TY - JOUR A1 - Brückner, Tobias A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe A1 - Stennett, Tom E. A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Engels, Bernd A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Isolation of neutral, mono-, and dicationic B\(_2\)P\(_2\) rings by diphosphorus addition to a boron-boron triple bond JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - The NHC-stabilised diboryne (B\(_2\)(SIDep)\(_2\); SIDep=1,3-bis(2,6-diethylphenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene) undergoes a high-yielding P−P bond activation with tetraethyldiphosphine at room temperature to form a B\(_2\)P\(_2\) heterocycle via a diphosphoryldiborene by 1,2-diphosphination. The heterocycle can be oxidised to a radical cation and a dication, respectively, depending on the oxidant used and its counterion. Starting from the planar, neutral 1,3-bis(alkylidene)-1,3-diborata-2,4-diphosphoniocyclobutane, each oxidation step leads to decreased B−B distances and loss of planarity by cationisation. X-ray analyses in conjunction with DFT and CASSCF/NEVPT2 calculations reveal closed-shell singlet, butterfly-shaped structures for the NHC-stabilised dicationic B\(_2\)P\(_2\) rings, with their diradicaloid, planar-ring isomers lying close in energy. KW - inorganic chemistry KW - radicals KW - boron KW - density functional calculations KW - oxidation KW - phosphorus heterocycles Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256451 VL - 60 IS - 24 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Franzsico, Marcos A. S. A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe A1 - Cardozo, Thiago M. A1 - Esteves, Pierre M. A1 - Engels, Bernd A1 - Oliveira, Ricardo R. T1 - Taming the Antiferromagnetic Beast: Computational Design of Ultrashort Mn-Mn Bonds Stabilized by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes JF - Chemistry—A European Journal N2 - The development of complexes featuring low-valent, multiply bonded metal centers is an exciting field with several potential applications. In this work, we describe the design principles and extensive computational investigation of new organometallic platforms featuring the elusive manganese-manganese bond stabilized by experimentally realized N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). By using DFT computations benchmarked against multireference calculations, as well as MO- and VB-based bonding analyses, we could disentangle the various electronic and structural effects contributing to the thermodynamic and kinetic stability, as well as the experimental feasibility, of the systems. In particular, we explored the nature of the metal-carbene interaction and the role of the ancillary η\(^{6}\) coordination to the generation of Mn\(_{2}\) systems featuring ultrashort metal-metal bonds, closed-shell singlet multiplicities, and positive adiabatic singlet-triplet gaps. Our analysis identifies two distinct classes of viable synthetic targets, whose electrostructural properties are thoroughly investigated. KW - metal-metal interactions KW - ab initio calculations KW - carbene ligands KW - density functional calculations KW - manganese Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256874 VL - 27 IS - 47 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Paul A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe A1 - Klopf, Jonas A1 - Schröder, Niklas B. A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Engel, Volker A1 - Engels, Bernd T1 - Twisting versus delocalization in CAAC- and NHC-stabilized boron-based biradicals: the roles of sterics and electronics JF - Chemistry - A European Journal N2 - Twisted boron-based biradicals featuring unsaturated C\(_2\)R\(_2\) (R=Et, Me) bridges and stabilization by cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs) were recently prepared. These species show remarkable geometrical and electronic differences with respect to their unbridged counterparts. Herein, a thorough computational investigation on the origin of their distinct electrostructural properties is performed. It is shown that steric effects are mostly responsible for the preference for twisted over planar structures. The ground-state multiplicity of the twisted structure is modulated by the σ framework of the bridge, and different R groups lead to distinct multiplicities. In line with the experimental data, a planar structure driven by delocalization effects is observed as global minimum for R=H. The synthetic elusiveness of C\(_2\)R\(_2\)-bridged systems featuring N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) was also investigated. These results could contribute to the engineering of novel main group biradicals. KW - chemistry KW - radicals KW - ab initio calculations KW - boron KW - carbene ligands KW - density functional calculations Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-256636 VL - 27 IS - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weiser, Jonas A1 - Cui, Jingjing A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Engels, Bernd A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe T1 - Structure and bonding of proximity‐enforced main‐group dimers stabilized by a rigid naphthyridine diimine ligand JF - Journal of Computational Chemistry N2 - The development of ligands capable of effectively stabilizing highly reactive main‐group species has led to the experimental realization of a variety of systems with fascinating properties. In this work, we computationally investigate the electronic, structural, energetic, and bonding features of proximity‐enforced group 13–15 homodimers stabilized by a rigid expanded pincer ligand based on the 1,8‐naphthyridine (napy) core. We show that the redox‐active naphthyridine diimine (NDI) ligand enables a wide variety of structural motifs and element‐element interaction modes, the latter ranging from isolated, element‐centered lone pairs (e.g., E = Si, Ge) to cases where through‐space π bonds (E = Pb), element‐element multiple bonds (E = P, As) and biradical ground states (E = N) are observed. Our results hint at the feasibility of NDI‐E2 species as viable synthetic targets, highlighting the versatility and potential applications of napy‐based ligands in main‐group chemistry. KW - bond theory KW - computational chemistry KW - density functional calculations KW - main group elements KW - N ligands Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312586 VL - 44 IS - 3 SP - 456 EP - 467 ER -