Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich sowohl mit der stöchiometrischen als auch mit der katalytischen Aktivierung von Element-Element-Bindungen an NHC-stabilisierten Nickel(0) Komplexen.

Diese Arbeit zeigt die vielfältigen Einsatzmöglichkeiten des Pr*-Substituenten in Koordinationsverbindungen mit sterisch stark abgeschirmten Molekülzentren auf. So wurden neben dem N-heterocyclischen Carben IPr* auch dessen Vorläuferverbindungen Pr*NH2 in Imidokomplexen sowie Pr*DAB zur Stabilisierung von Übergangsmetall- und Hauptgruppenelementverbindungen als Liganden etabliert. Die homoleptisch zweifach NHC-substituierten Komplexe [Pd(IiPr)2] sowie [Pt(IiPr)2] sind synthetisch zugänglich und im Gegensatz zu {Ni(IiPr)2} in Substanz isolierbar. Obwohl es sich bei [Pd(IiPr)2] und [Pt(IiPr)2] um niedervalente 14-Elektronenverbindungen handelt, weisen deren Addukte von Neutralliganden teils bemerkenswerte Labilität auf. Im Gegensatz dazu zeichnen sich beide Komplexe durch eine starke Neigung zur oxidativen Addition verschiedenster Substrate unter Ausbildung quadratisch-planarer Metall(II)-Verbindungen aus. So wurden in stöchiometrischen Reaktionen H–H, C–H, C–X, Si–H, B-H, B–B, P–H und P–P gespalten und die entsprechenden Aktivierungsprodukte charakterisiert.

This thesis reports on the applications of a particular N-heterocyclic silylene, Dipp2NHSi (1), as an ambiphilic reagent in main group chemistry and as a ligand in transition metal chemistry. One focus of the work lies in the evaluation of the differences in the reactivity of N-heterocyclic silylenes in main group element and transition metal chemistry in comparison with the in these areas nowadays ubiquitous N-heterocyclic carbenes. The first chapter gives an insight into the reactivity of Dipp2NHSi with respect to different types of main group element compounds. Silylene 1 was reacted with group 13 compounds. Adduct formation was observed with AlI3, Al(C6F5)3 and B(C6F5)3 which led to isolation of Dipp2NHSi·AlI3 (2), Dipp2NHSi·Al(C6F5)3 (3) and Dipp2NHSi·B(C6F5)3 (4). Furthermore, the reactivity of Dipp2NHSi (1) with respect to different elementhalide bonds was investigated. The reaction with elemental bromine and iodine leads to the dihalosilanes Dipp2NHSiBr2 (5) and Dipp2NHSiI2 (6). Utilizing methyl iodide, benzyl chloride and benzyl bromide, the insertion products Dipp2NHSi(I)(Me) (10), Dipp2NHSi(Cl)(benzyl) (11) and Dipp2NHSi(Br)(benzyl) (12) are obtained. Thus, insertion is preferred to reductive coupling with formation of RH2C–CH2R (R = H, Ph) and the corresponding dihalosilane. The reaction of 1 with Me3SnCl leads to the diazabutene {(Me3Sn)N(Dipp)CH}2 (9). The reaction of 1 with Ph2SnCl2 gives exclusively Dipp2NHSiCl2 (8) and cyclic polystannanes (Ph2Sn)n. The reactivity of 1 towards selected 1,3-dipolar compounds was also examined and Dipp2NHSi was reacted with azides of different size. The reaction with adamantyl azide led to the formation of the tetrazoline 13. For the reaction with the sterically less demanding trimethylsilyl azide the azido silane Dipp2NHSi(N(SiMe3)2)(N3) (14) and the degradation product 14* was isolated. The cyclosilamine 15 was formed from the reaction of 1 with 2,6-(diphenyl)phenyl azide. The bonding situation and ligation properties of Dipp2NHSi in transition metal complexes was assessed in the second part of the thesis by means of theoretical calculations and experimental investigations. Calculations on the main electronic features of Me2Im/Me2NHSi and Dipp2NHSi/Dipp2Im revealed significant differences in the frontier orbital region of these compounds, which affect the ligation properties of NHSis in general. It was demonstrated that NHSis show significantly different behaviour concerning their coordination chemistry. In particular, one energetically low lying π-acceptor orbital seems to determine the coordination chemistry of these ligands. To provide experimental support for these calculations, the silylene complexes [M(CO)5(Dipp2NHSi)] (M = Cr 16, Mo 17, W 18) were synthesized from Dipp2NHSi and [M(CO)6] (M = Cr, Mo, W) and the tungsten NHSi complex 18 was compared to the NHC complexes [W(CO)5(iPr2Im)] (19), [W(CO)5(iPr2ImMe)] (20) and [W(CO)5(Me2ImMe)] (21). The bonding of Me2Im and Me2NHSi (= L) to transition metal complexes has been assessed with DFT calculations for the model systems [Ni(L)], [Ni(CO)3(L)], and [W(CO)5(L)]. These studies revealed some common features in the difference between M–NHSi and M–NHC bonding which largely affect the bonding situation in transition metal complexes. NHSis show a propensity for bridging two metal atoms which was demonstrated on three different examples. Dipp2NHSi reacts with [Ni(CO)4] to form the dinuclear silylene-bridged complex [{Ni(CO)2(μ-Dipp2NHSi)}2] (22) upon CO elimination. The reduction of [Ni(η5-C5H5)2] with lithium naphthalenide in the presence of Dipp2NHSi yielded the NHSi-bridged Ni(I) dimer [{(η5 C5H5)Ni(µ-Dipp2NHSi)}2] (23). The dimeric half-sandwich complex [{(η5-C5H5)Fe(CO)2}2] led upon reaction with Dipp2NHSi to the formation of the dinuclear, NHSi-bridged complex [{(η5-C5H5)Fe(CO)}2(µ-CO)(µ-Dipp2NHSi)] (24). The insertion of Dipp2NHSi into metal halide bonds was investigated in a series of manganese complexes [Mn(CO)5(X)] (X = Cl, Br, I). The reaction of Dipp2NHSi with [Mn(CO)5(I)] led to substitution of two carbonyl ligands with Dipp2NHSi (1) to afford the tricarbonyl complex [Mn(CO)3(Dipp2NHSi)2(I)] (25). In 25, the iodide ligand is aligned in the {Mn(CO)3} plane, located between both NHSi silicon atoms. Treatment of [Mn(CO)5(Br)] with two equivalents of Dipp2NHSi afforded the complex [Mn(CO)3(Dipp2NHSi)2(Br)] (26), in which the bromide ligand is distorted towards one of the NHSi ligands. The reaction of the silylene ligand with [Mn(CO)5(Cl)] at room temperature afforded a mixture of two products, [Mn(CO)3(Dipp2NHSi)2(Cl)] (27*) and the insertion product [Mn(CO)4(Dipp2NHSi)(Dipp2NHSi-Cl)] (27). Complete transfer of a halide to the silylene was achieved for the reaction of Dipp2NHSi with [(η5-C5H5)Ni(PPh3)(Cl)] to yield [Ni(PPh3)(η5-C5H5)(Dipp2NHSi-Cl)] (28). Similarly, the reaction with [(η5-C5H5)Fe(CO)2(I)] led to the formation of [(η5 C5H5)Fe(CO)2(Dipp2NHSi-I)] (29).

