Pseudo-aromatic bis-o-carborane iridium and rhodium complexes

•Novel 16-electron “pseudo-aromatic” half-sandwich Iridium and Rhodium complexes with bis-o-carborane ligand.•16-electron “pseudo-aromatic” half-sandwich Ir and Rh complexes can converted to corresponding 18-electron complexes.•Molecular structure of the “pseudo-aromatic” half-sandwich Iridium complex 1 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography.

Reactions of dilithium salt of 1,1-bis-o-carborane with half-sandwich transition metal complexes [Cp*MCl2]2 (M = Ir, Rh) in THF at room temperature afforded the C,C-chelated mononuclear metal complexes Cp*M(C2B10H10)2 (M = Ir (1), Rh (2), Cp* = η5−C5Me5) in moderate yields, respectively. They represent the first examples of a new type of 16-electron “pseudo-aromatic” bis-o-carborane iridium and rhodium complexes. All products were fully characterized by elemental analysis and IR and NMR spectroscopy. The structure of complex 1 was further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Graphical abstract16-electron “pseudo-aromatic” bis-o-carborane half-sandwich Iridium and Rhodium complexes were synthesized and fully characterized.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide