TY - JOUR A1 - Tendera, Lukas A1 - Helm, Moritz A1 - Krahfuss, Mirjam A1 - Kuntze-Fechner, Maximilian W. A1 - Radius, Udo T1 - Case Study of N-\(^{i}\)Pr versus N-Mes Substituted NHC Ligands in Nickel Chemistry: The Coordination and Cyclotrimerization of Alkynes at [Ni(NHC)\(_{2}\)] T2 - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - A case study on the effect of the employment of two different NHC ligands in complexes [Ni(NHC)\(_{2}\)] (NHC=\(^{i}\)Pr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\) 1\(^{Me}\), Mes\(_{2}\)Im 2) and their behavior towards alkynes is reported. The reaction of a mixture of [Ni\(_{2}\)(\(^{i}\)Pr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\))\(_{4}\)(μ-(η\(^{2}\) : η\(^{2}\))-COD)] B/ [Ni(\(^{i}\)Pr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\))\(_{2}\)(η\(^{4}\)-COD)] B’ or [Ni(Mes\(_{2}\)Im)\(_{2}\)] 2, respectively, with alkynes afforded complexes [Ni(NHC)\(_{2}\)(η\(^{2}\)-alkyne)] (NHC=\(^{i}\)Pr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\): alkyne=MeC≡CMe 3, H\(_{7}\)C\(_{3}\)C≡CC\(_{3}\)H\(_{7}\) 4, PhC≡CPh 5, MeOOCC≡CCOOMe 6, Me\(_{3}\)SiC≡CSiMe\(_{3}\) 7, PhC≡CMe 8, HC≡CC\(_{3}\)H\(_{7}\) 9, HC≡CPh 10, HC≡C(p-Tol) 11, HC≡C(4-\(^{t}\)Bu-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{4}\)) 12, HC≡CCOOMe 13; NHC=Mes\(_{2}\)Im: alkyne=MeC≡CMe 14, MeOOCC≡CCOOMe 15, PhC≡CMe 16, HC≡C(4-\(^{t}\)Bu-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{4}\)) 17, HC≡CCOOMe 18). Unusual rearrangement products 11 a and 12 a were identified for the complexes of the terminal alkynes HC≡C(p-Tol) and HC≡C(4-\(^{t}\)Bu-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{4}\)), 11 and 12, which were formed by addition of a C−H bond of one of the NHC N-\(^{i}\)Pr methyl groups to the C≡C triple bond of the coordinated alkyne. Complex 2 catalyzes the cyclotrimerization of 2-butyne, 4-octyne, diphenylacetylene, dimethyl acetylendicarboxylate, 1-pentyne, phenylacetylene and methyl propiolate at ambient conditions, whereas 1\(^{Me}\) is not a good catalyst. The reaction of 2 with 2-butyne was monitored in some detail, which led to a mechanistic proposal for the cyclotrimerization at [Ni(NHC)\(_{2}\)]. DFT calculations reveal that the differences between 1\(^{Me}\) and 2 for alkyne cyclotrimerization lie in the energy profile of the initiation steps, which is very shallow for 2, and each step is associated with only a moderate energy change. The higher stability of 3 compared to 14 is attributed to a better electron transfer from the NHC to the metal to the alkyne ligand for the N-alkyl substituted NHC, to enhanced Ni-alkyne backbonding due to a smaller C\(_{NHC}\)−Ni−C\(_{NHC}\) bite angle, and to less steric repulsion of the smaller NHC \(^{i}\)Pr\(_{2}\)Im\(^{Me}\). KW - nickel complexes KW - cyclooligomerization KW - cyclotrimerization KW - alkyne complexes KW - N-heterocyclic carbenes Y1 - 2021 UR - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/25713 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257137 VL - 27 IS - 71 ER -