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Indigo mono- and diimine ligands as proton and electron reservoirs

Indigo N,N’-diarylimine (Nindigo) and indigo N-arylimine (Mindigo) are redox-active ligands which exhibit near-infrared absorption and can accommodate up to five ligand charge states. This dissertation explores the coordination chemistry of these ligands to further understand the role that metal-ligand combinations play on ligand-centered properties, which include electrochemical potentials, UV-Vis-NIR absorption, pKa values, hydricities, and NH bond strengths at different ligand charge states.
A series of cis-Nindigo palladium complexes containing acetylacetonate (acac) and hexafluoroacetylacetonate (hfac) ligands were synthesized. The acac complexes were easier to oxidize by 0.11 to 0.16 V and absorbed at lower wavelengths compared to their hfac analogues. Complexes using indigo bis(4-methylphenylimine) were more easily reduced than complexes of indigo bis(2,6-dimethylphenylimine).
Cis- and trans-Mindigo complexes of palladium acac and hfac were synthesized as the first coordination complexes of Mindigo. Trans-Mindigo complexes were more difficult to reduce by 0.33 to 0.37 V and absorbed at lower wavelengths than their cis-Mindigo counterparts. Cis-Mindigo complexes were easier to reduce and harder to oxidize than the corresponding cis-Nindigo complexes.
The NH bond strengths of cis-Nindigo complexes containing Pd(acac) and Ru(bipy)2 (bipy = 2,2’-bipyridyl) fragments were determined through a potential-pKa diagram in tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile, respectively. The NH bond strength and hydricity values of the Pd(acac) complex were comparable to the values of diaryl amines. The NH bond strength and hydricity of the Ru(bipy)2 complex were substantially smaller due to the lower oxidation potentials of this complex. In both cases, the ligand’s NH bond strengths were not affected greatly by the ligand’s charge state.
Ru(acac)2 complexes of neutral, aprotic cis-Nindigo and cis-Mindigo ligands were synthesized. The Nindigo/Mindigo ligand could be protonated, and the resulting complexes demonstrated substantial temperature dependence of some of their 1H NMR chemical shifts. The NH bond strengths and hydricities of the Ru(acac)2 complexes were determined using cyclic voltammetry and pKa measurements. The NH bond strengths and hydricities of these complexes are substantially smaller than the Pd(acac) and Ru(bipy)2 complexes. Collectively, these results show that Nindigo and Mindigo can act as both a proton and electron reservoirs, and the thermodynamics of proton and electron transfer can be tuned through the choice of metal and ligand combinations. / Graduate / 2020-07-17

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/11026
Date07 August 2019
CreatorsHofsommer, Dillon T.
ContributorsHicks, Robin Gary
Source SetsUniversity of Victoria
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatapplication/pdf
RightsAvailable to the World Wide Web

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