New pentamethylcyclopentadienyl rhodium and iridium complexes containing arylazoimidazole ligands: Crystal and molecular structure of the complex [(η5-C5Me5)RhCl(Me–C6H4–NN–C3H3N2)]+

The dimeric [{(η5-C5Me5)M(μ-Cl)Cl}2] complexes (η5-C5Me5 = pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; M = Rh and Ir) react with several arylazoimidazole (RaaiR′) ligands, viz., 2-(phenylazo)imidazole (Phai-H), 1-methyl-2-(phenylazo)imidazole (Phai-Me), 1-ethyl-2-(phenylazo)imidazole (Phai-Et), 2-(tolylazo)imidazole (Tai-H), 1-methyl-2-(tolylazo)imidazole (Tai-Me) and 1-ethyl-2-(tolylazo)imidazole (Tai-Et), to afford complexes of the type [(η5-C5Me5)MCl(RaaiR′)]+ where M = Rh or Ir; R, R′ = H (1, 7), R = H, R′ = CH3 (2, 8), R = H, R′ = C2H5 (3, 9), R = CH3, R′ = H (4, 10), R, R′ = CH3 (5, 11), R = CH3, R′ = C2H5 (6, 12), respectively. These complexes have been characterized by FT IR, FT NMR spectroscopy as well as by analytical data. The molecular structure of the hexafluorophosphate salt of the complex [(η5-C5Me5)RhCl(Me–C6H4–NN–C3H3N2)]+4[PF6] has been established by single crystal X-ray diffraction study.

Graphical abstractThe dimeric complexes [{(η5-C5Me5)M(μ-Cl)Cl}2] where M = Rh and Ir reacts with several arylazoimidazole (RaaiR′) ligands to give the mononuclear cationic complexes of the type [(η5-C5Me5)MCl(RaaiR′)]+. The molecular structure of the complex [(η5-C5Me5)RhCl(Me–C6H4–NN–C3H3N2)]+4[PF6] was established by single crystal X-ray diffraction study.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide