation used for characterisation, and also gives the respective loadings of catalyst and co-catalyst employed in the polymerisation testing reported in chapter four. Chapter six presents the full characterisation data obtained for the compounds synthesised and the electronic appendix attached as a CD at the back of the thesis contains the crystal data .cif files and the DFT output files (.out). ,

This thesis describes selected reactivity studies of group 15 Zintl anion [E7]3– (E = P, As) derived cages towards a series of unsaturated organic molecules. The synthesis and characterization of forty-two compounds derived from [E7]3– cages are detailed herein. A high yielding procedure for the synthesis of [HE7]2– (E = P, As) from the K3E7 Zintl phase has been developed. This solves prior issues with poor solubility and variable purity of the Zintl phases. The conditions required for the deprotonation of the phosphorus congener to [P7]3– are described. The reactivity of both [P7]3– and [HP7]2– towards carbon dioxide and isolobal isocyanates and carbodiimides was explored. This yielded a series of monofunctionalized [E7R]2– cages, via a net hydropnictination of a C=N double bond of the organic substrate. The protonation chemistry of these anions was further investigated, resulting in the formation of the protic [HP7C(NHDipp)(NDipp)]– cluster. This anion is capable of further hydrophosphination chemistry to give a series of difunctionalized heptaphosphide cages. The reaction of [E7]3– with alkynes results in the formation of the relatively unusual 1,2,3-tripnictolide anions. A series of such anions have been prepared, encompassing all of the previously reported anions and several novel species. Investigation of the coordination properties of these cyclopentadienyl analogues shows that they are superior π acceptor ligands. A synthetic route to [P5]– as a compositionally pure solid, and some initial studies on its protonation chemistry are also additionally presented.

Achiral wide bite angle ligands have been shown to be highly active and to induce excellent chemo- and regioselectivities in many homogeneously catalyzed reactions. However, only a few examples of chiral wide bite angle ligands are known so far. A diphenyl ether backbone was selected to allow maximum synthetic versatility and potential for a modular approach to design and synthesize such chiral diphosphorus ligands. Three synthetic strategies have been explored in this thesis: i) introduction of chiral substituents in the ligand backbone, ii) the use of P-stereogenic donor atoms and iii) the synthesis of chiral mixed-donor ligands bearing chiral auxiliary groups on the phosphorus atoms. Functionalization of the 3,3'-positions of 2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)diphenyl ether by carboxylic acid or ether auxiliaries was achieved via straightforward four-step routes to generate a library of ligands that were tested in various catalytic reactions. In the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of l,3-diphenyl-2-propenyl acetate and cyclohexyl-2-enyl acetate with dimethyl malonate the enantioselectivity was found to depend on the size of the chiral auxiliary introduced within the diphenyl ether backbone and its proximity to the phosphorus donor groups and hence to the active metal centre. Two types of mixed donor bidentate diphosphorus ligands based on the diphenylether backbone have been established, i.e. phosphine-phosphite and phosphine-phosphonite derivatives. A small ligand library bearing different chiral auxiliaries was accomplished via straightforward syntheses that enable derivatization of the respective phosphite and phosphonite moieties in the final step. In the Rh-catalysed hydrogenation of several benchmark substrates high conversion and moderate to high enantioselectivities (up to 97% for dimethyl itaconate) were obtained. The enantioselectivity was influenced by the size of the ortho-substituent on the chiral auxiliary group of the phosphite or phosphonite fragment. Two modular synthetic approaches for the preparation of novel wide bite angle diphosphine ligands containing stereogenic P-atoms have been developed. Both protocols involved diphenylether as backbone and the chiral ephedrine based precursor (2R[subscript(P)],4S[subscript(C)],5R[subscript(C)])-oxazaphospholidine borane as initial auxiliary to induce chirality at phosphorus. Various novel diphosphines were isolated as highly enantioenriched compounds with dr-ratios up to 95:5.

The work presented in this thesis mainly describes the discovery and development of methodology for the synthesis of anthecularin and anthecotulides, a family of unusual sesquiterpene lactones. Firstly, two 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition approaches toward anthecularin have been evaluated, using either oxidopyrylium ylide chemistry (Path A) or carbonyl ylides, generated by rhodium-catalysed decomposition of diazo ketones (Path B). Synthesis of the key precursor for the diazo strategy was achieved but unfortunately no desired cycloadduct was isolated. Secondly, an experimentally straightforward method to stereoselectively synthesise β-hydroxymethyl-α-methylene-γ-butyrolactones was developed using chromium or zinc. The synthetic utility of this methodology was demonstrated in syntheses of (±)-methylenolactocin, (±)-hydroxymatairesinol and, ultimately, (±)-hydroxyanthecotulide using a gold-catalysed Meyer-Schuster rearrangement. Finally, the first asymmetric synthesis of (+)-anthecotulide has been achieved, in 6 steps from commercially available materials. During this synthesis the absolute configuration was established. Furthermore, a novel rhodium-catalysed enantioselective ene-yne cycloisomerisation was used to form the α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone core.

A series of cationic Rh(I) diphosphine and phosphine-alkene complexes have been isolated and fully characterised. The reactivity of these species towards hydrogenation, dehydrogenation and dehydrocoupling reactions has been investigated. The use of potentially hemilabile ligands DPEphos and XANTphos in the intramolecular dehydrogenation chemistry of tricyclopentylphosphine is reported. The comparison in reactivity of these isolated diphosphine phosphine-alkene complexes towards hydrogenation and with acetonitrile is discussed along with their ability to dehydrocouple secondary silane, Ph₂SiH₂, and amine-borane H₃B·NMe₂H. The acceptorless dehydrogenation of a tethered cyclopentane with cationic Rh(I) diphosphine complexes has also been extended to include thioethers. Isolated cationic Rh(I) phosphine-alkene complexes with labile fluorobenzene ligands are found to act as a source of the reactive 12-electron [Rh{PR₂(ƞ²-C₅H₇)}]+ (R = cyclopentyl (Cyp)/ iPr) fragment in solution and can coordinate two amine-borane ligands (either H₃B·NMe₃, H₃B·NMe₂H or H₃B·NMeH₂) in a novel and unique bis-σ-binding mode. The catalytic activity of some of these isolated complexes in the dehydrocoupling of H₃B·NMe₂H and H₃B·NMeH₂ has been determined. With a view to further understanding the mechanism of catalytic transition metal assisted amine-borane dehydrogenation and dehydrocoupling, known B-N intermediates H₃B·NMe₂BH₂·NMe₂H and [H₂B·NMeH]₃ were also coordinated to the [Rh{PCyp₂(ƞ²-C₅H₇)}]+ fragment and investigated with regard to their role in the catalytic cycle. Structure activity relationships determined from stoichiometric reactions of cationic Rh(I) diphosphine fluorobenzene complexes with amine-boranes enabled the design of a highly efficient homogeneous catalyst capable of dehydrogenating H₃B·NMe₂H to [H₂BNMe₂]₂ at 0.2 mol% loading in 30 minutes at 298 K. Rapid dehydrogenation and dehydrocoupling of H₃B·NMeH₂ to form high molecular weight poly(N-methylaminoborane) with a low PDI has also been achieved. Investigations using model aminoborane H₂B=NiPr₂ and intermediate B-N species H₃B·NMe₂BH₂·NMe₂H and [H₂B·NMeH]₃ has helped establish an overall mechanistic rationale for this process.

