Exploiting the Versatility of Phosphinobenzylsilanes for the Stabilization of 14-Electron Rhodium(III) and Iridium(III) Complexes
Résumé
Incorporating pendant silicon functionalities into phosphine ligands enables to profit from the strong σ‐electron donor and trans influence properties of Si while enhancing the coordination ability of the ligand. Herein, we show that the introduction of bulky sigma donor substituents on the Si atoms and modulation of the number of Si–H functional groups in a series of phosphinobenzylsilanes allow either the stabilization of rare highly unsaturated 14‐electron rhodium(III) and iridium(III) species devoid of agostic interactions or the access to mixed‐valence MI–MIII complexes. Our findings using isopropyl‐substituted silicon are markedly different from those obtained when employing the methyl‐substituted Si series.