The catalytic splitting of water into its elements is an important reaction to establish hydrogen as a solar fuel. The bottle-neck of this process is considered to be the oxidative half reaction generating oxygen, and good catalysts are required to handle the complicated redox chemistry involved. As can be learned from nature, the incorporation of the catalytically active species into an appropriate matrix can help to improve the overall performance. Thus, the aim of the present thesis was to establish novel supramolecular approaches to improve water oxidation catalysis using the catalytically active {Ru(bda)} fragment as key motive (bda = 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylate). First, the synthesis of ruthenium catalysts gathering three {Ru(bda)} water oxidation subunits in a macrocyclic fashion is described. By using bridging bipyridine ligands of different lengths, metallosupramolecular macrocycles with distinct sizes have been obtained. Interestingly, an intermediate ring size has been proven to be optimal for the catalytic water oxidation. Detailed kinetic, spectroscopic, and theoretical studies helped to identify the reaction mechanism and to rationalize the different catalytic activities. Furthermore, solubilizing side chains have been introduced for the most active derivative to achieve full water solubility. Secondly, the {Ru(bda)} fragment was embedded into supramolecular aggregates to generate more stable catalytic systems compared to a homogeneous reference complex. Therefore, the catalyst fragment was equipped with axial perylene bisimide (PBI) ligands, which facilitate self-assembly. Moreover, the influence of the different accessible aggregate morphologies on the catalytic performance has been investigated.

Die hier vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Synthese und Charakterisierung neuer Übergangsmetall-Borate sowie auf Cyanoborat-Anionen basierende Übergangsmetallkomplexe und Koordinationsverbindungen mit N-Donor-Liganden und Triphenylphosphan.