In this thesis, the effect of fluorinating reagents on a selection of transition metal-mediated organic transformations was investigated. The first four chapters are focused on gold-catalysed nucleophilic addition processes performed in the presence of “F⁺” sources. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to homogeneous gold catalysis and summarises the aims and objectives of the project. The effect of the electrophilic fluorinating reagent Selectfluor (82) on the gold-catalysed rearrangement of propargyl acetates 85 is discussed in Chapter 2. α-Fluoroenones 92 resulting from fluorodeacetylation of an allenyl acetate intermediate were delivered as the major products of these reactions (Scheme i). [Scheme i Gold-Catalysed Rearrangement-Fluorodeacetylation of Propargyl Acetates 85.] By contrast, performing the gold(I)-catalysed cyclisation of allenoates 102 in the presence of Selectfluor (82) led to products of oxidative coupling. The “F⁺” source in these processes most likely acts as an external oxidant in an Au<sup>I</sup</Au^III redox cycle. In Chapter 3, the cascade cyclisation-intramolecular arylation of benzyl-substituted substrates is discussed whilst the extension of the methodology towards intermolecular homocoupling and intermolecular alkynylation is presented in Chapter 4 (Scheme ii). [Scheme ii Gold-Catalysed Cyclisation-Oxidative Coupling of tert-Butyl Allenoates 102.] In Chapter 5, the feasibility of palladium-catalysed allylic [¹⁸F]radiofluorination was investigated using high-specific-activity [¹⁸F]fluoride. This study led to the development of the first transition metal-mediated C-¹⁸F bond-forming process of relevance for the preparation of radiotracers for PET imaging (Scheme iii). [Scheme iii Palladium-Catalysed Allylic [18F]Radiofluorination of Allylic Methyl Carbonate 227b.] Chapter 6 gives full experimental procedures and characterisation data for all compounds.

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is a powerful method to monitor organometallic reactions. It is fast at generating spectrum, soft to fragile organometallic compounds and sensitive to intermediates in low concentration. When coupled with the pressurized sample infusion (PSI) that helps to continuously inject reacting solution to the MS, both an inert-gas atmosphere and real-time reaction monitoring can be achieved. Also collision induced dissociation (CID) of MS can be used to probe the relative binding affinities of phosphine ligands in ruthenium complexes. PSI ESI-MS can be coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to monitor the rhodium-catalyzed hydroacylation simultaneously. This technique expands the dynamic range to 5 magnitudes. The effect of mass-transfer in heterogeneous hydrogenation of charge-tagged alkyne was also studied by PSI ESI-MS. In this study cross area, stirring effect, catalyst loading and hydrogen concentration were considered and tested. Also in the study an interesting finding reveals in heterogeneity of the solution. Relative binding affinities of different phosphine ligands were attained from comparing the relative intensities of fragmentation products from MS/MS. And the phosphine ligand substitution reaction was monitored by the ESI-MS in a real-time manner. A competitive dissociative substitution mechanism was proposed and confirmed by the simulation and modeling of COPASI. / Graduate

Chapter 1 is a brief review on some of the recents developments in palladium-catalysed C-H functionalisation chemistry. The synthesis and functionalisation of heterocycles using these methodologies was particularly emphasised. Chapter 2 presents our efforts to identify a new catalytic system to promote the intramolecular coupling of vinyl bromides with unfunctionalised aryl C-H bonds for the formation of benzofurans. Dihydrobenzofurans were obtained efficiently under mild conditions in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂, X-Phos and K₂CO₃ in DMA at 80 °C and a subsequent one-pot isomerisation under acidic conditions afforded the desired benzofurans. A new strategy has also provided access to more complex benzofurans by functionalisation of the exocyclic alkene isomer in both a chiral and achiral manner. In Chapter 3, mechanistic studies were performed on the benzofuran formation reaction. The analysis of substituent effects on the aromatic ring is in accordance with an electrophilic aromatic substitution mechanism (SEAr); however, the existence of both intra and intermolecular kinetic isotope effects suggest a SE3 type pathway rather than a pure SEAr. In Chapter 4, the intramolecular coupling of vinyl bromides with unfunctionalised aryl C-H bonds was further extended to the synthesis of six-membered heterocycles by direct arylation of alkenyl bromide derivatives in the presence of Pd(OAc)₂, dppf and K₂CO₃ in DMA at 120 °C. The synthetic utility of this methodology was exemplified by the synthesis of substituted isoquinolines in six steps. Moreover, we have applied our methodology to the direct arylation of sulfonamides, leading to an interesting synthesis of widely used sultams. Both these new routes are currently being investigated and should provide access to a variety of differently substituted cyclic sulfonamides and isoquinolines. Finally, Chapter 5 presents a new strategy for the synthesis of benzo[b]furan was briefly investigated. It consists in consecutive Tsuji-Trost and C-H functionalisation reactions. This methodology requires simpler and more versatile substrates, allowing access to various heteroaromatics in a single step. We successfully proved the viability of this reaction through the synthesis of a range of benzofurans in modest yields. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a single palladium catalyst performing these different reactions in tandem in a simple procedure.