Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.58, No.24, 16736-16742, 2019
Bis(2-pyridyl) and Tris(2-pyridyl) Compounds of Gallium and Indium via a Redox-Transmetalation Route
Reactions of the tris(2-pyridyl)lead(II) compound [LiPb(2-py(6OtBu))(3)] (1) with trialkyl compounds of the group 13 elements gallium and indium resulted in the bis(2-pyridyl) and tris(2-pyridyl) gallate complexes [LiGaEt2(2-py(6OtBu))(2)](2) (2), [LiGaR2(2-py(6OtBu))(2)(THF)] (R = Pr-i (3), Bu-t (4)), [(LiGaBu2)-Bu-t(2-py(6OtBu))(2)](2) (4'), and [LiGaMe(2-py(6OtBu))(3)] (6), as well as corresponding indium complexes of general composition [LiInR(2-py(6OtBu))(3)] (R = Me (7), Et (8)). The formation of these compounds can be assumed as a rapid degradation of initially formed Pb-M adducts (M = Ga or In) as found for [(Bu3Ga)-Bu-t{Pb(2-py(6OtBu))3Li}] (5). In addition, the redox transmetalation route was used for the synthesis of [LiInI(2-py(6OtBu))(3)(THF)] (9). The structures of all compounds have been verified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.